Cryptocurrency in Vietnam: regulation, taxes and the pilot market
In short. Holding crypto in Vietnam became lawful on 1 January 2026, when the Law on Digital Technology Industry took effect and named crypto assets a category of digital asset. Trading is another matter. The state put the market inside a five-year pilot that admits five exchanges, settles every trade in dong and sets the entry capital at 10 trillion dong. Paying for anything in crypto stays banned.
- PERSONAL TAX
- 0.1%withheld on the gross sale value
- CORPORATE TAX
- 20%on the net gain
- VAT ON TRANSFERS
- 0%transfers are outside VAT
- CHARTER CAPITAL
- 10 trillion dongaround 383 million dollars
- FOREIGN OWNERSHIP
- 49%hard ceiling
- PILOT EXCHANGES
- 5over five years
What the law changed
For eight years Vietnam held two positions at once. The State Bank declared in October 2017 that issuing or using crypto as a payment method broke the law, with fines reaching 200 million dong, and a prime-ministerial directive of April 2018 told banks and securities firms to stay away. Nobody outlawed owning the coins. Vietnamese bought them anyway, and press estimates put holders at around 17 million by the time the rules arrived.
The Law on Digital Technology Industry, passed on 14 June 2025, ended the silence. It splits digital assets into two families and puts crypto assets in one of them, defined by their use of cryptography. Ownership now has a legal basis and a court can be asked to protect it.
The pilot market
Resolution 05/2025, dated 9 September 2025, built the trading side as an experiment rather than a permanent regime. It runs five years. The Ministry of Finance licenses the venues, the securities commission started taking applications in January 2026, and five firms cleared the first review.
A venue needs 10 trillion dong of charter capital, roughly 383 million dollars. At least 65% must come from institutional shareholders, and more than 35% from at least two of a short list: commercial banks, securities firms, fund managers, insurers or technology companies. Foreign shareholders may hold no more than 49%. The state wanted exchanges that look like financial institutions and that Vietnamese institutions control.
Every trade settles in dong. Crypto issued under the framework may be offered to foreign investors and traded among them through licensed providers, which keeps the domestic and foreign sides of the market apart.
What you pay
Circular 32/2026 took effect on 27 March and treats a crypto sale the way it treats a share sale. The exchange withholds 0.1% of the gross value of each disposal made through a licensed platform, regardless of whether you made money. A company pays 20% on the net gain instead. Transfers carry no VAT.
Read the rate for what it is. A 0.1% levy on turnover costs a long-term holder almost nothing and costs an active trader a great deal, which is the same arithmetic the stock market uses. The rates belong to the pilot and end with it.
Where the grey market sits
The licensed venues opened into a market that had been running without them for years. Peer-to-peer trading and offshore exchanges carried the volume, and the framework covers Vietnamese venues without saying anything that makes an individual's use of a foreign platform a crime. What it does give is a withholding point for the tax authority and somewhere for a Vietnamese user to take a complaint.
Allowed
- Own, buy and sell crypto assets
- Trade on a licensed Vietnamese exchange, settling in dong
- Hold crypto as property with legal protection
- Run an exchange once the Ministry of Finance licenses it
Restricted
- Pay for goods or services in crypto
- Launch an exchange without 10 trillion dong of charter capital
- Take more than 49% foreign ownership in a licensed venue
- Settle a licensed trade in anything but dong
How the rules took shape
The State Bank rules that issuing, supplying or using crypto as a means of payment breaks the law, with fines up to 200 million dong.
Directive 10 tells banks, payment intermediaries and securities firms to keep away from virtual currencies.
Parliament passes the Law on Digital Technology Industry, which recognises crypto assets for the first time.
Resolution 05 sets up a five-year pilot market and the licensing terms for exchanges.
The law takes effect and the securities commission opens the application window.
Circular 32 brings in the 0.1% withholding on sales through licensed platforms.
Common questions
Is crypto legal in Vietnam?
Owning, buying and selling crypto assets is legal since 1 January 2026. Using crypto to pay for goods or services is not, and that ban has stood since 2017.
Can I use a foreign exchange?
The licensed regime covers Vietnamese venues. A foreign platform sits outside it, which also means outside its protections.
How much tax will I pay on a sale?
The exchange withholds 0.1% of the gross value of each sale made through a licensed platform. The figure does not depend on your profit, so a loss-making sale is taxed too.
Why only five exchanges?
The pilot caps the number for its five-year run. The capital requirement of 10 trillion dong sets the bar high enough that few applicants could meet it anyway.
Can a foreign company own a Vietnamese exchange?
It can hold a stake of up to 49%. Control has to stay with Vietnamese shareholders, and more than 35% of the capital must come from banks, securities firms, fund managers, insurers or technology companies.
Sources
Other countries
Updated 19.10.2026 · this is reference material, not investment or tax advice