Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) warned people that the first online Vietnam Bitcoin Digital Currency exchange (VBTC) is illegal. In addition to this, all of the exchange’s trading activities aren’t protected by the law, according to vietnamnet.

This warning was issued after Bitcoin Vietnam Ltd.Co and Bit2C, announced that they’d planned on opening Vietnam’s first online digital currency exchange later in April.

As they made the announcement, Bitcoin Vietnam managers claimed that Bitcoin was never banned in Vietnam. Nguyen Tran Bao Phuong, the managing director of the company, said that Vietnam would actually become a fertile area for Bitcoin development.

It seems that this might not be the case in reality. According to vietnamnet, “, the MoIT’s E-Commerce Trade and Information Technology Department that oversees commercial websites in Vietnam said ‘this trading floor’ has not been registered legally in the country.” Apparently, there must have been a miscommunication between the company and the legal authority.

Bitcoin Not a Commodity or Service

An official from MoiT’s department said that Bitcoin is not a commodity or a service in current Vietnamese legal documents. In addition the official said that Bitcoin is not subjected to any amendments to the government’s legal decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce.

Even though this is the case, in Vietnam, Bitcoin is thriving. There are various businesses that are accepting Bitcoin as payment.

According to vietnamnet, an online toy shop said in the middle of March that it would accept Bitcoin. In addition, a café in Hanoi started accepting Bitcoin and it known as the “general headquarter” of the Bitcoin community in the area. This was done even after the State Bank of Vietnam released a statement in which it shared it displeasure about Bitcoin due to the digital currency’s risks.

The legal future for Bitcoin in Vietnam looks bleak, and there seems to have been lack of communication between Bitcoin Vietnam and authority figures. However, many individuals are accepting Bitcoin in the country. Hence, this could in the future, bring about changes for the Bitcoin community in Vietnam and can allow the digital currency to be more accessible.