Vietnam to Issue First Crypto Service Licenses in 2026
Vietnam plans to issue its first batch of licenses to cryptocurrency service providers under a pilot legal framework in 2026, allowing the first digital asset platforms to commence operations. Vu Thi Chan Phuong, Chairman of the National Securities Commission, stated that the regulatory mechanism, referencing FATF recommendations and the EU model, covers transactions between service providers and investors, with a focus on risk management, investor asset protection, and anti-money laundering.
Deputy Finance Minister Nguyen Duc Chi met with Mariana Kuhnel, Executive Director of the Austrian Financial Markets Authority, in Vienna to discuss bilateral regulatory cooperation and experience exchange. Kühnel proposed that both sides hold online technical seminars and strengthen coordination through the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The Vietnamese delegation included the ambassador to Austria, representatives from the Securities Commission, stock exchanges, and the Central Securities Depository. The pilot program, based on Government Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP and the accompanying Digital Technology Industry Law, will last approximately five years.
The licensing requirements exclude most participants: applicants must be Vietnamese-registered companies with a minimum paid-up capital of approximately 10 trillion Vietnamese dong (equivalent to about US$380 million to US$400 million); foreign ownership is capped at 49%, and companies cannot simultaneously hold interests in multiple service providers; at least 35% of the equity must be held by two financial institutions; issuance, trading, and settlement must be conducted in Vietnamese dong. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Bank jointly review applications, with the Licensing Committee receiving and coordinating submissions. Applications will be accepted starting January 20, 2026.
A queue has already formed on the market side. According to a Treasury Department document cited by Reuters, five entities have passed the initial review, including Techcombank, VPBank, an affiliate of LPBank, VIX Securities, and the Sun Group consortium. The Treasury Department’s draft also requires: three days’ advance notice for shareholdings exceeding 1% of the articles of association capital; three days’ advance notice for transactions involving custodial assets by directors, supervisors, senior executives, and technical officers; weekly custodial data submissions to the Securities and Futures Commission; and twice-yearly audited customer asset reports, including wallet addresses, balances, cold and hot wallet status, and reserve certificates.
The demand base is already substantial. GWI statistics indicate that approximately 9.2 million Vietnamese hold crypto assets, representing 18.5% of internet users. Chainalysis ranked Vietnam fourth in its previous global adoption index, with on-chain activity involving Vietnamese traders exceeding $200 billion in the 12 months ending June of that year. Vietnam has been on the FATF grey list since June 2023, and many deadlines for its action plan have passed. Licenses are being used to fill the regulatory gap for virtual asset service providers.
Who’s buying and who’s selling? Buyers are local financial groups with the capital, bank shareholders, and compliance systems to manage the transactions; sellers are Vietnamese retail traffic on unlicensed overseas platforms. The event is driven by the pilot program’s launch and the pressure of the grey list, shifting funds from peer-to-peer and overseas accounts to licensed custody and Vietnamese dong settlement channels. Beneficiaries are banks, securities firms, and large conglomerates that have passed the initial approval process; those under pressure are startup exchanges lacking sufficient capital and domestic investors still using overseas platforms six months after the initial licenses were issued.
Regarding supplementary data, public reports have not yet listed the names of exchanges that have obtained formal licenses, nor have they provided the first batch of listed trading pairs or the initial market-making scale. What can be verified at present is that the application window has been opened, and capital and equity structure have been written as hard thresholds. On-chain existing transactions still mainly occur on international platforms rather than domestic licensed ledgers.（Vietnam Crypto Exchange）