Legal framework “creating” for cryptocurrencies

For the digital asset market to develop healthily, it is necessary to synchronize many solutions, from perfecting the legal framework, improving supervision and risk management capacity, to training specialized human resources in the fields of financial technology, Blockchain, etc., and especially soon building a national Blockchain platform as well as establishing a Vietnamese Cryptocurrency Exchange.

Billions of dollars in cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency trading appeared in Vietnam many years ago. In 2017, the strong development of decentralized finance (Defi) led to the emergence of a number of organizations operating trading floors. By 2021, these floors served Vietnamese people quite strongly, but very few floors published transaction figures. According to statistics from investment organizations, Vietnam ranked 4th in the countries and territories with the highest monthly trading volume on the Binance exchange - one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world . Specifically, in May 2024, the trading volume from Vietnamese investors on Binance exceeded 20 billion USD. Technically, the flow of cryptocurrencies is not geographically limited. Users can buy in Vietnam and withdraw to foreign bank accounts through international exchanges such as Binance, OKX, Bybit... Through these exchanges, it is estimated that the cryptocurrency market in Vietnam in May 2025 will reach 60 billion USD in trading volume.

Cryptocurrencies also cause negative impacts in many aspects such as currency insecurity, fraud, terrorist financing... According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3 - FBI) ​​of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, in 2024 alone, there were 150,000 fraud cases related to crypto assets with a total loss of more than 9.3 billion USD, an increase of nearly 70% compared to the previous year. Vietnam is among the 6 countries with the highest fraudulent transaction volume globally... Therefore, countries have strictly controlled this crypto capital flow. Exchanges apply verification levels such as advanced KYC, providing documents on the source of funds and confirming the purpose of transactions and complying with the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing law. Coinbase requires detailed declaration when transferring money abroad to comply with US regulations and global FATF laws, some other exchanges restrict withdrawals to foreign accounts...

Young people share information and receive cryptocurrency at a Blockchain event in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: TAN BA

Move with the trend

Vietnam's digital technology legal landscape has undergone rapid changes, creating favorable conditions for technology businesses and investors. In the first half of June 2025, three important documents were issued. "The rapid completion of the legal corridor is an important premise for the Blockchain technology industry, crypto assets and related services to develop strongly, putting Vietnam on the global technology map," said the Vietnam Blockchain Association.

Most recently, on June 14, 2025, the National Assembly officially passed the Law on Digital Technology Industry, effective from January 1, 2026. This is the first legal document in Vietnam to define crypto assets, creating a clear corridor to promote innovation, while improving management, supervision and investor protection. Previously, on June 12, 2025, Blockchain was identified as a Strategic Technology according to Decision 1131/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. Specific applications identified as strategic technology products include: Blockchain network infrastructure, digital assets, cryptocurrencies and traceability systems...

From a global business perspective, Lynn Hoang, Binance Country Director, shared: “There is still a long way to go from drafting to issuing specific legal documents. If the legal framework is created, Vietnam will gain many important advantages; otherwise, we may lose opportunities. I hope our policies will not be much different from the world and create the development of the whole industry while still ensuring safety in management.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Jenny Nguyen, Operations Director at Kyros Ventures and Coin68, commented: “After a period of careful observation and research, the Vietnamese Government has determined to form specific legal regulations for digital assets, with the participation of many relevant ministries and branches. Thanks to that, the prospect of the blockchain industry and digital assets in Vietnam being recognized by law and included in the framework is getting closer than ever, creating favorable conditions for this field to develop sustainably. This will especially be a new development driving force for the group of domestic blockchain businesses and projects, which have been making certain marks in many different segments of the global Blockchain market.”

The National Data Association is building a national Blockchain platform with NDAChain, aiming to serve strategic goals such as promoting the digital economy, enhancing digital identity management and optimizing public data infrastructure... This platform is designed to meet strategic needs for data security, digital identity and optimizing national digital infrastructure. In addition, the Ministry of Finance has reviewed legal regulations in the functional areas of the Ministry of Finance to pilot the establishment of a cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange is organized by units and enterprises licensed by the State. The State will protect the legal and legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals when participating in the cryptocurrency market. Experts say that with NDAChain and the Vietnam Cryptocurrency Exchange, digital assets in general and cryptocurrencies in particular will gradually create transparency and gradually come under state management to avoid negative impacts.

Easy to buy and sell, high risk

Statistics from the Blockchain Association show that Vietnam ranks 7th in the world in virtual asset and crypto asset transactions; the market size is about 105 billion USD and about 17 million Vietnamese people own crypto assets and virtual assets.

We can "name" the world's leading cryptocurrency exchanges today: Coinbase - the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, with a revenue of 6.6 billion USD in 2024; Upbit - the leading exchange in Korea, with a net profit of 671 million USD in 2024; or Bithum - also in Korea, with a net profit of 110 million USD in 2024...; and Kraken - based in the United States, reporting a revenue of 1.5 billion USD for 2024.

Buying and selling cryptocurrencies, such as buying Bitcoin on the current cryptocurrency exchange, is quite simple and has many options. Large centralized exchanges (CEX) such as Binance, Kucoin, Gate, etc. all support users to quickly open accounts and verify personal information (also known as KYC). Binance also supports Vietnamese to serve Vietnamese people. Immediately after being activated by the exchange, users only need to integrate their bank account into their cryptocurrency trading account, and can easily buy some typical cryptocurrencies, such as: USDT (Tether), ETH (Ethereum), BTC (Bitcoin) ... with Vietnamese Dong. Moreover, with the Spot trading method (immediate trading), users can trade the cryptocurrencies they own whenever they want, thanks to continuous order matching while the market is increasing or decreasing. For example, a person buys 1 Bitcoin with Vietnamese Dong (as mentioned above); Over time, when the price of Bitcoin increases, this person can quickly sell that Bitcoin using Spot trading thanks to continuous order matching...

With the ease of buying and selling cryptocurrencies as above at a time when Vietnam has not yet recognized digital assets, there are no laws to regulate related behaviors, and there is no Cryptocurrency Exchange, all cryptocurrencies have "crossed the border", causing losses for taxes as well as difficulty in controlling cash flow, security risks. With the new movements of the State in policies related to digital assets in recent times, cryptocurrencies or digital assets will be put into a framework, creating favorable conditions for the Blockchain field in general, cryptocurrencies to develop sustainably and this is also a new development motivation for domestic Blockchain businesses and projects.

KIM THANH

BA TAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/khung-phap-ly-kien-tao-cho-tien-ma-hoa-post800583.html