Bitcoin Vietnam, the oldest cryptocurrency exchange in the country, is having its domain name, bitcoin.vn, seized by the Vietnamese government.
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has also decided to fine the company 40 million VND (approximately $1758) for illegal social networking and setting up an illegal website.
Bitcoin Vietnam Co., Ltd,, an enterprise officially launched in 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City, is currently facing an important issue: according to the states’ government, it has been “operating a blog without a proper license.”
The countries’ oldest cryptocurrency exchange has been fined 15 million VND (approximately $659) for the illegal blog and 25 million VND (approximately $1100) for illegal social network activity. In addition, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has suspended its domain name Bitcoin.vn for 45 days.
“The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) shall suspend operation of the domain name bitcoin.vn to be handled by the functional agencies according to the provisions of law. The suspension period is 45 days, from 15:00 on 05/03/2018”, the agencies’ statement said.
The document regarding this case was signed by Le Quang Tu Do, Vice Deputy of the Ministry, and later shared via Twitter.
According to the countries’ law from 1st of January, 2018 and a decree issued on October 30th by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), it is illegal to issue, distribute, and use digital currencies which, in turn, are considered an illegal form of payment. That means that Bitcoin Vietnam now risks being prosecuted as it continued to operate its cryptocurrency exchange business in spite of legislation.
The domain is not currently functioning and the exchange is operating under the Bitcoinvn.io domain.
By Anastasia Bugaychenko