The Vietnamese government has called on Bybit, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, to share its  experience in developing a regulated digital asset market, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang.

The Deputy PM made the statement at a meeting in Thursday with Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou. Thang elaborated that Vietnam is seeking the participation and expertise of international firms in completing its legal framework, managing and supervising trading activities, developing information technology infrastructure, and training human resources for the sector.

Thang also noted that the cryptocurrency market in Vietnam holds significant development potential but also carries risks, requiring strict management to prevent money laundering, fraud, and other violations. Vietnam welcomes foreign companies with strong financial capacity, technology, and experience to partner with Vietnamese enterprises during the pilot phase, he added.

In reply, Ben Zhou praised Vietnam’s progress in building a legal framework for digital assets. Bybit is willing to cooperate with Vietnamese partners and share international experience in institution-building and human resource training for the sector, the executive added.

In September 2025, the Vietnamese government issued a resolution on piloting cryptocurrency exchanges in Vietnam for five years. So far, about ten businesses have expressed their interests to join the program. Many banks and securities companies have established businesses for the pilot, including leading banks in Vietnam such as Techcombank, VPBank, LPBank, VIX Securities, and Sun Group.

In May 2026, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said Vietnam’s digital asset exchange could begin official operations as early as the third quarter of 2026 under a pilot framework approved by the government.

Vietnam can launch digital asset exchange in Q3 this year, says Deputy Minister

Rich Dad Poor Dad Author Turns a 40% Tax Claim Into a Debt Warning

Robert Kiyosaki warned in a June 2 post on X that U.S. debt exposes taxpayers to a deeper financial problem. The renowned author of Rich Dad Poor Dad asked how a government that “takes 40% of everyone’s money” still runs up trillions in debt. His question links take-home pay, federal spending, and public distrust in one sharp critique.

The warning lands as U.S. debt sits near historic highs. Treasury data showed public debt outstanding at about $39.2 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects gross federal debt will reach $64 trillion by 2036 as federal spending continues to outpace revenue. That projection sharpens Kiyosaki’s warning that heavy tax collection still fails to stop Washington’s borrowing.

The 40% figure is not an official tax rate. Instead, it may reflect the combined impact of federal income taxes, payroll taxes, state taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes on wage earners. Because those obligations can consume a significant share of income, Kiyosaki appears to use 40% as a broad estimate of the tax burden many workers experience.

Gold’s Rally Extends Kiyosaki’s Debt Warning Into Markets

Kiyosaki extended his fiscal warning into markets in a May 31 post on X. He said gold rose 65% in one year, while savings accounts paid 4% annually. That comparison turned his debt criticism into an investment argument. It also pushed savers to weigh cash returns against a major hard-asset rally.

The well-known financial commentator also said central banks are moving from U.S. Treasuries into gold. That claim gained support this week after European Central Bank (ECB) data showed gold accounted for 27% of global official reserves at the end of 2025, surpassing U.S. Treasuries at 22%. The shift broadened his warning from household finances to global reserve strategy. In Kiyosaki’s view, growing demand for gold reflects concerns about debt-heavy government finance and the long-term stability of paper assets.

He wrote:

“FYI: Gold up 65% in 1 year. Savings pay 4% a year. Central banks dumping US Treasuries for gold. Get the picture?”

The warning extends beyond taxes and government debt. Kiyosaki has cautioned that a major market crash could escalate into a depression, leaving millions of people with significant losses and financial hardship. He attributes that risk to excessive debt, Federal Reserve policies, and declining confidence in government institutions. As a result, he continues to advocate holding gold, silver, and bitcoin, arguing that scarce assets offer protection when paper wealth, cash savings, and traditional financial markets come under pressure.

South Africa’s High Court has defined Bitcoin as ‘money’ and ‘capital’, clearing the way for the country’s central bank to regulate the export of cryptocurrency.

The Gauteng Division of the South African High Court has ruled that cryptocurrency, and specifically Bitcoin, is both money and capital, limiting the ability of South Africans to trade in the currency without official authorisation and departing from an earlier decision by the High Court.

Giving his ruling on 1 June in Mangundhla & Dangaiso v South African Reserve Bank, Judge Stuart Wilson departed from what he called the “clearly wrong” 2025 decision by the Pretoria branch of the Gauteng Division in Standard Bank of South Africa v South African Reserve Bank, which had taken the opposite position.

Whereas the Standard Bank ruling held that cryptocurrency’s inherently digital nature did not meet the definition of money, Judge Wilson instead focused on its purpose and use, writing: “To the extent that cryptocurrency is a financial asset that holds value and is used as a medium of exchange through which capital can be taken from within South Africa and placed beyond its borders, it does not matter that it may not be legal tender (in other words fiat currency), or that it exists as an entry on a digital ledger.” 

Capital decision

Applicants (claimants) Square Mangundhla and Fungai Dangaiso brought the case against the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), its deputy governor and the minister of finance.

Mangundhla traded on the online cryptocurrency platform Luno, using Dangaiso’s account when he reached the permissible limit for trades on his own account.

While he made legal trades between 2015 and 2017, from 2018 to 2020, he transferred 1680 Bitcoin purchased in South Africa to wallets accessed through cryptocurrency exchanges abroad.

SARB, the country’s central bank, categorised these transactions as the export of Bitcoin and their rand value in contravention of the Export Control Regulations, and ordered Mangundhla to forfeit ZAR 6 million (GBP 274,000).

Wilson determined that capital “means any financial asset that is capable of holding value or being used as a medium of exchange”, adding that “even if capital is given the relatively narrow definition of any financial asset that is capable of holding value or being used as a medium of exchange, cryptocurrency is certainly capital”.

He rejected an argument that bitcoin’s intangible nature put it outside of this definition, saying: “It seems to me that Bitcoin is plainly capital in the sense that it is a financial asset that is capable of holding value and being used as a medium of exchange,” noting that Bitcoin can be used to purchase rand and is accepted by merchants as currency.

Wilson further found that the Bitcoin had been exported once it was “placed beyond the Reserve Bank’s jurisdiction” and as such the regulations applied, rejecting a further defence under the  Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA).

Money, money, money

The applicants had also argued that the forfeiture should not apply to the currency held in the Luno wallets on the grounds that the regulations only allow for the seizure of money, but Judge Wilson also rejected this argument, writing that “Bitcoin’s general characteristics bring it well within any sensible conception of money” on the basis that it can be converted into fiat currency and used to purchase goods and services.

“In my view, Bitcoin is clearly money. The Bitcoin was correctly subject to forfeiture,” he concluded.

Mangundhla and Dangaiso were represented by Cape Town-based firm JM Attorneys, instructing advocates Eloize Eksteen SC and Anneline Roestorf.

SARB was represented by law firm GMI Attorneys, instructing Werner Lüderitz SC, Ernst Kromhout and Katlego Moloisane.

Crypto assets were regulated by South Africa by bringing them under the oversight of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in 2022. That made it one of several African countries to legalise and regulate digital assets in the past few years, including Ghana, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Morocco.

The Gauteng Division is the forum for an ongoing challenge to the South African Legal Sector Code, brought in April by three law firms who argue that its racial transformation objectives are unworkable.

Last year, the court introduced mandatory mediation for civil disputes.