The Ministry of Finance has decided to set up a research group which would be in charge of studying and proposing policies to manage virtual assets and cryptocurrencies.

A research group under the Ministry of Finance will be set up to study and
propose policies to manage virtual assets and crypto currencies. (File photo)

The group had nine members, lead by Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son. Other members are from the State Securities Commission, General Department of Taxation, State Bank of Vietnam's Department of Banking and Financial Institutions and Legal Department, Vietnam Customs and National Institute for Vietnam Finance.

Policies to effectively manage virtual assets were crucial in the context that virtual assets were developing rapidly but posing risks and might cause negative impacts on the market.

On August 21, 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No 1255/QD-TTg to approve the project about completing the legal framework for managing virtual assets, crypto currencies and electronic currencies.

On April 11, 2018, Directive No 10/CT-TT was issued with the aim to enhance management on transactions related to Bitcoin and other crypto currencies to put it under control and minimise their negative impacts.

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on April 13, 2018 issued Directive No 02/CT-NHNN about measures to strengthen control over transactions related to crypto currencies in which credit institutions were asked not to supply some types of transactions related to virtual currencies to ensure compliance with established regulations about anti-money laundering and forex management.

According to crypto currency market research company CrytoCompare, at the end of November 2017, about 80% of Bitcoin transactions were found to originate from Asia, mainly from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam. Access from Vietnam to crypto currency websites and trading platforms were in the top five highest in the world, beside the US, Russia and Japan.