Central Bank Of Laos Is Preventing The Public Of Cryptocurrency Trading

The Central Bank of Laos posted a notice warning the public of the trade in cryptocurrencies and their use in payments.

In the announcement made on 29th of August Bank of the Lao (BOL) said that the public will not be able to use “unregulated” cryptographic forms of money, in particular such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

The notification which was addressed to traders and residents, also promoted citizens to explore and understand any digital assets. The notice warned of the purchase or sale of digital assets, mentioning about the risks in the investments associated with them.

As pursuant to Laotian Times, the Central Bank indicated on the current law “On Payment Systems” (revised in November 2017), which refutes cryptocurrency as a payment instrument, claiming that it does not correspond to the standards.

Laos neighbor in the east, Vietnam, has lately shown a more hostile approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. In October 2017, the Central Bank of Vietnam published a notice that in fact prohibited cryptocurrency payments in the country. Legislation in this regard came into force in early 2018. Vietnam also moved to the suspension of imports of cryptocurrency miners into the country.

Nevertheless, another neighbor of Laos, Thailand, admits and develops a cryptocurrency in its own country. Recognizing the potential of the cryptocurrencies and the initial coin offering (ICO) for raising funds, the Securities Regulator of Thailand published the ICO rules in July, in particular, approving seven cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Stellar and Litecoin.