VietNamNet Bridge – Businessmen have affirmed that bitcoins will still be used in a “legal way” in Vietnam, even though the State Bank of Vietnam has denied the legitimacy of bitcoin as a currency in Vietnam.

The statement by the State Bank that bitcoins is not recognized as a currency for the payment transactions in Vietnam has in no way affected the bitcoin’s value in Vietnam and in the world.

A bitcoin was traded at $551 on Bitstamp in late February 2014, which was $200 lower than earlier this year and 50 percent lower than the highest peak of $1,100.

Two days before the State Bank released the statement showing its viewpoint about bitcoin, the Vietnamese community heard about the collapse of Mt Gox, the biggest in the world bitcoin trading floor, causing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars to Vietnamese investors.

However, Vietnamese bitcoin holders have been unruffled. A bitcoin miner said he was informed about the risks before he decided to “join the community,” therefore, no need to be too worried about the bad news.

“The viewpoint of the watchdog agency would only affect those, who hope bitcoin would be accepted in payment transactions,” Vuong, 37, said.

Bui Huy Kien, the owner of the first company which accepted bitcoins for the payment for ads, has affirmed that bitcoin would still be accepted in the future, though he would make some changes.

“The banner on my website with the words “chap nhan thanh toan bang bitcoin” (bitcoin is accepted for payment), would be changed into “chap nhat bitcoin” (bitcoin is accepted),” Kien said.

Explaining his move, Kien said that from now on, bitcoin would be considered a kind of goods, which can be exchanged for other goods.

The owner of a café in Hanoi, has affirmed that bitcoin will still be accepted there, adding that it is not illegal to accept bitcoin, if he agrees to exchange cups of coffee for bitcoins.

Some analysts have commented that it is impossible to prohibit bitcoins in Vietnam, once people argue that they do not break the laws if they just exchange the things they have for the things they want. In this case, bitcoin is not considered as a currency that serves the payment.

The analysts also said that it is nearly impossible for the watchdog agency to prohibit the trade of bitcoins, once most Vietnamese investors mostly make transactions on foreign floors, such as Btc-e, Cryptsy, Bitfinex or Localbitcoins.

Opinions about the prospect of the bitcoin in Vietnam vary. Nguyen Phan Anh, MA, Lecturer of the Trade University, believes that bitcoin cannot “live” for a long time in the community once it is rejected by the State Bank, and that the “bitcoin trend” would receive a setback when the State Bank releases strict regulations to tighten its control over the currency market.

Meanwhile, another e-commerce expert thinks that not only bitcoin, but other electronic currencies such as Litecoin or WMZ would still exist because they can bring the opportunities to make money to Internet users.

VNE