Five Vietnamese companies have cleared initial qualification for the country’s first licensed cryptocurrency exchanges. The group includes affiliates of Techcombank, VPBank, and LPBank; stockbroker VIX Securities; and conglomerate Sun Group. VPBank and Sun Group confirmed their applications.
Vietnam opened licensing in January under new finance ministry rules that classify crypto assets as property-but prohibit use as legal tender or payment. A five-year pilot launched in September 2025 mandates all transactions be denominated in Vietnamese dong and bans stablecoins, permitting only crypto backed by real, non-financial assets.
Authorities are drafting rules to prohibit Vietnamese nationals from using offshore exchanges like Binance, OKX, and Bybit-citing capital flight concerns. High entry requirements-including ~$379 million in capital-led to zero applicants for the earlier pilot by October.
In February, Vietnam proposed a crypto tax framework mirroring securities trading: 0.1% levy on individual transactions via licensed platforms, and 20% corporate income tax on institutional trading profits.