The government is cracking down on the Vietnamese cryptocurrency sector with the latest move of the State Securities Commission banning financial institutions – including those in the private sector – from carrying out cryptocurrency-related transactions. These include brokerage and issuance activities.
Viet Nam News reports that the SSC’s ban covers “public companies, securities companies, fund management companies and securities investment funds from taking part in the activities, and required them to obey legal regulations on anti-money laundering”.
The Commission states that this ban covering the Vietnamese cryptocurrency sector is based on the Prime Minister’s Directive No 10/CT-TTg, which was issued on April 11, 2018.
This move is in line with the Vietnamese government’s stance on cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, the authorities already made moves to “strengthen the management” of cryptocurrency-related activities. There were also reports of the government trying to seize the Bitcoin Vietnam domain name. Currently, cryptocurrencies are already not allowed as a means of payment in the country.
