State Bank of Vietnam Crypto Policy and Stance in 2026

For years, Vietnam’s central bank, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), made it clear: no crypto payments, no bank involvement, no gray areas. But in 2025, everything changed. On June 1, 2025, Vietnam officially recognized Bitcoin and Ethereum as virtual assets under the Law on Digital Technology Industry. This wasn’t a green light for wild trading-it was the start of a tightly controlled experiment. And by January 2026, the rules are clearer than ever, even if no one’s yet applied to play by them.

What’s Legal Now? What’s Still Banned?

You can own Bitcoin in Vietnam. You can buy Ethereum. You can hold it, sell it, inherit it. That’s new. But you still can’t use it to pay for coffee, rent, or a phone bill. The SBV continues to ban crypto as a payment method. Banks and financial institutions are still forbidden from processing crypto transactions. This isn’t about stopping adoption-it’s about keeping control. The government wants digital assets in the system, but only on its terms.

The Five-Year Pilot: How the System Actually Works

The real shift came in September 2025 with Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP. It launched a five-year pilot program that sets up Vietnam’s first legal crypto exchange framework. Only five exchanges will ever be allowed to operate. And they must be Vietnamese-owned. Foreign companies? Not allowed to run exchanges here. They can only access the market through Ministry of Finance-approved Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs).

Here’s what exchange operators must do to even apply:

• Minimum capital: 10 trillion VND (about $379 million USD)
• At least two shareholders from approved sectors: banks, securities firms, insurers, fund managers, or tech firms
• Shareholders must show two years of consistent profits
• All trading pairs must be in Vietnamese dong (VND) only
• No stablecoins backed by USD, EUR, or other fiat currencies
• All virtual assets must be backed by real physical or tangible assets

These aren’t suggestions. They’re hard walls. And as of October 2025, not a single company had submitted an application. Not one. The capital requirement alone is higher than most regional exchanges’ total valuation. It’s like building a Formula 1 car and then only letting it race if you’ve got a billion-dollar budget.

Why No One’s Applying (Yet)

The SBV didn’t just raise the bar-it moved the whole track. Most crypto exchanges in Asia operate with under $10 million in capital. Vietnam’s $379 million requirement is more than double what Binance or Bybit have in reserves in some countries. It’s designed to keep out speculative players and foreign giants. That’s intentional.

Local banks and financial firms are watching closely. Some are rumored to be preparing applications, but they’re waiting. Why? Because the rules are still untested. What happens if a user loses money? Who’s liable? What if the blockchain gets hacked? The legal protections for investors are still vague. The penalties for violations? Severe. Fines could reach billions of VND. That kind of risk makes even well-funded institutions pause.

NDAChain: Vietnam’s Own Blockchain

While exchanges sit idle, the government built something else: NDAChain. Launched in July 2025, this is Vietnam’s private, permissioned blockchain. It’s not for trading Bitcoin. It’s for tokenizing bonds, carbon credits, land titles, and government assets. It’s a tool for efficiency, not speculation. The SBV uses it to track ownership, reduce fraud, and protect personal data-all under full state control.

Think of NDAChain as the government’s sandbox. It lets them experiment with blockchain tech without opening the floodgates to public crypto trading. It’s smart. It’s safe. And it shows the real goal: not to become the next crypto hub like Singapore, but to use digital assets to strengthen state infrastructure.

People Are Still Trading-Even Without Licenses

Here’s the twist: despite all the rules, Vietnam ranks fourth globally in crypto adoption, according to Chainalysis 2025. Over 20% of tech-savvy Vietnamese own some form of digital asset. How? Peer-to-peer (P2P) trading. Platforms like Binance P2P are flooded with Vietnamese users buying Bitcoin with bank transfers, cash deposits, or even mobile wallet top-ups. It’s informal, unregulated, and thriving.

The SBV knows this. That’s why the new policy doesn’t try to stop P2P. It just doesn’t protect it. If you trade on Binance P2P and get scammed, you have no legal recourse. The government doesn’t care if you buy crypto-it cares if a bank touches it. That’s the line.

Why This Matters for the Economy

The SBV isn’t just regulating crypto-it’s trying to fix the economy. Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha has linked crypto adoption to a 20% credit growth target for 2025. The idea? Let institutional investors-insurance firms, pension funds-use regulated crypto assets as part of their portfolios. That could unlock billions in new capital. It could lower interest rates. It could make Vietnam more attractive to global investors.

But it’s a gamble. If the pilot fails-if no exchanges launch, if institutional players stay away-the whole framework could collapse. If it succeeds, Vietnam could become a model for other developing economies: strict, controlled, and focused on long-term stability over short-term hype.

How Vietnam Compares to Its Neighbors

Compare this to Singapore. There, stablecoins are legal. Crypto exchanges can be foreign-owned. Regulations are clear and business-friendly. Singapore is attracting institutional money. The Philippines allows crypto payments through licensed platforms. Thailand lets banks offer crypto services under strict rules.

Vietnam? It’s the opposite. No stablecoins. No foreign exchanges. No payments. Only VND trading. Only five licenses. Only Vietnamese shareholders. It’s the most restrictive framework in Southeast Asia. And yet, it’s the most adopted.

That contradiction tells you something: people want crypto. The government just wants to own the system.

What’s Next? The Five-Year Clock Is Ticking

The pilot ends in 2030. That’s not a deadline-it’s a test. By then, the SBV will decide whether to expand the program, tighten it further, or shut it down. The success of NDAChain, the number of institutional investors who join, and whether local banks finally apply for licenses will all shape the outcome.

For now, Vietnam’s crypto policy is a paradox: open enough to let people own digital assets, but closed enough to keep them from changing the financial system. It’s not anti-crypto. It’s anti-disruption. And in a country where control is everything, that’s the only way it could be.