Vietnam Declares End of Cryptocurrency Regulations, Openness... Will It End Reliance on Foreign Exchanges?

▲ Bitcoin (BTC), Vietnam/ChatGPT Generated Image

A projection has emerged that Vietnam could launch the first official activities of its regulated cryptocurrency asset market in Q3 2026. As demand for digital assets grows, the Vietnamese government is pushing to bring cryptocurrency transactions under an official supervisory framework and institutionalize the market, focusing on locally registered companies and the Vietnamese Dong.

Cointelegraph reported on the 13th that Nguyen Duc Chi, Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Finance, stated at the Digital Trust in Finance 2026 forum that Vietnam's cryptocurrency asset market could begin its first official activities as early as Q3 2026. Deputy Minister Chi explained that the market could operate under a framework designed to ensure safety and transparency.

This statement is an extension of efforts to integrate Vietnam, one of Asia's most active cryptocurrency markets, into an official supervisory system. Earlier this year, Vietnamese regulators opened a licensing pathway for domestic cryptocurrency asset trading platforms, and preparations for the launch of a regulated market have since accelerated.

Vietnam's institutionalization of cryptocurrency is also intertwined with its broader digital economy strategy. According to reports, Vietnam aims to expand its digital economy to at least 30% of its GDP by 2030, process 80% of all transactions non-cash, and have over 40% of businesses participate in innovation activities.

In March, it was reported that five Vietnamese companies passed the initial qualification screening in the competition to launch the country's first regulated cryptocurrency exchange. These companies include affiliates of private banks such as Techcombank, VPBank, and LPBank, as well as the securities firm VIX Securities and the conglomerate Sun Group.

Tax system reforms are also underway. In February, Vietnam established a tax system that imposes taxes on cryptocurrency transactions in a manner similar to traditional securities transactions. The draft proposal includes a plan to levy a 0.1% tax on each personal cryptocurrency transaction processed through authorized operators.

Vietnam is already considered a market with a high global cryptocurrency adoption rate. In Chainalysis's 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Vietnam ranked 4th, following India, the United States, and Pakistan. In terms of on-chain received value, Vietnam also ranked 3rd in Asia, after India and South Korea, recording approximately $200 billion in transactions over the 12 months leading up to June 2025.

However, many Vietnamese investors still rely on foreign cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Bybit. To encourage more trading activity on domestic platforms, Vietnam launched a five-year cryptocurrency pilot program in September 2025, requiring all transactions to be processed in Vietnamese Dong through locally registered companies. The plan for a regulated market launch in Q3 2026 is presented as a measure to reduce this reliance on foreign entities and integrate cryptocurrency transactions into the official financial management system.

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