preferred on
Points of Focus
- Vietnam requires crypto exchanges to hold at least $383 million in capital.
- Foreign investors can own no more than 49% of licensed exchanges.
- Unlicensed crypto services face fines when enforcement begins Sept. 1 nationwide.
Vietnam is tightening control over its cryptocurrency market with one of Asia’s highest financial barriers for exchange operators, requiring licensed platforms to maintain at least 10 trillion Vietnamese dong ($383 million) in paid-up capital.
The requirement forms part of Vietnam’s five-year crypto market pilot under Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP, which created a licensing framework covering crypto trading platforms, custody, and other digital-asset services.
Applications for exchange licenses opened earlier in 2026, while a new sanctions regime taking effect on Sept. 1 strengthens enforcement against companies operating outside that framework.
https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/2094014856873812464
The unusually high capital threshold effectively restricts the market to heavily financed domestic groups rather than smaller crypto startups.
Applicants must also be established as Vietnamese companies, with capital contributions made in Vietnamese dong. At least 65% of their charter capital must come from institutional shareholders, while more than 35% must be supplied by at least two qualifying institutions such as commercial banks, securities companies, insurers, fund managers, or technology businesses.
Foreign ownership is capped at 49%
Vietnam’s rules also limit how much control overseas crypto companies can obtain.
Foreign investors can hold no more than 49% of a licensed crypto service provider, ensuring majority domestic ownership even where an international exchange supplies technology or capital.
Institutional shareholders must have been profitable for the previous two consecutive years and provide audited financial statements with unqualified opinions. An organization or individual is also permitted to invest in only one licensed crypto-asset service provider under the pilot.
That structure makes partnerships between banks, securities companies, and large technology companies a likely route into the market.
The $383-million requirement is considerably more restrictive than capital rules in several competing Asian crypto hubs. Hong Kong and Singapore generally rely on lower minimum capital requirements combined with licensing, custody and compliance obligations.
Vietnam appears to be taking the opposite approach: limiting the number of potential operators before the market develops at scale.
Trading moves toward licensed domestic platforms
The rules could eventually change where Vietnamese investors trade.
Under Resolution 05, domestic investors holding crypto and eligible foreign investors can open accounts with Ministry of Finance-licensed providers to buy, sell, and custody digital assets.
More significantly, six months after Vietnam’s first crypto service provider receives a license, domestic investors trading through unauthorized providers could face administrative or criminal penalties depending on the violation.
Exchange operators must segregate customer assets from company funds, verify customer identities, monitor transactions, and comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing, cybersecurity, and data-protection requirements.
Transactions worth the equivalent of $1,000 or more can also trigger customer-identification requirements for occasional transactions under the AML provisions.
September enforcement raises the cost of operating without approval
A separate enforcement decree adds financial penalties beginning Sept. 1.
Providing crypto-asset services without a license, or advertising unauthorized crypto services, can result in fines ranging from 180 million to 200 million dong. Licensed providers can also face penalties for failing to verify customers or mishandling crypto account data.
Vietnam is therefore moving away from an environment where crypto activity existed largely outside a dedicated regulatory structure.
The government is not opening the market broadly. It is building a tightly controlled system in which exchanges need enormous capital reserves, strong domestic institutional backing, and regulatory approval before competing for Vietnamese customers.
For global exchanges, the message is equally clear: Access to Vietnam’s crypto market may increasingly require a local structure and deep-pocketed domestic partners rather than simply offering services from offshore.
Share
Most read articles
