Vietnam urges citizens to steer clear of cryptocurrency schemes

A veteran from Vietnam’s Criminal Police Department has sounded the alarm against cryptocurrency schemes and urged people to stay away from them as it is not only illegal to call for cryptocurrency investments but could result in substantial monetary loss.

It appears that Vietnam is in no mood to go easy on stringent cryptocurrency regulations in the country. Back in 2017, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered a review of digital currencies and demanded a framework for their governance. 

Unfortunately, a year later, the review turned out to be against the favor of cryptocurrencies. The country banned the use and ownership of cryptocurrencies and prohibited anyone from using it as a means of payment.

Last month, the country’s officials proposed forming a crypto research team that would help the government with better administration of crypto businesses in the country and come up with policies that revive the flailing sector.

Beware of cryptocurrency schemes, Vietnam

Despite keeping the public on a tight leash, investors keep falling prey to too-good-to-be-true cryptocurrency schemes, some of them even promising a 90 percent monthly interest rate on the investment. One such notorious case was of the OneLink Ponzi scam, which continued to dupe thousands of investors across the globe, including Vietnam, and embezzled millions of dollars in cash and crypto.

A former deputy head of the Criminal Police Department, Vu Hoang Kien, has thus alerted the public by stating that cryptocurrency schemes are illegal and using virtual money for transactions, payments, investment purposes, and fundraising activities is against the law. 

Need for stricter laws

Kien has urged locals to refrain from investing in cryptocurrency schemes that promise significant returns as it is not only breaking the law but could end up in substantial debt for themselves, their families, and friends.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Police Department for Corruption, Smuggling, and Economic Crimes has furthered that the public is not taking these warnings seriously as they continue to see a large number of locals investing and trading cryptocurrencies.

As of now, there is only one directive that mentions administrative fines for individuals and entities that choose to use, transact, deal, and pay using crypto. However, for better tackling fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes and minimizing involvement in them, rigid and specific regulations are required.