Vietnam Plans To Legalize Bitcoin By 2018

Vietnam is on the cusp of joining a growing list of countries that have explicitly legalized bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to local media outlets cited by CoinTelegraph. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has authorized the formulation of a plan that could result in the legalization of digital currencies by next year, reportedly ordered the country’s central bank, ministry of finance and the ministry of public safety to study and draft the legal framework.

If successful, Vietnam would join Japan and a handful of other countries that have explicitly legalized bitcoin and digital currency transactions. The US has taken steps toward regulating digital currencies, but those decisions have mostly been made by regulators, as well as the State of Delaware. In a vague but consequential ruling issued last month, the SEC decreed that digital currencies are securities that should be registered with the commission. Back in 2015, the CFTC ruled that bitcoin should be classified as a commodity, and earlier this summer it approved the first SEF for bitcoin-related derivatives.