Vietnam set to pilot five licensed digital asset exchanges

Vietnam set to pilot five licensed digital asset exchanges

Vietnam’s digital asset market is entering a new chapter, as regulators prepare a pilot scheme allowing more than one exchange to operate, paving the way for domestic players to join the digital finance ecosystem.

At a specialised training session on legal frameworks and identifying risks of crypto-asset fraud held on August 8 by the Vietnam Blockchain and Digital Asset Association (VBA), Phan Duc Trung, chairman of VBA, revealed that Vietnam may grant pilot licences to about five digital asset exchanges. These platforms would be able to connect with international exchanges to secure both liquidity and competitiveness.

“Some notable names likely to join the pilot include SSI Securities Corporation and Techcom Securities,” said Trung. "Military Bank (MB) is almost certain to participate in the digital asset trading market after signing a MoU on technical cooperation with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, on August 12."

Under that agreement, Dunamu will act as a strategic partner, assisting MB in building a digital asset exchange, refining the regulatory framework and management mechanisms, and developing investor protection solutions.

The proposed exchanges are expected to support transactions of popular assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins USDT/USDC, and around 50 other digital tokens. Significantly, there will be tokenised real-world assets designed exclusively for foreign investors as a channel for capital mobilisation.

According to the VBA, digital assets could generate three key impacts: acting as a medium of payment, a funding channel, and a community-building tool. However, at this initial stage, state regulators are prioritising the creation of a capital-raising channel.

At a government press briefing on August 7, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi disclosed that the ministry is drafting a decree on piloting digital asset trading, saying, "If the proposal gains approval from higher authorities, the government is expected to issue regulations for the pilot market in August or September."

The draft scheme has been largely completed, covering criteria for participant selection, technical requirements, operational procedures, and conditions on financial and professional capacity of service providers. Once the detailed criteria are finalised, the Ministry of Finance will publicly disclose them to ensure transparency in the selection process.

During the pilot phase, the ministry plans to license more than one exchange to foster healthy competition, while maintaining a manageable number for effective supervision and evaluation.

VIR