Vietnam has launched a pilot program to license cryptocurrency exchanges, aiming to bring the fast-growing market into a formal legal framework after years of regulatory uncertainty.
Vietnam Crypto License Driver Starts
On Tuesday, Vietnam began the approval of a pilot license to officially regulate crypto trading platforms in the country for the first time, in an effort to gradually move the sector from the shadows to a well-supervised structure under local financial authorities.
According to local reports, the Ministry of Finance issued Decision No. 96/QD-BTC on January 20, introduced the necessary procedures to implement Government Decision No. 05/2025/NQ-CP.
The three new administrative procedures include the issuance, modification, and revocation of licenses for companies operating crypto asset trading platforms. The Department has announced that it has started accepting applications from businesses that want to provide crypto asset trading services.
In context, the country’s cryptocurrency market did not have a clear legal framework, existing in an unsupervised “grey area”. Last year, the National Legislature passed the “Digital Technology Industry Law,” which came into effect on January 1, 2026, to create a basis for authorities to develop relevant management policies.
In September, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc signed Government Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP, which allows a five-year pilot program for the issuance and trading of crypto assets.
As reported by Bitcoinist, under Resolution No. 05, organizations that want to provide crypto trading market services must be registered with the financial authorities and fully comply with a set of strict rules, including a minimum contributed charter capital of VND10 trillion, which is worth about 380.66 million dollars.
Notably, at least 65% of the rent must be held by institutional investors, and more than 35% contributed by at least two institutions such as commercial banks, securities companies, fund management companies, insurance companies, or technology businesses.
The general manager must have at least two years of experience in finance, while the CTO must have at least five years of experience in information technology. In addition, firms must hire at least 10 technical employees with cybersecurity certifications and at least 10 employees with security implementation certifications working in other departments.
Financial Institutions Enter Digital Assets
After the issuance of Decision No. 05, major financial players, including securities companies and banking institutions, have announced their intention to participate in the evaluation and entry into this sector, the report noted.
In June, two SSI subsidiaries, SSI Digital Technology JSC and SSI Asset Management Company Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tether, U2U Network, and Amazon Web Services to develop a digital financial ecosystem in Vietnam based on blockchain and cloud computing platforms.
In addition, VIX Securities has contributed significant capital to the establishment of the VIX Crypto Asset Exchange and partnered with tech giant FPT Corp. to improve its technical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the banking sector saw MBBank enter into a technical cooperation agreement with Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s Upbit exchange, to establish a crypto exchange in Vietnam while jointly developing a legal framework and investor protection mechanisms.
Techcombank also established Techcom Crypto Asset Exchange with a charter capital of several billion VND. Similarly, VPBank said it is fully prepared to start operations as soon as it receives regulatory approval.
Bitcoin (BTC) trades at $89,656 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCCUSDT on TradingView
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