Illustration of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The price of Bitcoin has increased by 130 per cent since the beginning of 2024. — Reuters/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Bitcoin has been predicted to be among the most lucrative investment instruments in 2025, despite having not been legalised in Việt Nam.

The year 2024 marks a historic record for the digital currency as its price surpassed US$100,000 per Bitcoin (abbreviated as BTC) on December 5, and reached a peak of $108,000/BTC on December 17.

It then dropped to $92,000/BTC on December 20 after the Chair of the US Federal Reserve (FED), Jerome Powell stated that the institution was not allowed to own Bitcoin and did not want to amend the laws to do so. However, the price quickly recovered to nearly $99,000/BTC in the final days of 2024 as large investors continued to buy and hold. By 10:45pm on January 4, 2025, the price-tracking website for cryptoassets CoinMarketCap listed the price at $97,680/BTC, up 0.22 per cent in the last 24 hours.

Since the beginning of the year, the price of major cryptos has seen positive growth: Bitcoin increased by 130 per cent, Ethereum by 52 per cent, BNB by 124 per cent and Dogecoin more than 300 per cent.

2024 also marks a historic turning point for cryptos with the emergence of exchange-traded funds (ETF) of Bitcoin and Ethereum – the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation after Bitcoin. This signals the organised participation of institutional investors and top global professional asset managers in the digital currency market.

An ETF is an investment vehicle that pools a group of securities – such as stocks, bonds, cryptos and other types of assets – into a fund. It can be traded like an individual stock on an exchange.

Investors in Bitcoin and other digital currencies look forward to Donald Trump’s presidency as he has promised ‘friendly’ policies towards the crypto industry. 

A Council of Advisers for Digital Assets is being formed after a letter was sent to the President-elect and the US Congress by the US Blockchain Association, pushing for policies that would promote the adoption of digital assets in the first 100 days of his presidency. 

Earlier, during his presidential campaign, Trump had repeatedly mentioned the idea of creating a Bitcoin reserve when he took office.

A trader at the New York Stock Exchange. Bitcoin's price reaches a peak of $108,000/BTC on December 17, 2024. — XINHUA/VNA Photo

Legality in Việt Nam

Dr Đinh Trọng Thịnh, an economist, said cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, were the most profitable investments in 2024 and will remain so next year.

"I believe the price of cryptocurrencies will continue to grow in 2025. This is an unconventional investment channel in Việt Nam, but in reality, many Vietnamese are investing in and holding cryptocurrencies,” he said.

“The Government needs to soon issue a legal framework for digital assets and digital currencies to both protect investors and prevent tax evasion.”

Because of their perceived lucrativeness, frauds related to digital currency trading are very common in Việt Nam. 

A prime recent example is the case of Phó Đức Nam from Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province, known on the social media platform TikTok as Mr Pips, who lured more than 2,600 people into foreign exchange and derivatives trading and got assets worth VNĐ5.2 trillion ($211.8 million) seized or frozen by the authorities. 

Another case is Hồ Thị Bích Ngọc from Hà Nội, who performed a similar fraud and appropriated nearly VNĐ500 billion ($19.6 million).

Although Việt Nam does not have a legal framework for digital assets, the definitions of digital assets, crypto assets and regulations to manage them have been addressed in the Draft Law on Digital Technology Industry, which has been presented by the Government to the National Assembly for review.

In addition, the Politburo has approved the policy for a project to build an international financial centre in HCM City and a regional one in Đà Nẵng, which is an opportunity for Việt Nam to pilot the establishment of digital asset exchanges. 

Legalising digital assets will make Việt Nam a more open environment for business development, said Phan Đức Trung, vice chair of the Việt Nam Blockchain Association.

“Legalising digital assets will help attract more foreign investment and encourage Vietnamese businesses to return to Việt Nam instead of going abroad to register their operations,” he said. 

“The authorities also need to have solutions in place to attract good investment flows into this field, while preventing fraudulent exchanges.”

Trịnh Hà, a strategic expert at Exness Investment Bank, said the digital currency investment community is growing rapidly in Việt Nam, as young people have easier access to new technologies and have more knowledge about investment than the previous generation. 

"The value of digital currencies has risen sharply recently and they will continue to be an attractive financial instrument in the future due to the limited supply, in the case of Bitcoin. This crypto has been recognised globally as an asset recently," he said.

About 45 per cent of Bitcoin holders want to keep it long-term, Hà added, which indicates that most crypto investors are long-term investors who expect the value of the asset to increase in the future. — VNS