[ad_1]
After months of discussions, Vietnam has moved to stop imports of cryptocurrency mining equipment according to a country's customs department.
Domestic companies and individuals have stopped importing crypto equipment altogether since the beginning of July, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department (HCM), as reported by Viet Nam News.
Officials from the largest city in Vietnam said that individuals and companies imported up to 3,664 application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in the first half of 2018. 3,000 machines were imported in particular from four companies involved in mining operations, while the rest was imported from individuals and organizations that did not include import tax codes, the authority said. Most of the devices were revealed to be the Antminer models, a brand of cryptocurrency mining equipment developed by the Bitmain industry giant.
As previously reported, the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam (MoF) proposed for the first time the general ban in June after the authorities in the nation has increased their control in the domestic cryptic sector following a national ICO fraud which, according to reports, would have collected about $ 660 million from 32,000 domestic investors. The fallout led the Vietnamese prime minister to order six government ministers, the police and the central bank to investigate the scam.
Accordingly, the ministry stated that "requires state management agencies to take strict control measures with the importation and use of this commodity [crypto mining] leading to the final proposal of the ban In July, the Central Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the central bank of the country, agreed with the MoF proposal and supported the ban.
According to Vietnam customs data, in 2017 about 9,300 ASIC devices are imported into Vietnam, mainly in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam
At present, cryptocurrencies are outlawed as payments in the country after the central bank has refused to include them among recognized payment exceptions not in cash including checks, payment orders and bank cards.The law, which came into force at the end of 2018, prohibits the issuance and use of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies as legal tender with the minacc ia of criminal proceedings and fines up to $ 9,000 for the adopters.
Shutterstock.
Follow us on Telegram or subscribe to our newsletter here.
• Join the CCN Crypto community for $ 9.99 a month, click here
• Do you want exclusive analysis and in-depth analysis encrypted by Hacked.com? Click here.
• Open positions on CCN: sought-after full-time and part-time journalists.
