VietNamNet Bridge – While the bitcoin price has tumbled in the world market from over $1,000 per BTC to several hundreds of dollars now, Vietnamese still make investments in bitcoins with the strong belief that bitcoin would become the next-generation payment instrument.

Le Huy Hoa, a key member of bitcoin forum in Vietnam has affirmed that the bitcoin investors’ community has been expanding rapidly.

Hoa stressed that Vietnamese still spend time and money on bitcoins, even though the bitcoin price has been dropping dramatically in the world market.

In Vietnam, the bitcoin price has fallen from VND20 million to VND6 million just over one month.

“I am not interested in the bitcoin price, because it is not a currency. However, many people consider bitcoin as the next-generation currency, a new payment instrument,” he said.

“In other words, bitcoin is considered a kind of goods, which is believed to be the valuable assets. Since people believe bitcoin would become more valuable in the future, they tend to hoard bitcoins as they hoard gold,” he continued.

An observer has noted that since the bitcoin price has depreciated, Vietnamese investors tend to “mine” other versions of virtual currency, such as litecoin, peercoin, namecoin, which prove to be cheaper and easier to be dug.

An investor has affirmed that the Vietnamese bitcoin community has been developing very strongly.

“There are numerous investors who hold billions of dong worth of bitcoins,” he said. “However, they never turn up before the public to hide themselves from the police”.

The officials of the State Bank of Vietnam have many times stated on local mass media that bitcoin is not accepted in the Vietnamese territory. This means that it is illegal to hold bitcoins and use bitcoins in payment.

The bank is going to release a legal document in some days to show its official viewpoint about bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

However, the ban by the State Bank has been ignored by Vietnamese investors. Hoa said more and more virtual currencies have been arisen. The State Bank would have to brainstorm to think of the reasons to be cited to prohibit the bitcoin circulation in Vietnam.

Therefore, Hoa said, investors still keep investing in the new currency.

To date, websosanh and lamchame, the two first Vietnamese businesses that accept the payment in bitcoin, have not made any official comments.

Opinions from the well informed circle said that the State Bank needs more time to consider the issue thoroughly. This explains why no official legal document or statement has been made.

It is highly possible that the watchdog agency is still considering the other governments’ experiences in dealing with the virtual currency.

Vietnamese bitcoin diggers have confidence in the bright future of the bitcoin. However, experts have warned that they “delude” themselves.

The bitcoin was valued at $2 only in its early days. Later, its price soared by 500 times to $1,000 in late 2013. But the price has fallen again to $300. And analysts have every reason to believe that the bitcoin price would drop to the initial value.

“No central bank dares to accept the currency. Therefore, bitcoin investors should be warned that they are facing very high risks,” said Dr. Vo Tri Thanh from the Central Institute for Economic Management CIEM.

DNSG