The Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI) recently released the Cryptoassets and Property Law (Civil Law Edition) publication with support from the Singapore Academy of Law. The publication features excerpts comparing Property law and Cryptoassets law in China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Lawyer Pham Duy Khuong, ASL LAW‘s managing partner, proudly contributed to the legal section concerning Vietnam.
The Cryptoassets and Property Law publication is part of a report series on cryptoassets and their property law treatment in select Asia Pacific jurisdictions, a mix of civil and common law traditions, produced under ABLI’s Cryptoassets in Asia project.
Some excerpts regarding the legal aspects of Cryptoassets and Property Law in Vietnam include:
“Vietnam’s legal system is influenced by eastern and western legal traditions, the French civil law system and Soviet legal ideology. The concept of “property” first appeared in Vietnamese legal instruments between 1858 and 1945.
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Under the Civil Code, property comprises four categories: objects, money, valuable papers and property rights. It is divided into two mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories: immoveable property which is defined by a list comprising land, houses and structures attached to land, other property attached to land, houses and structures, and other property as provided by law; and moveable property which is defined as all property that is not immoveable.
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Are cryptoassets property under the Civil Code?
For a cryptoasset of any type to qualify as property under Vietnamese law, it must fit into one of the four categories outlined above. Otherwise, a cryptoasset will not attract any property right.
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The central bank of Vietnam announced in 2017 that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and are not lawful means of payment, and that the issuance, supply and use of cryptocurrencies in general (and bitcoin in particular) as a means of payment is prohibited.
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Cryptoasset transactions are not specifically regulated under Vietnamese law. Hence, Vietnamese parties engaging in those transactions on international exchanges are not protected by law. The Vietnamese government is studying and evaluating the need to promulgate regulations to regulate cryptoassets.
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The publication can be downloaded here.
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