Hanoi (VNA) -Blockchain, a new technology to help explore the various forms ofcrypto-currencies, could open up new attractive environment for all businessesand investors, said Nguyen Duc Cuong, head of consultancy division at Vietstock– a local financial-business media.

Cuong made thestatement at the first summit in Vietnam on blockchain technology and digitalmoney, called Vietstock Blockchain Summit. The event was held in HCM City onJanuary 28 by Vietstock and FundYourselfNow – a Singaporean organisation thathelps startup businesses to raise funds for their initial coin offering (ICO).

Vietnamese investors havecaught up with the world trend and turned blockchain and crytocurrencies into a“hot” investment trend. For example, bitcoin and other cryptocurrency-relatedkey words were among the top search targets on Google in Vietnam last year.

This means that localbusinesses and investors have a great demand to learn and access the newtechnology and cryptocurrencies.

The digital ledger, inwhich transactions made in various types of cryptocurrency are recordedchronologically and publicly, can open up new trends in the different fields offinance, banking, retail and telecommunications, Cuong said.

He added that beingconsidered as the foundation of the industrial revolution 4.0, which wasspreading around the world, this was the time for blockchain technology anddigital money to provide additional cryptocurrency products.

The prospects of blockchaintechnology and technology-based digital money had become brighter as thetechnology could help firms replace traditional legal documents, which werehandwritten and compiled on computers, with encryption.

Therefore, blockchain technologycould minimise the chance of identity theft and strengthen personal datasecurity. Recently, government agencies in Singapore, Canada, Switzerlandand Estonia had started developing national identification systems usingblockchain technology.

According to Kennett Tan,chief technology officer of FundYourselfNow, blockchain can remove the need fora centralised server to verify ownership and deals. He said the technologycould help financial and banking businesses process their transactions fasterwithout asking for assistance from any intermediary units. This would save timeand costs.

In addition, blockchaintechnology could help businesses retain intellectual property rights andregistrations, Tan said.

Liu Yusho, CEO ofVinaex.com, a bitcoin wallet service that assists customers to buy, sell andsecure bitcoin, said that the total capitalisation of the cryptocurrency marketwas only 2 billion USD a few years ago with bitcoin accounting for 90 percentof the market value.

The numbers had increasedto 550-600 billion USD with nearly 1,500 types of crytocurrency. Bitcoin nowonly dominated 35 percent of the market value, he said.

Liu said that there wererisks for investors when they purchased digital money or assets and they shouldtake careful look at potential risks.

Investors needed to knowthat as the crytpocurrency market was booming, there would be projects,websites and companies trying to defraud them, he said.

The event was carried outto help investors, businesses and the public understand the nature ofblockchain technology, its applications, how cryptocurrencies are managed andthe nature of the world’s quickly rising cryptocurrency market.-VNA