The Digital Industry Law, passed on June 14, 2025, marked the first time that digital assets were legally defined in Vietnamese law. Specifically, digital assets are defined as assets under the Civil Code, represented in digital form, and created, issued, stored, transferred, and authenticated by digital technology in an electronic environment.
Earlier, on June 12, the Prime Minister signed and issued Decision No. 1131, approving 11 groups of technologies as pillars for the country’s future scientific and technological development. This included blockchain technology, with three product groups: digital assets, digital money, and cryptocurrencies; blockchain infrastructure; and traceability systems. This was the first time that digital assets, digital money, and cryptocurrencies were officially recognized as one of the country’s strategic technologies.
Even though they have just been recognized, several studies show that Vietnamese investors have been trading and owning digital and cryptocurrencies on foreign exchanges.
A report from the electronic payment gateway Triple-A showed that Vietnam ranked second in the world in terms of the proportion of its population owning digital money, with nearly 21 million people in 2023, accounting for 21.2% of the population, second only to the UAE and ahead of the US.
According to Chainalysis, Vietnam ranked fifth in the Global Crypto Adoption Index in 2024. Additionally, during the period from July 2023 to July 2024, Vietnam ranked third in the Central, South Asia, and Oceania region in terms of the value of cryptocurrency received, with a scale of over $100 billion.
 Several studies show that Vietnamese investors have been actively trading and owning digital and cryptocurrencies on foreign exchanges – Photo: Huy Khai
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Even though there is now a “definition” in the context of huge demand and potential, there is still a long way to go in terms of tax policy development, licensing mechanisms, custody regulations, and the establishment of a transparent transaction monitoring system to create a premise for the formation of legal crypto exchanges in Vietnam.
The legal story is even more crucial for financial institutions. At the general meetings of securities companies, investor conferences of funds, and economic seminars of all sizes, it is not difficult to come across questions for the executives related to the topic of investing in digital and cryptocurrencies.
At the annual investor conference of VinaCapital in 2025, Strategy Director Vuong Van Anh also stated that they would choose the appropriate time to invest in the crypto market. According to the VinaCapital Strategy Director, the company is closely monitoring the legal and technical frameworks in Vietnam to develop these products but will carefully study both the benefits and risks to choose the appropriate time to develop related products.
Even large international financial centers like Hong Kong, China, are investing in crypto assets in a trial stage (sandbox mechanism). In Vietnam, the legal and technical frameworks are still lacking in many aspects, such as the absence of designated digital asset custodian banks and more relaxed regulations regarding foreign exchange management freedom.
At the 2025 annual investor conference of Vietcombank’s open-ended funds (VCBF), when asked about the plan to establish a digital currency fund, given that Franklin Templeton, a contributing shareholder in VCBF, has invested in digital and virtual currencies, General Director Nguyen Thi Hang Nga stated that they would implement it when appropriate.
“We don’t know where its value lies because prices depend a lot on supply and demand,” said Nga. However, this is also an asset for portfolio diversification, and VCBF may consider participating at the appropriate time and in line with its investment philosophy, after the legal basis becomes clearer; asset tokenization.
Even without a detailed plan, it is undeniable that the demand for investing in digital and cryptocurrencies has already entered the minds of financial institution executives and has even outlined a roadmap to legally keep up with the times. At the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Securities Peace (HBS), shareholders approved the proposal to contribute capital to VimExchange JSC, a company specializing in blockchain-based digital and crypto assets, if the State allows the trial of crypto trading. The company also said that it would present a detailed implementation plan to the General Meeting of Shareholders for approval before proceeding, after obtaining the State’s approval in principle.
Or, on a larger scale, at Techcombank’s 2025 International Investment Conference on the theme of “Investment Opportunities in the New Era,” Chairman of Techcom Securities (TCBS) Nguyen Xuan Minh affirmed: “The company wants to pioneer in the field of crypto and asset tokenization.”
In reality, TCBS has integrated a crypto asset price board into its online securities trading platform. Although it has only displayed the prices of over 100 popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, BNB, DOGE, etc., it has marked an important step for this tech-based securities company.
At the beginning of this year, SSI Asset Management Company (SSIAM) – a member of SSI Securities Company – established the SSI Digital Ventures investment platform, committed to investing up to $200 million, and planned to co-invest a total of $500 million in the fields of digital technology and blockchain in Southeast Asia.
SSI Digital Joint Stock Company (SSID), founded by SSI Chairman of the Board of Directors Nguyen Duy Hung, has implemented the Digital and Blockchain Technology Complex project on an area of 1.7 hectares in Hoa Lac High-tech Park (Hanoi). The project is oriented to become Vietnam’s leading R&D center and is preparing the foundation to become one of the first sandboxes to promote innovation and development in digital technology and blockchain.
It can be seen that many organizations are still at the idea stage for the future, but the market has also recorded the first specific actions of financial institutions to prepare for the new era – the age in which digital and cryptocurrencies become one of the legal investment tools right in Vietnam to “untie” the huge demand.
By Huy Khai
– 08:12 23/07/2025
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