Vietnam Approves Five-Year Pilot Program for Regulated Crypto Trading

According to Bloomberg, Vietnam has launched a five-year pilot program to regulate crypto asset trading, marking the country’s first official step toward bringing digital assets under government supervision.

Duration: 5 years.

Participants: Only Vietnamese companies can operate trading platforms or issue tokens, with strict capital requirements of at least 10 trillion dong (~$379M).

Foreign Involvement: Overseas investors can own up to 49% of licensed providers. Both foreign and domestic investors are limited to one exchange provider.

Asset Rules: Only tokens backed by real assets are permitted; securities and fiat-linked tokens are excluded.

Currency: All transactions must be settled in Vietnamese dong (VND).

Investor Access: Targeted at Vietnamese nationals with existing crypto holdings and foreign investors.

Bigger Picture

The program aligns with Vietnam’s upcoming Digital Technology Industry Law (effective Jan 1, 2026), which will formally recognize crypto assets.

It’s designed to combat money laundering and improve compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), aiming to remove Vietnam from the FATF’s grey list.

The initiative also seeks to develop a domestic crypto sector while carefully welcoming foreign capital.

Vietnam currently ranks third globally in grassroots crypto adoption, highlighting the country’s strong retail interest in digital assets.

Market Impact

This pilot could transform Vietnam from one of the world’s largest informal crypto markets into a regulated hub, bridging retail adoption with institutional capital while ensuring state oversight.

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