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At the Digital Trust in Finance 2026 forum held on the afternoon of May 12, Mr. To Tran Hoa, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Regulatory Authority for the Crypto Asset Trading Market (UBCKNN), said Vietnam has significant potential in the crypto-asset market. Citing Chainalysis data, he noted that user growth in Vietnam has accelerated since 2017, with an estimated near 16 million accounts by 2025. He also said Vietnam ranks among the world’s top in the 2025 global crypto-asset adoption index, drawing international interest. In scale, total trading value in 2025 was about USD 220 billion.
Mr. Hoa said the government and regulators are taking strategic steps to build “digital trust” and a transparent market, aligning with key resolutions (Nos. 20, 52, 57 and the most recent Nos. 68 on private-sector development) aimed at safe digital economy development and accelerating national digital transformation.
Mr. Hoa said a foundational legal framework has been formed, beginning with the Digital Industry and Digital Technology Law, which defines digital assets, virtual assets, and crypto assets and formally recognizes and protects these asset forms under law. He added that amendments to the Investment Law removed industry-code restrictions and define crypto-asset business as a regulated (conditional) sector.
Resolution No. 05 is described as a guiding principle for building Vietnam’s crypto-asset trading market, including clear delineation between primary and secondary markets. The ICO (issuance of crypto assets) concept has also been officially formalized, allowing issuance activities to proceed on a registration basis similar to IPOs in stock markets.
To implement these activities, the Ministry of Finance has issued circulars on accounting and taxation. Under Circular No. 15, crypto-asset service providers (VASPs) and institutional investors receive guidance on transparent accounting in balance sheets, rather than recording related items as “other expenses” as before.
On tax obligations, Circular Nos. 32 and 41 establish a framework for domestic and cross-border participants. Domestic entities face a standard corporate income tax rate of 20%. Individual and foreign investors are taxed at 0.1%. Mr. Hoa said VASP enterprises will fulfill tax obligations on behalf of these groups to streamline administrative procedures.
He also noted that the tax administration system is integrated with the National Public Service Portal and data from the Ministry of Public Security, supporting rigor and transparency. With securities firms joining the ecosystem, Vietnam is building a professional digital-asset market, he said, ready for new opportunities in the AI era.
To enhance transparency and investor trust, UBCKNN leadership emphasized four clusters of solutions and core responsibilities for involved parties.
In line with Resolution No. 05, the key requirement is transparency in the operation of crypto-asset service providers (VASPs). VASPs must disclose information regularly, including irregular disclosures or upon request, and publicly publish all service fees and contracts with third parties for investors.
The Ministry of Finance is studying to draft sector-specific guidance to standardize this reporting framework, including for technology providers supporting VASPs. UBCKNN leadership said: “When implementing the four main activities, all these activities require the service providers to regularly publish information. Any procedural changes must be disclosed. Regulators will monitor these activities very closely.”
Alongside information disclosure, VASPs must prioritize identity verification (KYC) to protect the market from illicit activity. All investors must complete KYC so that trading accounts are linked to primary bank accounts.
As frontline supervisors of trading activity, VASPs must ensure cybersecurity and system safety. Regulators will conduct rigorous compliance checks to identify fraud or misuse of investors’ assets.
UBCKNN also stressed that service providers must protect investors’ assets and segregate them from the provider’s own assets to prevent using investors’ assets for the firm’s trading activities.
Strict anti-money-laundering compliance under the AML Law and FATF standards is mandatory for all exchanges.
From the perspective of rights and professional duties, each organization retains the right to list and trade crypto assets in line with international practice. However, UBCKNN urged caution, prioritizing assets with high liquidity and broad acceptance to limit market risk.
Exchanges are also entitled to charge service fees related to crypto-asset activities. For issuance, issuers must provide disclosures similar to those of VASPs, with any changes disclosed via a white paper when conducting an offering.
To maximize investors’ interests, VASPs should prioritize executing investors’ orders ahead of their own orders. Investors’ assets should be protected under Civil Code provisions.
To advance digital trust, regulators will establish a coordinated framework among the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Bank of Vietnam, together with cross-sector inspections to oversee all activities in the crypto-asset market.
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