Vietnam’s Department of Electronic Commerce and Information Technology has cautioned citizens against dealing in virtual currencies such as bitcoin.

The Vietnam e-Commerce and Information Technology Agency is directly under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT). It fulfills the State management and legal enforcement functions in terms of e-commerce, development and application of information technology serving the State management of the Ministry in accordance with regulations of laws. 

According to NDH, the agency has issued a warning to people to be careful while participating in purchasing and selling virtual currency and recommended organisations and individuals not to make virtual money transactions.

The press release by the agency noted that in 2014, the State Bank of Vietnam announced that bitcoin and other types of virtual currency are not legitimate means of payment in the country. An official statement by the SBV said that all bitcoin exchanges allow users to trade anonymously, which can be used to launder dirty money, sell drugs, hide from paying taxes, exchange and pay for illegal activities.

The release said, “The possession, sale and use of "virtual money" as an underlying asset class is very risky for the people and are not protected by law.”

Various scams and Ponzi schemes in the virtual currency space, such as Mt Gox, MyCoin, Silk Road etc. have highlighted the vulnerability of the investors. Several countries have altogether banned bitcoin use such as Thailand, Bangladesh and many others.

However, some countries seem to be interested in their own version of digital currency such as Australia, China, and United Kingdom.