Vietnam is making a bold regulatory bet on digital assets. On September 9, 2025, the government approved a five-year pilot program to formally regulate a crypto-trading market — a cautious but significant step toward integrating crypto assets into the country’s financial system. The move signals a major shift in how Vietnam perceives blockchain and digital assets: as infrastructure to be shaped, not fought.
Vietnam’s pilot, enshrined in Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP, gives the green light for regulated crypto issuance, trading, and related services — but only under strict conditions. All transactions must be denominated in Vietnamese dong (VND), a clear effort to anchor the market within the domestic economy.
Not just anyone can set up a crypto exchange under this regime. Only Vietnamese companies licensed by the Ministry of Finance will be allowed to operate: whether as exchanges, issuance platforms or service providers. These firms face demanding capital and operational requirements.
Specifically, service providers in the pilot are required to hold at least 10 trillion VND (approximately $379 million), with at least 65% of that capital coming from institutional investors. Foreign ownership is capped, too: no more than 49% of a licensed operator may be owned by non-Vietnamese entities.
Vietnam’s pilot limits the type of digital assets that can be issued. Under the new rules, only tokens backed by “real underlying assets” are allowed — effectively banning crypto assets that mirror fiat currencies or securities.
In practice, that means stablecoins pegged to fiat (like USDT or USDC) or tokenized securities are not eligible in this pilot. The government is keeping a tight rein on what kinds of digital assets will be legal in this first regulated market.
Issuers also face disclosure demands: they must publish a prospectus at least 15 days before offering any token under the pilot.
Getting into Vietnam’s pilot isn’t easy. Beyond capital requirements, applicants need strong governance, risk management, IT systems designed for cybersecurity, and highly qualified staff — including security professionals and seasoned executives.
According to legal experts, only a handful of licenses will be issued: the Ministry of Finance may permit up to five licensed “Crypto Asset Service Providers” (CASPs) under the pilot’s terms.
The pilot also places particular emphasis on financial crime controls. Entities must adhere strictly to anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CTF), data protection and cybersecurity laws.
The pilot doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s closely tied to Vietnam’s broader digital reform push. Earlier in 2025, the National Assembly passed the Law on Digital Technology Industry, which will come into force on January 1, 2026. That law formally recognizes “crypto assets” under Vietnamese law, making them legally visible—not just speculative tokens.
Under the law, digital assets are defined as items stored, transferred and authenticated via digital technology. However, certain classes—like digital fiat currencies, securities, and central bank digital currencies—are explicitly excluded.
Despite the regulatory fanfare, as of early October 2025, no companies had formally applied to participate in the pilot. The Ministry of Finance confirmed this at a press briefing, noting that while the rules are in place, the high barriers to entry have made many potential players hesitant.
The lack of applicants is telling. With minimum capital set at 10 trillion VND and strict operational criteria, many firms may be questioning whether it’s worth the risk. Some believe that the pilot’s design—while transparent—leans too heavily toward legacy financial institutions rather than typical fintech or startup players.
Vietnam is clearly playing a long game. By starting with a highly controlled, limited-access pilot, the government can closely observe how crypto markets operate under regulation. The five-year timeline (2025–2030) provides a window to test, adjust and scale.
For Vietnamese regulators, the goals are ambitious: to protect consumers, prevent financial crime, and test market mechanisms without opening the floodgates. By requiring strong capitalization and institutional participation, they hope to avoid wild speculative behavior while keeping the door open for innovation.
For international observers and crypto firms, Vietnam’s pilot could become a model—or a cautionary tale. If it’s successful, it could attract regulated capital and establish Vietnam as a digital-asset hub in Southeast Asia. But if no firms join or the regime proves too restrictive, adoption may stall, leaving the pilot shelved or scaled back.
There are several real risks. First, execution risk: regulators will need to judge token issuance, custody, and exchange operations carefully, balancing compliance with innovation. Second, liquidity risk: limiting asset types (no fiat-pegged coins, no tokenized securities) may throttle the kind of market activity that makes such platforms sustainable. Third, participation risk: if no or only a few companies apply, the pilot may lack meaningful competition and diversity.
Another challenge: enforcement. Going forward, Vietnam must ensure unlicensed platforms shut down, unregistered tokens stay off regulated markets, and sanctions are meaningful enough to deter bad actors. Otherwise, the pilot could be undermined from the inside.
Vietnam’s pilot is significant on a global scale. As more countries debate how to regulate crypto, Vietnam is showing that it’s possible to build a regulated blockchain-asset market without embracing all crypto at once. The country’s approach is neither laissez-faire nor purely restrictive—it’s a deliberate, test-based entry.
If successful, Vietnam could become a blueprint for emerging markets seeking to build digital-asset ecosystems under strong state oversight. Other governments will likely watch closely: can you genuinely pilot crypto trading at scale while mandating local backing, limiting foreign ownership, and rejecting stablecoins? Vietnam’s answer may shape policy debates in Asia and beyond.
Vietnam’s five-year crypto pilot marks one of the most carefully crafted entries into digital-asset regulation by a major economy still largely on the fringes of mainstream crypto discussion. By setting high capital standards, demanding real-asset backing, and tightly controlling who can operate, the government is signaling that it wants crypto growth—but not at the expense of financial integrity.
The fact that not a single firm has applied yet tells us this may be harder than many expected. But whether or not the pilot becomes bustling with exchanges and issuers, it already represents a turning point: Vietnam is no longer merely watching the crypto boom—it’s framing its own domestic experiment with it.
Over the next five years, how the pilot unfolds will be critical—not just for Vietnam’s digital economy, but for anyone interested in the future of regulated crypto markets. Will this be the start of a flourishing regulated space, or a cautionary tale of ambition constrained by reality? Either way, the world is watching.