Vietnam says five crypto exchange applicants passed initial review; licensing needs 10 trillion dong and Level 4 security; new penalties start Sept. 1.
Vietnam has moved five crypto firms through the first stage of its licensing review, but the country has still not approved any exchange to operate under its new digital asset market pilot.
The update came from To Tran Hoa, deputy standing head of the Digital Asset Trading Market Board under Vietnam’s State Securities Commission, at the Vietnam RWA Summit 2026, according to an Aug. 30 Vietnam News Agency report. Authorities did not identify the five applicants and did not say when final decisions would be made.
Passing the initial review does not amount to a license. The source article states that no company is yet authorized to run an exchange.
Under Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP, each exchange applicant must have at least 10 trillion Vietnamese dong in contributed charter capital, or approximately $383 million. The capital must be contributed in Vietnamese dong.
The rules also require that at least 65% of that capital come from institutional shareholders. More than 35% must be provided by at least two qualifying organizations, which can include commercial banks, securities companies, fund managers, insurers, or technology companies.
Before an exchange can begin operating, applicants must also secure an appraisal showing their technology meets Level 4 information-system security standards. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for the required security assessment.
Additional licensing conditions cover management qualifications, custody, transaction monitoring, internal controls, conflict management, customer complaints, anti-money laundering systems, and investor-identity verification.
Vietnam has not said whether all five applicants that passed the first assessment have already secured the full 10 trillion dong.
A separate set of enforcement rules, Decree No. 284/2026/ND-CP, takes effect on Sept. 1 while Resolution 05 governs the pilot program.
The decree sets penalties for unlicensed crypto services, improper issuance, weak customer checks, and anti-money laundering failures. Organizations that provide crypto services or advertise an exchange without a license can face fines of between 180 million and 200 million dong. Authorities may also require the removal of websites, software, and trading systems tied to violations.
Licensed providers can also be fined for failing to separate customer assets, monitor transactions, or protect account information. Failing to verify customers can bring organizational fines ranging from 50 million to 70 million dong.
The article notes that the decree generally lists organizational fines, while individuals committing the same violations would ordinarily face half those amounts. The maximum penalty is 200 million dong for an organization and 100 million dong for an individual.
Even though Decree 284 starts on Sept. 1, domestic traders will not immediately be fined simply for using overseas or otherwise unlicensed platforms.
The source article says Article 9 sets an organizational fine of 30 million to 50 million dong for domestic investors trading outside a Ministry of Finance-licensed provider, with the general half-rate provision indicating an individual could face between 15 million and 25 million dong.
But Article 7 of Resolution 05 says that domestic investors only become subject to that licensed-platform requirement six months after the first crypto asset service provider receives approval.
Because Vietnam has not licensed any provider yet, that six-month transition period has not started. As a result, domestic investors will not be fined from Sept. 1 solely for continuing to use an overseas or otherwise unlicensed platform, according to experts cited by VNA.
Other parts of Decree 284 can still be enforced from Sept. 1, including violations involving unauthorized platform operations or advertising, improper token issuance, and some failures involving customer data or anti-money laundering controls.
Vietnam launched the pilot through Resolution 05 on Sept. 9, 2025. The five-year framework sets rules for issuance, custody, trading, and licensed service providers.
Under the pilot, locally issued crypto assets may initially be offered only to foreign investors. Eligible tokens must be backed by real-world assets and cannot represent securities or fiat currencies.
Vietnam had previously indicated that only a limited number of exchanges would receive licenses. The fact that five companies passed the first assessment does not confirm that all five will be approved.
The next key step is the Ministry of Finance’s first license. Once that happens, the six-month countdown begins for domestic investors to move covered crypto trading onto licensed Vietnamese platforms. No deadline for that first license has been announced.
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