HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has begun accepting applications for licences to operate crypto asset exchanges from January 20 under new administrative procedures issued by the Ministry of Finance, the State Securities Commission (SSC) said.

The procedures are detailed in the ministry’s Decision No 96/QĐ-BTC to implement the Government’s Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP dated September 9, 2025, on piloting a crypto asset market in Việt Nam.

Under the decision, three new administrative procedures have been introduced including issuance of licences for providers of crypto asset trading services, amendments to such licences and licence revocation.

The application and licensing include five steps, and it takes 30 days to complete if all required documents are submitted. This would mean the first digital asset exchange could be licensed as early as March this year.

The decision is available on the SSC’s portal at www.ssc.gov.vn.

Around 10 securities firms and banks have so far announced plans and their readiness to participate in the crypto asset market once licensed.

Among them, SSI Securities set up SSI Digital (SSID) in 2022. Recently, SSID and SSI Asset Management Company signed strategic cooperation agreements with Tether, U2U Network and Amazon Web Services to develop a digital finance ecosystem in Việt Nam based on blockchain and cloud computing.

VIX Securities has also invested in establishing the VIX Digital Asset Exchange (VIXEX) and signed a cooperation agreement with FPT to prepare its technology infrastructure.

Military Bank (MB) has cooperated technically with Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, aiming to establish a crypto asset exchange in Việt Nam and work on regulatory frameworks, operating processes and investor protection mechanisms.

Techcombank has set up digital asset exchange TCEX with charter capital of trillions of đồng. Notably, its securities arm, TCBS, has already integrated crypto asset into its price board to track major cryptocurrencies.

VPBank also said it has prepared resources and is ready to launch operations once approved by regulators.

Under Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP, organisations applying to provide crypto asset exchanges services must meet a number of requirements, including a minimum paid-in capital of VNĐ10 trillion (US$380 million).

In addition, at least 65 per cent of charter capital must be contributed by institutional shareholders, with more than 35 per cent held by at least two institutions such as commercial banks, securities firms, fund management companies, insurers or technology companies.

Each organisation or individual may invest in only one licensed crypto asset service provider. — VNS