Vietnamese Crypto Exchanges May Phase Out USDT in Favor of Direct VND Trading
At the recent Vietnam Digital Financial Security Forum, Chris Chiew, Chief Advisor of CAEX—a prominent exchange backed by OKX and the VPBank ecosystem aiming for local licensing—presented the platform’s mechanism for direct Vietnamese Dong (VND) deposits, withdrawals, and trading. This signals that domestic Vietnamese crypto exchanges may gradually phase out USDT and other stablecoin intermediaries, shifting toward a model based entirely on direct local fiat denomination and settlement.
From an industry and market perspective, this direct fiat integration and closed-loop trading model introduces several key dynamics:
-
Lowered Barriers to Entry and Enhanced Capital Security: For novice investors, eliminating the extra step of purchasing USDT significantly reduces operational friction. Furthermore, conducting transactions through direct bank integrations and compliant channels removes the risks of hacker attacks, account freezes, and scams often associated with traditional P2P transactions.
-
Increased Regulatory Transparency and Tax Compliance: A fiat settlement framework linked directly to local financial institutions enables regulators to monitor fund flows in real time, establishing a solid foundation for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and future crypto asset tax policies.
-
Market Liquidity Fragmentation and DeFi Isolation: On the downside, restricting external stablecoin transfers keeps traders largely confined to a closed domestic ecosystem, making direct access to global Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols difficult. Additionally, isolated liquidity could cause local token prices to decouple from international exchanges, potentially creating a price premium similar to South Korea’s market dynamics.
The final operational details for domestic exchanges remain subject to regulatory approval and official rollouts. Whether direct VND trading will fundamentally reshape Vietnam’s crypto ecosystem will become clear once these platforms officially launch.（Vietnam Crypto Exchange）