Việt Nam to Ban Foreign Crypto Exchanges: Will Investors Trust Inexperienced Domestic Platforms?

Recently, the Ministry of Finance announced that five out of seven applications to establish domestic cryptocurrency exchanges have passed preliminary rounds of evaluation. [1] 

As part of the process to grant licenses for digital asset exchanges in Việt Nam, the agency is now circulating these dossiers to the Ministry of Public Security and the State Bank of Việt Nam for consultation.

The five organizations that passed the preliminary review include: [2]

• VIX Crypto Asset Exchange Joint Stock Company (VIXEX)
• Lộc Phát Việt Nam Crypto Asset Exchange Joint Stock Company (LPEX)
• Việt Nam Thịnh Vượng Crypto Asset Exchange Joint Stock Company (CAEX) (part of the VPBank ecosystem)
• Techcom Crypto Asset Exchange Joint Stock Company (TCEX) (part of the Techcombank ecosystem)
• Việt Nam Digital Assets Joint Stock Company (with Sungroup as the largest shareholder)

The criteria for evaluation and appraisal are based on Government Resolution No. 05, which lacks detailed appendices specifying scoring methods or applicant rankings. [3] 

Furthermore, the entire approval process is conducted internally among the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Bank of Việt Nam, without any independent external oversight mechanism.

For instance, LPEX, an organization reportedly linked to LPBank, successfully passed the application review to pilot an exchange in Việt Nam, yet the company only recently launched a website and has not fully updated its public information channels.

Capital Paradox and the “Achilles’ Heel” of Security

Most of these companies were established only a few months before the Ministry of Finance issued its assessment results. As a result, they have yet to meet the minimum charter capital requirement of 10 trillion đồng (approximately $400 million) to operate an exchange. [4] 

It also remains unclear whether these entities possess the operational capacity to meet international standards, alongside basic requirements such as insurance funds, independent audits, and other vital safeguards. [5]

From a security standpoint, Việt Nam’s digital infrastructure poses a barrier to investor safety. [6] Among the approved applicants, Sungroup is primarily a real estate conglomerate lacking prior expertise in financial services or digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, other approved entities continue to struggle with system patching, cybersecurity, and data protection. [7] [8]

A 2026 report by Finastra—a financial software firm serving more than 7,000 clients, including 40 of the world’s 50 largest banks—found that 94% of financial institutions in Việt Nam aim to invest in artificial intelligence (AI). However, outdated legacy systems constrain them, creating a concerning blind spot in information security. [9]

The consequences of these vulnerabilities are severe. In September 2025, hackers orchestrated a major breach at the National Credit Information Center (CIC), operated by the State Bank of Việt Nam. Hackers stole and sold well over 160 million records containing sensitive identity, credit card, and tax data on black-market forums. This incident starkly exposed the profound weaknesses in Việt Nam’s digital financial security.

Even well-established global entities are not immune to such failures. Bybit, for instance, suffered a $1.5 billion hack due to system vulnerabilities. [10] This global precedent underscores the immense risks facing newly established domestic platforms in Việt Nam, which lack operational experience and may be even more susceptible to malicious attacks.

No Operational Domestic Exchanges, Plans to Ban Foreign Platforms

Because digital assets are not recognized as legal currency or payment instruments in the country, most cryptocurrency trading activity in Việt Nam currently takes place on major international exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Bybit.

However, this landscape is shifting. The government officially recognized crypto assets in July 2025. [12] Following this recognition, authorities introduced penalties of up to 30 million đồng (approximately $1,200) for domestic investors who trade on platforms not licensed in Việt Nam. [13]

Furthermore, as part of ongoing efforts to control cross-border capital flows, Reuters reported on March 17 that the Ministry of Finance is drafting regulations to explicitly prohibit Vietnamese citizens from trading on these unlicensed foreign cryptocurrency platforms. [11]

Will Global Giants Leave the Vietnamese Market?

As of 2025, approximately 20 million people in Việt Nam traded digital assets, with Binance alone accounting for up to 80% of investor traffic. [14] To secure this massive market share, Binance has been planning to open an office in Hồ Chí Minh City since late last year. The exchange operator has notably signed a memorandum of understanding with city authorities, though the specific terms remain undisclosed.

To continue operating in Việt Nam, international exchanges will likely need to meet stringent new conditions. These could include establishing a formal representative office, reporting transactions to the State Bank of Việt Nam, and engaging directly with the Ministry of Public Security. 

This regulatory adaptation would closely mirror the path taken by the global payments company PayPal, which successfully integrated into the market to operate alongside domestic platforms like MoMo, ZaloPay, and ViettelPay. [15]

Ultimately, banning foreign exchanges merely to shield domestic platforms would represent a severe step backward in governance, shifting unnecessary risks onto citizens. The state should not “block the river and close the market.” Instead, it should create an open regulatory framework. 

This approach would allow international platforms to operate under proper supervision, preventing a scenario where investors are forced to abandon secure platforms to serve as “test subjects” for inexperienced domestic systems.

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Thiên Lương wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on March 25, 2026. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.