In August, the Vietnamese government established a legal body to manage the regulation of cryptocurrencies

crypto

First, the bad news:

The State Bank of Vietnam has declared the “issue, supply and use” of all cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, to be illegal. The ruling was laid out in a document released on Monday, under the Article 4 of Decree No 101/2012.

Those found in violation of using cryptocurrency to make payments will incur a fine of  VND 150 – 200 million (US$6,600 to US$8,806). And on January 1 next year, the act of supplying, issuing or using illegal payment methods (including bitcoin and other similar virtual currency) may be subject to prosecution.

This move marks a u-turn for the Vietnamese government, which announced two months ago that it will set up a legal body to regulate cryptocurrencies and other digital currency and assets (unless by “regulating” it meant banning them outright).

In August, VietnamNews had reported that the government may consider legalising cryptocurrency by 2019. Looks like that roadmap is now moot.

Also Read: Bitcoin, Blockchain, and why it makes sense for Southeast Asia

Now for the good news:

In September, China announced a ban on all ICOs, which forced several bitcoin exchanges in the country to close shop.

My colleague, Kevin McSpadden, had speculated that the ban was to prevent any high-profile incidents from occurring before the Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress. And that the ban be loosen after mid-October (when the party congress concludes).

It appears he has pretty sharp crystal-gazing skills because China may now be loosening the ban on cryptocurrency trading.

According to CNLedger, a reputable source of Chinese cryptocurrency news, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange OKEX is set to launch its p2p bitcoin trading platform soon, with support for the Chinese yuan.

“We believe they’ll support CNY and some others like USD, JPY,” said CNLedger.

cryptocoinsnews reported that for OKEX to trade bitcoin with yuan, it will need to seek approval from the Chinese government and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).

Currently, bitcoin and cryptocurrency trades in China take place in underground economics — so it would be in the best interest of the Chinese government to legalise cryptocurrency trading and regulate it as it sees fit.

According to the Chinese government’s official news agency Xinhua, the government will soon implement measures to strengthen “record-keeping, licensing, and Anti-Money Laundering processes” — a move that is targetted at the cryptocurrency sector.

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