Vietnam is preparing to legalize Bitcoin and other alternative cryptocurrencies under a new plan approved by its prime minister that could see cryptocurrencies implemented by 2018.

According to Vietnam News service VNA, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Minister of Justice to coordinate with other top advisors, including the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Finance, to draft framework for cryptocurrency legalization by August 2018.

Additionally, Prime Minister Phuc expressed to his advisors the need to come up with a plan to tax cryptocurrencies and penalize violators of those regulations by June 2019, the publication reported.

This move towards legalizing Bitcoin represents a change of heart from the Vietnamese government from its previous stance in 2014 when Vietnamese central bank officials warned consumers about the risk of investing in cryptocurrencies.

The proposal for the drafted framework if approved mirrors a 2016 report that the nation was considering taking a more open stance towards cryptocurrency and other disruptive financial technologies.

As evidence of this, the State Bank of Vietnam created a FinTech steering committee to promote the development of Vietnamese financial start-ups earlier this year.

Vietnam joins several other nations who have recently begun considering legalizing cryptocurrency.

Earlier this month, the National Bank of Ukraine announced it would develop a legal framework for Bitcoin regulation.

South African Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has said, they would start to look at cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin with a “balanced approach” when it comes to introducing regulations.

Even Australia’s Labor and Coalition senators have called on Australia’s Reserve Bank to embrace Bitcoin as an official form of currency.

So wide-scale adoption of cryptocurrency is happening all over the world; the question that remains is which country will be the first to release a national cryptocurrency. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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