Vietnam has initiated a tightly controlled trial program for cryptocurrency trading, commencing on September 9th. This five-year experiment imposes significant hurdles for platform operators and restricts token sales to international investors.
The government’s mandate stipulates that companies incorporated in Vietnam must possess a minimum of 10 trillion dong in fully paid capital. Foreign ownership is capped at 49%, and at least 65% of the company’s equity must be held by institutional entities such as banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, fund managers, or accredited technology companies.
Pilot Program Launches with Stringent Capital and Ownership Regulations
According to the new official guidelines, all domestic transactions must be settled in dong, the Vietnamese currency, and token issuers are exclusively permitted to sell to foreign investors. This initiative represents a carefully managed introduction to a rapidly expanding market, with clearly defined key requirements.
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Issuers are required to publicly release prospectuses prior to commencing any sales activities. Vietnamese investors who already possess crypto assets will be provided with a regulated avenue to migrate their holdings to licensed platforms.
Upon the issuance of the initial operating license, Vietnamese residents will have a six-month grace period to transfer their digital assets to officially approved platforms. Following this period, authorities intend to enforce existing legislation to penalize trading activities on unlicensed platforms, as the pilot program unfolds.
This pilot program is part of a broader legislative shift. In June, legislators enacted the Digital Technology Industry Law, formally recognizing digital assets, differentiating “crypto assets” from other virtual instruments, and reinforcing anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) measures. This law is slated to take effect in January 2026.
This action indicates a clear objective to direct cryptocurrency activities into supervised frameworks and to establish specific operating conditions for businesses in this sector, as previously covered by BeInCrypto.
Vietnam’s NAPAS 24/7 real-time payment network, widespread acceptance of QR codes, initiatives involving tokenized NFC, and comprehensive Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures facilitate this strategic push.
Furthermore, Vietnam holds the fourth position globally in the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, underscoring its significant user base and increasing institutional investment across both centralized and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Simultaneously, Vietnam’s collaboration with international cryptocurrency entities has expanded. Bybit’s executives engaged with Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance in April to explore opportunities for cooperation on legal frameworks and the establishment of a national digital asset exchange, indicating growing alignment between local regulators and major global market participants.