Vietnam has launched a pilot program to license cryptocurrency exchanges, aiming to bring the rapidly growing market into a formal legal framework after years of regulatory uncertainty. Vietnam’s Crypto Licensing Pilot Begins On Tuesday, Vietnam began its pilot licensing regime to officially regulate crypto trading platforms in the country for the first time, in an effort to gradually move the sector from the shadows into a properly supervised framework under the local financial authorities. According to local reports , the Ministry of Finance issued Decision No. 96/QD-BTC on January 20, introducing procedures necessary for the implementation of Government Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP. The three new administrative procedures cover the issuance, modification, and revocation of licenses for entities operating crypto asset trading platforms. The Ministry announced that it began accepting applications from businesses seeking to offer crypto asset trading services. For context, the country’s cryptocurrency market lacked a clear legal framework, existing in an unsupervised, “gray area.” Last year, the National Assembly passed the “Law on Digital Technology Industry,” which took effect on January 1, 2026, to create a foundation for authorities to develop suitable management policies. In September, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc signed Government Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP, allowing a five-year pilot program for the issuance and trading of crypto assets. As reported by Bitcoinist, under Resolution No. 05, organizations seeking to provide services for crypto trading markets must be registered with the financial authorities and fully comply with a strict set of rules, including a minimum contributed charter capital of VND10 trillion, worth around $380.66 million. Notably, at least 65% of the charter capital must be held by institutional investors, with more than 35% contributed by at least two institutions such as commercial banks, securities companies, fund management companies, insurance companies, or technology enterprises. The general director must have at least two years of experience in finance, while the CTO must have at least five years of experience in information technology. Moreover, firms must hire at least 10 technology staff with cybersecurity certificates and at least 10 staff with securities practice certificates working in other departments. Financial Institutions Dive Into Digital Assets Following the issuance of Resolution No. 05, major financial players, including securities companies and banking institutions, have announced their intention to participate in the pilot and enter the sector, noted the report. In June, two SSI’s subsidiaries, SSI Digital Technology JSC and SSI Asset Management Company Limited, signed Memorandums 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 contributed capital to establish the VIX Crypto Asset Exchange and partnered with tech giant FPT Corp. to prepare its technology infrastructure. Meanwhile, the banking sector saw MBBank enter a technical cooperation agreement with Dunamu, the operator of the Korean exchange Upbit, to establish a crypto exchange in Vietnam while jointly developing the legal framework and investor protection mechanisms. Techcombank also established the Techcom Crypto Asset Exchange with a charter capital of several hundred billion VND. Similarly, VPBank stated it is fully prepared to begin operations as soon as it receives regulatory approval.
