Vietnam Pushes for First Licensed Cryptocurrency Exchange
HANOI, March 17 – Companies in Vietnam are hurrying to establish the country’s first legally certified cryptocurrency exchange as the government tightens restrictions on foreign trading platforms in a market that’s among the busiest globally.
Following a government resolution released in February, Hanoi plans to initiate a pilot for a locally-run digital asset exchange as early as this month. This move is part of a broader strategy to enhance regulation of virtual currency transactions and capital movements.
A Treasury document from March 12 indicates that five companies have successfully completed initial qualification tests. These include branches of three private banks—Techcombank, VPBank, and LPBank—as well as VIX Securities and Sun Group, a prominent private conglomerate in Vietnam.
Sun Group and VPBank have confirmed their applications for a license, though the other companies haven’t responded immediately to requests for comments via email.
A spokesperson from the ministry mentioned they are addressing the issue but refrained from commenting on specific applicants.
Vietnam’s Crypto Landscape
Vietnam is now ranked as the fourth most active cryptocurrency market globally, according to last year’s Global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis. It’s estimated that transactions involving Vietnamese traders surpassed $200 billion in the year leading up to June.
Authorities are becoming more vigilant about the rising use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which pose risks of uncontrolled capital flight.
The Ministry of Finance is currently drafting regulations to prevent Vietnamese citizens from engaging with foreign cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Vietnam has historically imposed strict limits on capital flows. With a nascent corporate bond market and a nascent stock exchange, many local investors are opting to invest in gold and real estate instead.
Currently, gold prices in Vietnam are about 10% higher than global benchmarks, and the housing market is prone to speculation, reflecting the limited investment avenues available to citizens.
While there are no explicit restrictions on owning digital currencies, they aren’t legally recognized as money or a legitimate form of payment in Vietnam. This has led most Vietnamese traders to favor overseas centralized exchanges like Binance, OKX, and Bybit, according to industry insiders.
Phan Duc Trung, chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain and Digital Assets Association, expressed that a successful domestic exchange could potentially lower local transaction fees and bolster the growth of Vietnam’s digital financial services sector.
