Proposed Penalty Levels for Cryptocurrency Asset Transactions Not Through Licensed Organizations

The Ministry of Justice has just released a document evaluating the draft Decree on administrative sanctions for violations related to encrypted assets and the encrypted asset market. According to the draft decree, the Ministry of Finance - the drafting agency, proposes in Article 10 regarding Violations of regulations on encrypted asset transactions:

1. A fine ranging from 30,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND for investors trading encrypted assets without using a service provider authorized by the Ministry of Finance as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 7 of Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP.
2. A fine ranging from 70,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND for investors trading encrypted assets in cases where such trading is not permitted under Clause 2, Article 6 of Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP. The accompanying draft report also states that Vietnam is currently experiencing rapid growth in both the scale and participation of the population in issuing, trading, and holding encrypted assets. According to statistics from reputable international organizations, there are approximately 17 million encrypted asset trading accounts opened by Vietnamese people on international encrypted asset exchanges, with the total value held by Vietnamese investors estimated to reach billions of US dollars. Although these figures have not yet been uniformly verified due to different survey methods and data collection approaches among organizations, they are important indicators reflecting the actual scale and potential of the encrypted asset market in Vietnam. However, while trading activities are developing strongly, the current legal system does not have regulations governing the issuance, trading, and provision of encrypted asset services. In this context, issuing a Decree on administrative sanctions for violations related to encrypted assets and the encrypted asset market is an objective and urgent requirement to promptly address violations arising in practice; enhance state management effectiveness; protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors; prevent risks of fraud, asset appropriation, money laundering, and terrorism financing; and ensure order and safety in the market during the development and operation of the encrypted asset market in Vietnam.