After imposing a ban on cryptocurrency payments last year, Vietnam’s central bank is now moving to put an end to the import of cryptocurrency mining equipment in the country.
As per reports by local media, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has expressed its agreement with a proposal for import ban put forth by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). This proposal suggests that the import of cryptocurrency mining machines should be suspended immediately, in order to ensure stricter control over cryptocurrency movements and transactions in the country.
The SBV’s move comes after Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng ordered the MoIT, SBV and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to research whether the import of crypto mining equipment was having a negative impact on the authorities’ ability to enforce the country-wide ban on cryptocurrencies.
The MoF found that the import of these machines was not explicitly banned by any currently existing laws. In addition to hampering authorities’ efforts to check and curb the illegal usage of cryptocurrencies in the country, it was also leaving citizens vulnerable to scams and fraud (citing Modern Tech Corp’s $658 million fraud, which resulted in more than 32,000 people being scammed earlier this year).
Cryptocurrency mining equipment typically comprises specialized hardware, focused on either computer processing power or graphics processing power, depending on the currency for which it is designed.
Miners do not have to purchase cryptocurrencies from exchanges, as they obtain block rewards due to their mining activity, possibly making it hard for authorities to track their transactions. As a result, the MoF proposed a temporary ban on the import of crypto mining equipment in May this year.
Despite the ban on cryptocurrency payments, crypto mining has continued to flourish in Vietnam – as per the country’s General Department of Customs, approximately 15,600 ASIC devices were imported from last year to April 2018.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest