Bitcoin To Become Officially-Recognized Legal Tender In Vietnam

Thanks to the increasing popularity and credibility of cryptocurrency, more and more countries are joining on opening doors to make spending them a lot easier. One of these countries is Vietnam, which is reportedly considering making Bitcoin an officially-recognized legal tender. This would mean that people could start buying stuff in the country using the cryptocurrency.

The news was first broken by VNA, a local news service, which notes that the country’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc just announced the government’s increased interest in cryptocurrency. More specifically, the country aims to “scrutinize and streamline the legal framework for the management of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in Vietnam.”

For anyone invested in cryptocurrency, this is obviously good news. Not only is another nation open to the idea of allowing the virtual currency to become a legally recognized form of payment, it also increases the standing of units like Bitcoin. Considering the upheaval that the currency is going through at the moment, this is exactly the push in credibility that it needed.

In terms of timeline, Bitcoin could become legal tender in Vietnam in 2018. Barring any obstacles, this could mean that major shopping establishments will be accepting the cryptocurrency as a mode of payment. Of course, it’s to be expected that the rollout is likely to be slow. Even in a country like Japan, retailers that accept Bitcoin are still far and few in between.

What’s really standing in the way of Vietnam accepting Bitcoin officially is the paperwork. There is much about cryptocurrency that is still difficult to pin down within the legislative framework of some countries. Once that’s been ironed out, everything should go smoothly, Coindesk notes.

On the other hand, there is also the little matter of tax for cryptocurrency enthusiasts in the country to consider. Apparently, taxing Bitcoin users will also be part of the deal moving forward.