Home Tech The ‘virtual’ money market is vibrant, warning about unpredictable risks

The ‘virtual’ money market is vibrant, warning about unpredictable risks

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The price of Bitcoin recently increased again, making the virtual money market in Vietnam become more and more exciting. Meanwhile, authorities and experts are constantly warning about possible risks about this cryptocurrency.

Attractive virtual money market

After many sessions close to the old peak, Bitcoin has penetrated the threshold of 62,000 USD and then 63,000 USD / Bitcoin on the evening of April 13. Currently, Bitcoin price is fluctuating around 63,500 USD / Bitcoin, sometimes close to 64,000 USD / Bitcoin. Thus, in the past 1 year, the price of Bitcoin has increased about 9 times, a level of return far exceeding all traditional investment channels such as stocks or gold.

As Wall Street becomes more and more open to cryptocurrencies, Coinbase’s direct listing is attracting great investor interest, according to financial experts. Especially on April 14, Coinbase officially became a public company on the Nasdaq. This is the first major crypto company to list, considered a major turning point for the digital market as well as a test of the level of investor interest in startups. (startup) differs in this area.

Not only Bitcoin, but also many cryptocurrencies issued by exchanges also increased in price ahead of the Coinbase listing. Typically, Binance Coin increased 23% in the first day of the week; Houbi Token and KuCoin Token both went up.

Before the excitement of virtual money, the virtual money market, also known as electronic money in Vietnam, became active again when investors realized that this currency had promising potential. As can be seen, the appearance of Pi, a new cryptocurrency and other virtual currency units in early 2021 has attracted a large number of new investors to join.

In Vietnam, virtual money in general and currencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin … in particular are still not recognized and are not legal means of payment. The issuance, supply and use of virtual currency are prohibited acts and will be sanctioned according to the Government’s Decree No. 96/2014 / ND-CP on sanctioning of administrative violations in the monetary and banking sector. Criminal Code 2015 (amended and supplemented). Previously, the State Bank of Vietnam had warned many times that investing in virtual money caused great risks to investors.

Unpredictable risks

According to market research Statista, Vietnam has the 2nd highest cryptocurrency usage rate in the world, after Nigeria. With millions of dollars traded every month, crypto exchanges are a good prey for cybercriminals.

The technology security companies said that fraudulent acts on electronic transactions are very diverse and sophisticated, such as collecting information from developers and investors; attack with malware, phishing, malicious code, fake notification, navigate to fake website, DDoS … and steal electronic wallet security key.

The famous criminal group in the world that focuses on cryptocurrencies today, such as Lazarus, BlueNoroff (a member of the Lazarus family that specializes in attacking the financial sector) is also said to be carrying out related attacks. to cryptocurrencies in Southeast Asia under the name SnatchCrypto.

The vibrant virtual money market attracts many Vietnamese investors to rejoin (illustrations).

Not only that, the risk of losing money also comes from virtual currency exchanges and can be collapsed at any time. Commenting on this type of investment, Lawyer Pham Duy Khuong, CEO of ASL Law Firm, said that although he is always warned about potential risks, what makes virtual money still attractive to investors. it is too big a profit. But the downside of the coin’s development has actually created a series of risks of “junk” virtual money investment channels appearing more and more.

Worryingly, virtual money “trash” tends to increase sharply and is “sucking blood” of investors. Specifically, with an attractive offer of great profits from virtual currency exchanges, investors massively poured money into “junk” virtual currency floors and then after a short time, the floor suddenly collapsed, when Then new investors fall back to be deceived. More sophisticated, when many cryptocurrency exchanges have “lured” investors to buy real virtual money, then use these virtual currencies to buy back virtual money “trash” “In order to make high profits and then the investors lose all their investment money.

However, according to the experts, it is very difficult to sanction fraud on these type of exchange owners. Because, if investors contribute with real money to the property, it can also be sanctioned, but if you contribute virtual money – a currency that is not an asset or a means of payment, there is no legal status, so it is not. there are grounds for punishment

Chris Connell, Managing Director of Kaspersky Asia Pacific said: “The development of cryptocurrencies is an integral part of digital transformation in the region and in Vietnam. Therefore, we encourage individuals accessing these financial technologies to have a basic knowledge of security measures to keep their cryptocurrencies safe.

Specifically, before investing, learn about cryptocurrency exchanges. These platforms provide the means for buying and selling virtual currency units as there are more than 500 exchanges. Do research, read feedback and talk to experienced investors before going any further.

After buying cryptocurrencies, investors need to know how to choose a digital wallet to keep. Because there are different types of wallets, each has different benefits, technical requirements and security. Therefore, players should research hosting options before investing.

However, according to the warning of financial expert – securities Phan Dung Khanh, Investment Advisory Director of Maybank Kim Eng Securities, do not put all your capital in Bitcoin just because it is the only name you know. There are thousands of options and it’s best to divide your investments by a few different units of money. Even so, cryptocurrencies are a volatile market, so if their investment ability or mental health cannot withstand the volatility, cryptocurrencies may not be a wise investment.

In particular, always uphold security when trading virtual money. Ideally, home trading is safer than using a public network, but you need proper security. For starters, it’s a good idea to change your router’s default password because the root password is usually the same for all routers of the same model, making your Wi-fi vulnerable to attack. In any case, it is best to do all electronic transactions over an encrypted VPN channel, which will add an extra layer of security.