Since March 2025, the crypto asset industry has been bustling with excitement and continuous big news. However, amid all the commotion, there is a piece of news that is quiet yet holds great potential. That is, our neighboring country Vietnam is quietly advancing a far-reaching reform of cryptocurrencies – gradually moving from the previous “one-size-fits-all” ban to a path of relaxation and compliance regulation.
In early March this year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave an order, demanding that all ministries and commissions must come up with a legal regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies within March. Deputy Minister of Finance of Vietnam, Nguyen Duc Chi, responded promptly, stating that the Ministry of Finance will report to the government on the legal framework regarding digital currencies within March, which includes allowing the pilot operation of digital currency trading platforms. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam and the State Bank of Vietnam are also working non-stop to intensify their research on the legal framework for the management of digital assets and digital currencies.
This series of actions indicates that the cryptocurrency sector in Vietnam is about to undergo major changes. This reform may even become a pioneering “experimental field” for future cryptocurrency legislation in our country. Today, the Sa Jie team will delve deeply into the historical evolution of Vietnam’s crypto assets, and in combination with its financial regulatory system, explore whether Vietnam has the potential to become a “Po County” alternative for crypto people in the future, or even a preferred destination for overseas investment.
How does Vietnam manage crypto assets from prohibition to relaxation?
Vietnam, as a typical developing Southeast Asian country, enjoys unique demographic structure advantages and economic development potential. Its population structure shows obvious characteristics of youthfulness, with abundant labor resources. About 35% of the population is under the age of 20, and there is a continuous stream of new births. For a long time, this demographic advantage and relatively low labor costs have made Vietnam a cost “value trough” in the eyes of many enterprises going global. In addition, in recent years, Vietnam has benefited from the dividends of industrial transfer, maintaining a high economic growth rate and political stability. It has thus become one of the popular choices for Chinese enterprises to invest overseas.
It is well known that the younger the population structure of a country is, the higher the holding rate and trading volume of cryptocurrencies tend to be. In addition, Vietnam has implemented a strict foreign exchange control system and the Vietnamese dong has continued to depreciate. Under the combined effect of these factors, the penetration rate of crypto assets in Vietnam in recent years has far exceeded the expectations of the outside world. Although Vietnam has deficiencies in its technological innovation capabilities and the development of Internet technology, and has long been in a “little transparent” position in the cryptocurrency circle with limited say, it is undeniable that it is growing into a market that is increasingly large and vibrant in the crypto world.
Strict regulation of crypto assets in Vietnam
For a long time, Vietnam has adopted a regulatory attitude towards crypto assets on the surface that is quite similar to that of our country, implementing a strict regulatory system. Neither does it recognize that crypto assets can be circulated in the market as a general equivalent, nor does it recognize that they have property attributes. However, in judicial practice, Vietnam acknowledges that crypto assets can be regarded as criminal targets in the sense of criminal law.
Vietnam’s legislative system is of the civil and commercial separation type, which is different from that of our country. It has both the Civil Code and the Commercial Code. However, unfortunately, neither of these two codes has made clear provisions for crypto assets, a special type of asset.
From the perspective of current Vietnamese law, crypto assets do not fall under the category of “valuable things, money, documents and property rights” as stipulated in Article 105 of the Civil Code, which means that at the legal level, they are not a type of property. At the same time, crypto assets do not meet the definition of “services” as stipulated in Article 9 of Vietnam’s Commercial Law.
In terms of actual regulatory measures, Vietnam has long maintained a high-pressure stance, and some key time points and practices share similarities with those of our country. For instance, after China issued the “9.4 Announcement” in 2017, explicitly listing ICO activities as criminal acts, in the same year, Vietnam also resolutely banned crypto assets across the board and imposed hefty fines. However, the reality is somewhat awkward. Judging from practice, the implementation effect of the relevant administrative orders in Vietnam seems not to be ideal. According to the data disclosed by Triple-A, Vietnam has over 17 million holders of crypto assets, ranking 7th globally. Based on Vietnam’s total population, the proportion of its citizens holding crypto assets is approximately 17%, which is more than twice the global average.
Vietnam has made it clear: embrace crypto assets
Perhaps influenced by the recent bull market atmosphere of crypto assets, or perhaps due to the realization by Vietnamese regulatory authorities that the crypto asset business has a promoting effect on the country’s economic development, or perhaps out of a rational consideration that “it is better to guide than to block” the current situation, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has explicitly required all ministries and commissions to propose a legal regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies within March. Immediately after that, the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam hinted that it planned to build a sandbox space to allow the pilot operation of a digital currency trading platform. This move is quite similar to what Hong Kong did when it released the “Web3 Manifesto” two years ago.
Although the Vietnamese authorities have not yet released specific details on the legal regulation of cryptocurrencies, based on its recent regulatory cooperation trends, it can be boldly speculated that Vietnam is highly likely to adopt a regulatory framework similar to that of Singapore. On March 12th, the State Securities Commission of Vietnam and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reached a cooperation intention and signed a Letter of Intent for Cooperation (LOI). Both sides unanimously decided to carry out capacity-building cooperation in building and improving the regulatory framework for digital assets in Vietnam. Based on this, the Sa Jie team predicts that if Vietnam can successfully pass the relevant legislation, it will promptly open the application for “box entry” of crypto asset trading platforms. Relevant practitioners can closely follow the subsequent information.
For people in China’s cryptocurrency circle, is Vietnam a substitute for “Po County”?
The Sa Jie team believes that at this stage, investing in a crypto asset platform in Vietnam brings both risks and opportunities.
From the perspective of opportunities, people in China’s cryptocurrency circle have many advantages when investing in cryptocurrencies in Vietnam. On the one hand, it can fully combine the advanced technological advantages of the country with the huge market advantages of Vietnam. If the business can be carried out smoothly, the transaction volume of the platform is expected to be guaranteed to a certain extent. On the other hand, China’s investment channels in Vietnam have become relatively mature and unobstructed. Apart from professional agency services, most domestic law firms can provide full-process on-site support services. Furthermore, in order to attract overseas investment, Vietnam has formulated a large number of tax incentives, customs incentives and other measures for overseas investors.
In addition, holding a compliant license for a crypto asset exchange enables one to participate in the disposal of involved assets in China and other countries for a period of time in the future, which is highly attractive to crypto asset exchanges.
However, risks cannot be ignored either. Vietnam has always been a country with extremely strict foreign exchange control. At the same time, its financial regulatory environment is relatively loose, money laundering is rampant, and all kinds of funds are mixed. Since the Global Task Force on Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing (FATF) placed Vietnam on the “gray list” on June 23, 2023, Vietnam has yet to successfully “de-gray” and will remain on the list in 2025. This leads to the financial activities of enterprises registered in Vietnam and Vietnamese users being subject to extremely strict scrutiny. Most banks and financial institutions around the world need to conduct enhanced customer due diligence when handling the inflow and outflow of funds on Vietnamese crypto asset trading platforms.
As a result, when providing cross-border crypto asset services to users, especially virtual currency and fiat currency exchange services, Vietnam’s crypto asset exchanges are highly likely to encounter numerous difficulties, and the platform’s compliance costs may also increase significantly.
Write at the end
Overall, if Vietnam wants to become a substitute for “Po County”, it still faces many challenges and has a long way to go. In the short term, the insufficiency of infrastructure construction and the lagging development of Internet technology in Vietnam are extremely unfavorable for the development of the crypto industry. Moreover, it is no easy task to join Vietnam’s regulatory sandbox and open a crypto asset exchange. When conducting emerging businesses in Southeast Asian countries, there are often certain hidden thresholds. Without good government relations, it is very difficult to seize the first wave of dividends. However, despite numerous difficulties, the positive signals released by Vietnam’s current cryptocurrency regulatory reform are still worthy of continuous attention from practitioners in the crypto industry. New opportunities may emerge in the future.
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