HANOI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The use of cryptocurrency and blockchains in Vietnam is currently limited to just one percent of the total population, though experts anticipate that the number could grow to 30 million users in the next 10 years.
Nonetheless, the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, has clearly stated that unlike legal tenders, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are not considered real money and thus not recognised as payment methods in Vietnamese law, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.
Bitcoin was first introduced to Vienam in 2009, and has since experienced double-digit growth each year in terms of users, and an average daily transaction value reaching the thousands of U.S. dollar, according to Bitcoin Vietnam Co. Ltd., the self-proclaimed first bitcoin platform in the country, established in 2014.
Subsequently, bitcoin's blockchain, its own open, distributed ledger that records transactions between two parties using the coin in a verifiable and permanent way, is now also accessible in Vietnam.
As of late August this year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered relevant agencies to draft a legal framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets, which could mean that bitcoin and its like will be one day accepted in Vietnam under appropriate management.
