Vietnam has officially passed the Law on Digital Technology, setting January 1, 2026 as the date when Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be formally recognised as digital assets under national legislation. The law, approved by the National Assembly, does not define crypto as securities, digital currency, or conventional financial products, but instead places it in a new asset class altogether. It also distinguishes between virtual assets and crypto assets, leaving room for more nuanced definitions later, while not yet providing a complete regulatory framework. Even so, this is widely seen as the foundation for a future structure, particularly one aligned with international compliance standards such as those from the Financial Action Task Force.
In many ways, this law is less about control and more about recognition. For years, Vietnam was officially anti-crypto in policy but quietly led the world in adoption. Despite the State Bank’s previous stance that banned crypto as legal tender, surveys consistently showed that around 17 percent of the population used or held crypto, often for remittances, savings, or participation in blockchain-based games. Platforms like Axie Infinity, which exploded in Vietnam before collapsing, illustrated how digital assets could embed themselves into the economy even when the law had not caught up.
Vietnam’s pivot follows a familiar pattern, one seen in other jurisdictions that first resist, then quietly accept what users have already normalised. In Vietnam’s case, adoption was driven not by speculation but by practical economic factors. Roughly 70 percent of the population remains unbanked, and for many, digital wallets are the first form of reliable financial infrastructure they ever used. The dong’s volatility, combined with the high cost of remittance services, further pushed people toward crypto solutions regardless of regulatory clarity. The gap between policy and reality became too wide to ignore, and this law is essentially a formal admission that the public was already ahead of the state.
What stands out in Vietnam’s case is how the crypto legislation fits into a broader vision. This is not just about catching up with existing user behaviour but positioning the country within a larger regional competition for digital economic influence. With the digital economy projected to reach 52 billion dollars by 2025, and regional rivals like Thailand and Indonesia still sorting out their crypto rules, Vietnam has decided to plant a flag early. By embedding crypto within a wider strategy that includes blockchain infrastructure and AI, the country signals its intent to compete on multiple technology fronts simultaneously, rather than treat each innovation in isolation.
Personally, I see this less as a policy breakthrough and more as a pragmatic adjustment. The government has not embraced crypto out of ideological conviction, but because ignoring it was no longer viable. The real shift happened years ago, not in parliament but in people’s phones, where wallets replaced bank branches and apps replaced remittance counters. Vietnam’s law is just the official translation of that lived experience into legal code. Whether this step brings clarity or just legitimises what already exists, it still matters, because even quiet recognition changes the rules of engagement for the region and beyond.
