Vietnam Approves Five-Year Pilot Program for Cryptocurrency Trading Market
According to a government announcement, Vietnam will test crypto trading under strict domestic control, requiring all transactions in dong and limiting foreign ownership of licensed platforms.
Vietnam has approved a five-year pilot program for cryptocurrency trading, allowing only Vietnamese companies to operate platforms and requiring all transactions to be conducted in the local dong. The rules mandate that exchange providers hold at least 10 trillion dong (US$379m) in capital, with institutional investors contributing no less than 65% and foreign ownership capped at 49%. Only Vietnamese firms can issue tokens, which may be sold solely to foreign investors. Once licensed platforms launch, investors will have six months to migrate from unlicensed exchanges. The pilot builds on Vietnam’s Law on Digital Technology Industry and the rollout of NDAChain, the country’s national blockchain infrastructure. Vietnam ranked fifth in global crypto adoption in 2023, with 17 million owners holding over $100 billion in assets.
- NDAChain: A permissioned Layer 1 blockchain operated by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security to anchor national digital infrastructure.
- Token Issuance: The process of creating and distributing new digital tokens, which in Vietnam’s pilot is restricted to domestic firms.
- Pilot Program: A limited-term initiative used to test new policies or systems before wider implementation.