Vietnam prepares pilot for regulated crypto exchanges

TLDR

Vietnam is launching a strict five-year pilot for licensed crypto exchanges that will pull trading onshore and progressively shut locals out of offshore platforms.

1. The government has approved a five-year pilot program starting around Q2 2026, with tight rules on capital, ownership and VND-only settlement.
2. Vietnamese users will be pushed from offshore exchanges into a small number of heavily regulated domestic venues, boosting oversight but likely reducing token choice and anonymity.
3. The key variables are which firms get licenses, how hard authorities enforce offshore bans, and whether the framework evolves to keep liquidity and innovation onshore.

Deep Dive

1. Pilot Design And Requirements

Vietnam has formalized a state-supervised pilot via Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP, creating a five-year regulated exchange regime under the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission. The first licensed platforms are expected around Q2 2026, with at least five companies already through an initial qualification round, according to a government-backed summary.

Licensed exchanges must handle all crypto issuance, trading and settlement in Vietnamese dong, not in foreign currencies or stablecoins. They face a minimum charter capital of VND 10,000 billion and a foreign ownership cap of 49 percent, with at least 65 percent of capital coming from institutional investors.

One leading candidate mentioned is CAEX, backed by OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital, which has reportedly raised around 10 trillion VND (about 380 million USD) to meet the capital bar and participate in the pilot exchange scheme.

2. Effects On Vietnamese Users And Liquidity

Vietnam is already a top global crypto market, with over 200 billion to 230 billion USD in annual crypto transactions, much of it on unregulated offshore platforms. The pilot aims to pull that activity onto domestic, VND-settled exchanges for better tax visibility and consumer protection.

Six months after the first license is issued, Vietnamese users who still trade outside Ministry-of-Finance licensed venues may face administrative penalties or even criminal charges, and rules are being drafted to ban trading on overseas platforms altogether. That should increase KYC and AML coverage, but it could also narrow token selection, favor large-cap assets, and reduce access to exotic pairs that remain only on offshore exchanges.

3. Key Things To Watch Next

First, watch which of the five preliminarily qualified firms receive full licenses and how they position themselves on fees, security and supported assets, since they will effectively become the default gateways for Vietnamese retail flow.

Second, monitor how aggressively authorities move against offshore exchange usage once the six-month grace window ends, including whether VPN-based access is tolerated in practice or targeted through banking and on-ramp controls.

Third, over the five-year pilot, the big question is whether the framework stays very restrictive or gradually opens to more participants and products. That will determine if Vietnam becomes a meaningful regulated liquidity hub or if significant trading simply routes through informal or foreign channels despite the rules.

Conclusion

Vietnam is moving from a largely gray crypto market to a tightly controlled, VND-denominated exchange regime that centralizes activity in a few highly capitalized domestic platforms. This should raise transparency and investor protection but may also limit token choice and push some activity into less visible channels. For market participants, the opportunity and risk both hinge on how quickly volumes migrate onshore and how flexible regulators are as the five-year pilot unfolds.