Illustration of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency. — Photo VNA/Reuters

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has disagreed with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)’s proposal to start crypto asset and cryptocurrency transactions in financial centres on July 1 next year, saying there needs to be more research.

That is one of the key points in the MoF’s comments on the MPI’s proposal for a draft National Assembly Resolution on the establishment and activities of financial centres in Việt Nam, which was made available for public consultation on January 7.

In the proposal, the MPI suggested a controlled testing mechanism – or ‘sandbox’ – be applied for financial businesses that apply technology in their activities (fintech).

Accordingly, the Management and Operation Committee of the financial centres has the authority to grant licences, manage, assess impacts and oversee risk management for the fintech sandbox, including exchanges for cryptocurrency assets. Transactions using cryptocurrency and digital assets in the financial centres are expected to begin on July 1, 2026.

Commenting on the proposal, the MoF said that Việt Nam currently does not have regulations on digital assets or digital currencies, while managing these assets requires a long process of issuance, ownership, transaction, service licensing and information security to ensure national financial safety.

It noted: "Since the implementation of policies regarding cryptocurrency and digital currency in the financial centres involves many issues that need further research that involves multiple ministries and agencies and affects financial security, to ensure feasibility, the Ministry of Finance suggests removing the regulation on the start date for transactions involving cryptocurrency and digital currency from July 1, 2026."

The MoF also recommended the MPI to gather feedback from the State Bank of Việt Nam, as according to the proposal, cryptocurrency and digital currency would be used as a means of payment in financial transactions. — VNS