Bitcoin Vietnam Faces Losing its Domain from Government

According to regional reports Vietnam’s oldest Bitcoin Exchange, Bitcoin.vn, is about to lose its domain per order of the Vietnamese Government. The website that has been operating since 2014 has been accused of operating a blog without permission from the Minister of Information & Communications of Vietnam.

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Vietnam’s Oldest Bitcoin Exchanges May Lose its Domain

Bitcoin.vn is a Vietnamese trading platform that’s been providing bitcoin exchange services for over four years. Just recently the local publication ICT News reports that Bitcoin.vn (Bitcoin Vietnam) is being stripped of its website domain for being found guilty of “operating a blog without a proper license.” The Vietnamese trading platform is accused of operating the blog without obtaining a publisher license by the Minister of Information & Communications of Vietnam. Bitcoin Vietnam’s management team declined to comment on these reports because of the ongoing legal proceedings. However, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information has fined Bitcoin Vietnam Co., Ltd. for illegally creating an alleged blog and social network. 

The charges against Bitcoin.vn are divided into a 15M VND fine ($660 USD) for operating a blog and 25M ($1,100) for allowing readers the ability to comment (unlicensed social network) below the published articles on Bitcoin.vn. News.Bitcoin.com spoke with an industry insider from the region about the litigation against the trading platform’s domain. According to the individual familiar with the matter, the blog barely saw any activity apart from irregular announcements about the exchange’s user interface upgrades and general service information.

“They had like maybe two articles per month on there — to seize their domain for such a minor offense is a very, very heavy-handed approach,” explains the anonymous source to news.Bitcoin.com.  

Out of 100 Vietnamese startups, likely 99,9% don’t bother to register for a media/publisher license for their company blog — This is not a good sign for Vietnam’s startup scene.        

Bitcoin Vietnam also operates two BTMs.

Sinister Activities at Play?

Our sources also say there may be some more sinister activities at play concerning the charges against Bitcoin Vietnam.

“Ask yourself why they picked this one company out of all the hundreds of startups and thousands of SME’s in Vietnam to charge them for running some small shitty blog — in order to confiscate their domain?” the anonymous individual explained in a telephone conversation. “If you understand a bit how Vietnam works, then there is not much to wonder about. These guys did not publish any anti-government propaganda in any way, so normally nobody would bother about them. The truth is, that this domain has — especially since the large crypto bull-run in 2017 — gained a lot of value – and somebody more powerful and with much more well-established connections than these guys wants to get a hold of it.”

Bitcoin Vietnam might have been the pioneers in this market, but when the big guys finally start to come to play, they don’t play by the rules. They see something they want to have, and they take it. These guys can be lucky to just have received a minor fine – that their domain is gone is of course sad for them after they did all this pioneering work, but that’s just how Vietnam works. If you want to know who is behind this move — just watch out who will be the one utilizing this domain once the immediate dust has settled.           

Bitcoin Vietnam and the domain Bitcoin.vn is one of the oldest operating cryptocurrency exchanges and has been a reputable trading platform since the summer of 2014. At the moment there are no confirmed decisions made or any information on who might receive ownership of the website if the Ministry of Communications makes its decision to revoke the domain.

What do you think about the Bitcoin.vn website losing its domain? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below.

Images via Pixabay, Bitcoin.vn logos, and Zing.vn 

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