Vietnamese Deputy Finance Minister Nguyen Duc Chi said the country may introduce its first officially regulated cryptocurrency asset trading as early as the third quarter of 2026.
The government announced at the Digital Trust in Finance 2026 Forum in Hanoi that it has approved five companies to operate digital asset exchanges.
Vietnam’s calculated entry into the digital assets industry
Vietnamese Deputy Finance Minister Nguyen Duc Chi Announce During the Digital Trust in Finance 2026 Forum in Hanoi, five authorized operators of digital asset platforms were selected, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Security and the State Bank of Vietnam.
“We believe that as early as the third quarter, Vietnam could witness the first official activities of its crypto-asset market, which operates within a framework designed to ensure safety and transparency,” Chi said at the forum.
Vietnam has been preparing for this regulatory move for some time. At the beginning of 2026, Digital Technology Industry Law It came into effect, and crypto assets were officially legalized.
Before that, in September 2025, the government issued Decision No. 05/2025/NP-CP to pilot the crypto-asset market, and later in December, the Minister of Finance established a board of directors for crypto-asset trading under the supervision of the State Securities Commission.
Vietnam has about 17 million residents participating in the cryptocurrency market. Ownership peaked at 21 million at certain points. Cryptopolitan I mentioned Blockchain analytics firm Chainalogy estimated that the volume of cryptocurrency transactions in Vietnam reached about $220 billion to $230 billion between July 2024 and June 2025.
Cryptopolitan reported that Vietnamese traders opened an estimated 20 million wallets on offshore platforms such as Binance, Bybit, and OKX. They have six months to link their wallets to government-approved platforms or face criminal penalties.
Which digital asset companies hold a Vietnam license?
While the government has yet to announce the names of all five approved companies, several major players have confirmed that they are in the final stages of the licensing process.
SCEX (Sacom Crypto Asset Exchange) has completed the first round of evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Finance. The company has raised its charter capital to VND360 billion (about $14 million) to enhance its financial capacity.
Other eligible applicants include VIX Crypto Asset Exchange, Vitamin Prosperity Crypto Assets Exchange (CAEX), Techcom Crypto Exchange (TCEX) and Sun Group ecosystem’s Vietnam Digital Assets.
CAEX, which operates within the ecosystem of VPBank, one of the country’s largest private lenders, has secured backing from OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital to help meet the government’s stringent capital requirements.
Cryptopolitan I mentioned The government has set strict requirements for stock exchange operators. For example, applicants must have at least 10 trillion dong (about $408 million) of charter capital, nearly three times the requirements of banks.
Institutional investors must provide a minimum of 65% of initial capital, and maximum foreign ownership of 49%. Individual cryptocurrency traders will face a personal income tax of 0.1% on the total value of each transaction, the same rate currently charged for stock market trades.
The tax applies whether or not the transaction results in a profit or loss. Vietnamese companies will pay a 20% corporate income tax on cryptocurrency profits, while foreign organizations conducting cryptocurrency asset transfers through local service providers will pay a 0.1% tax on revenue per transfer.
All transactions during the five-year pilot must be conducted in Vietnamese dongs, and the government is preparing to restrict access to offshore platforms such as Binance, OKX and Bybit once local exchanges are up and running.
South Korea is moving into the Vietnam market
Cryptopolitan recently I mentioned South Korean exchanges are also making moves. Bithumb has signed a memorandum of understanding with SSID, a subsidiary of SSI Securities, the largest securities company in Vietnam, to build a local virtual asset exchange.
Meanwhile, Donamo Vice Chairman Kim Hyung-nyun met with Vietnamese Military Commercial Equity Bank (MB Bank) to discuss cooperation in building a digital asset exchange during President Lee Jae-myung’s economic delegation in April this year.
