The Vietnamese government is tightening its grip on cryptocurrency trading through a regulated pilot framework, aiming to funnel all digital asset activities towards licensed domestic entities. This move has sparked concerns about whether Vietnamese citizens will be able to continue using overseas crypto trading platforms in the future.
According to a previous report by Bloomberg, Vietnam plans to draft new regulations prohibiting its citizens from trading on overseas crypto platforms. Although the specific details of this report have not been independently verified, official government records clearly indicate a significant shift in regulatory policy.
Vietnam Launched a Five-Year Crypto Pilot Program in 2025
Under the regulations, only companies licensed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance will be permitted to operate exchanges, issuance platforms, or related market products. The decree sets a minimum capital requirement of VND 10 trillion, approximately $379 million, for licensed crypto-asset service providers.
This framework essentially restricts Vietnam's crypto activities to a select few domestically approved platforms. While the decree does not explicitly state a "ban on overseas platform trading," its design of a licensed market implies that citizens will not be able to conduct legal transactions through foreign exchanges.
Phan Duc Trung, an industry figure in Vietnam, stated that the decree "emphasizes the government's determination to bring the crypto market into formal regulation."
Six Months After Pilot Launch, No Company Has Applied
The stringent requirements of the pilot program appear to have dampened enthusiasm for participation. As of October 2025, Ministry of Finance official Nguyen Duc Chi confirmed that the ministry "has not yet received any applications from businesses."
Industry observers point to the VND 10 trillion capital threshold as a major hurdle. Additionally, further restrictions on stablecoins and tokenized securities narrow the scope of services offered by approved platforms, making the pilot program commercially unattractive for most potential operators.
The gap between regulatory ambition and market participation is a challenge seen in other jurisdictions. When licensing costs are prohibitively high, users often continue to rely on overseas platforms via VPNs or peer-to-peer channels, potentially undermining the intended goals of the regulatory framework.
What Should Vietnamese Crypto Traders Watch For?
For Vietnamese users currently active on global exchanges like Binance, OKX, or Bybit, the new pilot framework introduces significant uncertainty. If enforcement measures keep pace with the regulatory text, access to these platforms could become restricted.
Several practical questions remain unanswered. There is no clear timeline for when, or if, domestic exchanges will officially launch under the pilot framework. Enforcement mechanisms for blocking access to overseas platforms have also not been publicly disclosed. Furthermore, the penalties for individuals who continue to use foreign exchanges remain unclear.
Vietnam's regulatory path adopts a rather extreme strategy: pursuing complete domestic control with a high barrier to market entry. Whether this model can foster a functional and regulated market remains to be seen.