First Bitcoin trading floor in Vietnam illegal

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has warned the first online Vietnam Bitcoin Trading Centre (VBTC) is illegal and all of its trading activities are not protected by law.

The warning was released after Bitcoin Vietnam Ltd. Co. and Bit2C, an Israel-based bitcoin trading floor, announced that their recently established VBTC at is due to debut in late April.

However, 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.

An official of the department said the dossier for establishing the website has been also turned down by the State management agency.

He said bitcoin is not considered a commodity or service in all current legal documents in Vietnam, and it is not subject to amendments to the government decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce.

The State Bank of Vietnam recently announced bitcoin and other virtual currencies are not legal tender or a permitted means of payment in Vietnam.