Vietnam Cracks Down on Cross-Border Capital Transfers; Five Firms Pass Initial Review for Crypto Licenses
Vietnam has become one of the world’s most active cryptocurrency markets. According to the Global Crypto Adoption Index released last year by blockchain data firm Chainalysis, Vietnam ranked fourth globally. It is estimated that in the 12 months leading up to June last year, transaction volume involving Vietnamese traders exceeded $200 billion (approx. SGD 255.6 billion).
As cryptocurrencies and stablecoins gain increasing popularity in the region, authorities are growing concerned that their usage heightens the risk of disorderly capital outflows.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance is drafting new regulations to prohibit Vietnamese citizens from trading on overseas cryptocurrency platforms.
According to a Ministry of Finance document dated March 12, five companies passed the first round of qualification reviews. These include affiliates of three private Vietnamese banks—Techcombank, VPBank, and LPBank—as well as brokerage firm VIX Securities and private conglomerate Sun Group. Vietnam crypto exchange
Vietnam maintains strict restrictions on cross-border capital transfers.
Because the corporate bond market remains small and nascent, and the stock exchange is still classified as a frontier market, many domestic savers have turned to investing in gold or real estate instead.
Domestic gold prices in Vietnam trade at a premium of about 10% over the global benchmark, while the real estate market suffers from frequent speculative volatility, underscoring the limited investment choices available to households.
Although Vietnam does not explicitly prohibit holding cryptocurrency, digital assets are not recognized as currency or legal tender. Currently, most Vietnamese traders primarily use offshore centralized exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Bybit.
Phan Duc Trung, Chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain Association, stated that successful domestic exchanges would help retain transaction fees within the country and support the growth of Vietnam’s digital financial services industry.
“This will not only help increase national revenue, but also boost the growth of the domestic digital economy,” Trung said, though he cautioned that Vietnam’s legal framework remains incomplete, particularly in areas such as regulation, taxation, and risk management.