Crypto asset trading in Vietnam is allowed only via licensed domestic service providers, in which foreign ownership is capped at 49%
[HO CHI MINH CITY] Vietnam’s recent rule barring domestic crypto holders – estimated to be more than 17 million – from trading crypto assets outside authorised entities could prompt the outflow of millions of Vietnamese users from global exchanges such as Binance and Bybit, warned analysts.
Under a new government resolution effective from Tuesday (Sep 9), domestic crypto holders will face administrative penalties or criminal prosecution for trading crypto assets without going through licensed service providers, depending on the severity of the violation.
Enforcement will begin six months after the first of the five planned licences is granted, as part of the five-year pilot roll-out of Vietnam’s crypto trading market.
Dao Tien Phong, managing lawyer at Ho Chi Minh City-based law firm Investpush Legal, told The Business Times that it remains unclear whether the new rule applies to trading activities conducted in markets outside of Vietnam. These may continue to fall within a regulatory grey area, he noted.
“In the initial phase, confusion about the regulations may cause panic, potentially leading to a sell-off of crypto assets or a temporary halt in trading by Vietnamese cryptoholders as they wait to see how the new rules unfold in practice,” he added.
Tyler Nguyen, chief market strategist at Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC), believes that Vietnamese investors may gradually shift from global exchanges such as Binance and Bybit to the regulated domestic system.
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“Still, the transition will not be immediate… In the short run, offshore channels will likely remain in use, particularly among more sophisticated or yield-seeking traders,” he stated.
Nguyen underlined that global exchanges are valued among local investors for their product variety, liquidity and established ecosystems, “which local platforms will need time to replicate”.
Local players chase early lead
During the pilot period, no more than five Vietnamese companies will be selected by the authorities to provide services such as custody, proprietary trading, or platforms for trading and issuing crypto assets.
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Other types of services related to crypto assets have not been included in the current regulatory framework. For example, the legal treatment of self-custody wallets, on-chain transactions or a Vietnam dong-denominated stablecoin also remains ambiguous.
To be qualified for a licence, Vietnamese crypto-asset service providers must have a minimum capital of 10 trillion dong (S$485.8 million), with at least 65 per cent contributed by institutional investors and mandatory participation from banks, securities firms, insurers, fund management firms or tech companies.
Foreign ownership in these providers is also capped at 49 per cent.
While no official licences have been granted thus far, several domestic financial institutions have signalled their intention to enter the market.
On Aug 12, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or MB Bank, and South Korea’s Dunamu, the operator of Upbit – the world’s third-largest centralised cryptocurrency exchange – announced a partnership to establish a digital-asset trading platform in Vietnam.
In the same month, Hanoi-based brokerage firm VIX Securities also contributed capital to create VIX Crypto Assets Exchange Company.
Earlier in May, Techcom Crypto Exchange Company was set up as part of the ecosystem of private lender Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or Techcombank, and its brokerage arm Techcom Securities.
Domestication of digital-asset trading
About one in six Vietnamese owned cryptocurrencies in 2024, indicated another report by crypto payment gateway Triple-A. In comparison, Vietnam’s traditional stock exchanges had just over 10.7 million accounts as at the end of August 2025.
Binance is currently the most popular centralised crypto exchange used by Vietnamese investors, with an 80.26 per cent user share, indicated a 2024 survey by global data and insights company TGM Research.
A search on website analytics platform Similarweb revealed that Vietnam accounted for 5.71 per cent of Binance.com’s global traffic in August 2025, or around 3.1 million visits, second only to South Korea.
Binance did not respond to BT’s request for comment on how it plans to navigate the new rules in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, blockchain firm Kyber Network, which has offices in Singapore, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has temporarily blocked access from Vietnam to its multi-chain decentralised exchange aggregator KyberSwap.
In an interview with BT in June, its Vietnamese co-founder and chief executive Tran Huy Vu warned that vague rules and a broad scope of restrictions may stifle innovation and create legal uncertainties for businesses such as his own.
However, he said, since Vietnamese users constitute only about 3 per cent of KyberSwap’s user base, their withdrawal is unlikely to have a material impact on the operations of the platform, which said it crossed US$10 billion in monthly trading volume in August.
While penalties for violations in the crypto field have yet to be clearly defined, a separate draft decree released by the finance ministry in May proposed fines of up to two billion dong for violations such as operating a crypto-asset trading platform in Vietnam without a licence, or bypassing authorised entities when providing services domestically.
Cryptoholders who fail to transfer or trade their assets through authorised custodians and platform providers may face a penalty of up to 200 million dong.
These regulations have caused jitters among Vietnamese traders, with many raising concerns about their holdings in crypto assets that may not be listed or supported as trading pairs on newly licensed local exchanges.
“Local exchanges will always lag behind global ones, and traders may exploit loopholes to avoid compliance,” said Hoang Quan, a crypto trader based in Hanoi.
“It also takes time to build enough trust for people to put money into local ones.”
HSC’s Nguyen noted that institutional anchoring, regulatory trust, as well as market depth, accessibility and user experience are critical factors to ensure adoption of these new platforms among local and foreign investors.
“If these elements align, Vietnam’s regulated crypto ecosystem could not only capture domestic trading volume, but also position itself as a regional hub for compliant, institution-friendly digital-asset trading,” he added.
Nguyen also anticipates limited liquidity in these exchanges during the initial phase, and highlighted the need for market-making support and integration with global liquidity providers.
Potential fundraising channel
Under the new regulation, Vietnamese firms must issue tokens based on underlying real-world assets, excluding cash and securities. These tokens will also be available exclusively to foreign investors for purchase and trading via authorised platforms.
“This signals a cautious approach by the government, while still creating a new channel to attract foreign investment into Vietnam,” said Phong.
All issuance, trading and payment of crypto assets in the pilot market must be conducted in the Vietnam dong, with tax rates aligned with those of the stock market. The latter currently imposes a 0.1 per cent levy on each transaction’s value.
“If tokenisation of real-world assets eventually becomes permitted, the stock and crypto markets could converge into a more diversified financial system,” HSC’s Nguyen noted.
The official roll-out of the pilot crypto market reflects the Vietnamese authorities’ efforts to remove the country from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list.
In June 2023, the intergovernmental watchdog recognised Vietnam as having deficiencies in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks, including a lack of regulation for virtual assets and virtual-asset service providers.
Some South-east Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia have already issued regulations related to virtual assets, with varying approaches to capture the thriving digital-asset sector.
In June 2025, Vietnam’s parliament also passed a new law that officially recognises crypto assets.
The government identified blockchain as one of Vietnam’s 11 strategic technologies and highlighted its role in areas such as cryptocurrencies, digital infrastructure and origin traceability.
“A portion of the grey market has now been brought into the regulated zone in Vietnam,” said Phong. “However, since this is only a pilot market, any mistakes made during the roll-out will serve as lessons for both market participants and regulators, with rules subject to further adjustments.”
