Vietnam’s Central Bank Backs Plan to Suspend Import of Crypto Mining Equipment

The State Bank of Vietnam has announced that it is backing a plan proposed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance to place a suspension on the import of cryptocurrency mining equipment, according to a report by the Vietnam News on July 19.

The suspension is the result of an official request from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT); in the past, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung had directed the MoIT, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Bank of Vietnam to learn more about how current regulations were affecting crypto mining imports and to offer guidance on how the situation could be improved.

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According to a June report by Xinhua, it’s estimated that the majority of around 15,600 mining units that came into the country during 2017 and the first four months of 2018 were imported through Hanoi, Ho Chi Ming City, and Da Nang.

The Suspension Will Give Regulators an Opportunity to Sort Out the Industry

Although the Ministry of Finance found that no existing laws prevented the import of cryptocurrency miners, the decision to put the suspension in place was ultimately made because “the use of mining equipment for bitcoin, litecoin and other cryptocurrencies in the country is difficult for the authorities to manage,” according to Vietnam News. The prevalence of crypto mining equipment also reportedly makes it easier for people to use cryptocurrencies as methods of payment, which is illegal in Vietnam.

Indeed, the suspension was proposed by the Ministry of Finance as a sort of temporary solution while the country sorts out regulations on cryptocurrencies and how best to protect crypto users from scams.

Regulatory attention on cryptocurrencies has been heightened in the country ever since the revelation of a $660 million ICO exit scam that took place in the country in April. In May, the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade prohibited retailers from using Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies in online transactions.