Key Takeaways:
- New legislation in Vietnam: The pilot crypto market with strict legal boundaries was officially opened through the Resolution 05/2025. All trade should be conducted by licensed platforms in six months.
- DEX, P2P, Binance in Question: Decentralized, P2P trades, and international exchange platforms, such as Binance, will become limited unless they meet the requirements of the domestic laws.
- Severe punishments in the future: Investors deploying unlicensed exchanges (even through VPN) may face administrative or criminal penalties based on the amount of transactions and the purpose thereof.
Vietnam has reached a critical stage of cryptojurisdiction. As the government releases Resolution 05/2025 on September 9, it starts a new stage of regulating the digital asset market. The problem is confusion on how investors can comply, particularly with decentralized protocols and cross-border platforms.
Resolution 05: Vietnam’s First Legal Crypto Framework
The Government published Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP, starting the pilot version of a legal digital asset market. It establishes a six-month grace period after the license of the first exchange in Hanoi is issued, expected in early 2026. Any crypto dealings must then be through licensed environments.
What Does “In Vietnam” Mean?
A major grey area is the term “giao dịch tại Việt Nam” (transactions in Vietnam). Is using Uniswap or PancakeSwap a domestic transaction? Does a Vietnamese IP violate the law when performing on-chain swaps?
Legal expert Dao Tien Phong, advisor to the Vietnam Blockchain Association, says these questions are still unclear and await guidance from the Ministry of Finance.
Korean Model Provides a Peek into the Future
A pragmatic approach to this has been taken by South Korea which has been regarded as a model of regulation in Asia:
- DEXs are not illegal, but they are covered by the Travel Rule when the transaction is more than approximately $750 (1 million won).
- DEX activity is taxable, and the income exceeding 50 million won will be subject to payment of tax at 20%.
- When converting profits to fiat, full KYC and disclosure of transactions are to be implemented.
Legal and Illegal Action: The 6-Month Window
Currently, the following acts are permitted:
- Wearing personal wallets (hot or cold).
- Trading at DEXs and P2P.
- Getting to foreign exchanges (e.g., Binance, OKX).
After first Exchange License issued, important information needs to be taken into consideration:
- Any transactions have to pass through licensed entities.
- Accessing a foreign or unlicensed platform with the help of VPNs will amount to circumvention and can result in administrative or criminal penalties.
- The P2P trading that is not licensed on a licensed platform will also be subject to punishment.
Investors must have until the beginning of 2026 to adapt. Then, further usage of Binance or similar sites without local licensing can be assumed as the violation of the legislation.
Can Binance, OKX, MEXC Get Licensed?
Resolution 05 sets strict conditions:
- Foreign ownership is capped at 49%.
- Registered capital must exceed 10,000 billion VND (~$400M).
- Requires local servers, domestic staff, and full regulatory compliance.
- Full KYC/AML and system audit requirements.
In the case of large international exchanges such as Binance, the entry barrier is very high. The most likely outcome:
- Enter into joint ventures with the Vietnamese financial institutions.
- Or get geo-blocked up like in South Korea.
In Korea, only 5 exchanges (mostly local) are licensed under the VASP regime. Foreign platforms without banking access are IP-blocked and can’t convert crypto to KRW legally.
Stablecoin Support and Crypto Taxation
Draft Cargo Tax Structure in Vietnam
- Securities tax model of 0.1 percent on the value of transaction.
- Cryptocurrency income such as airdrops, staking, farming, and other types of crypto income might be considered as personal income (5-35%).
- Distribution of taxes will be done by licensed exchanges.
At this point, it is not yet planned to retrospectively tax the past transactions because there is no legal understanding in the past.
USDT and Stablecoins
Under Resolution 05:
- Any crypto transactions should necessarily be performed in VND.
- Nevertheless, the stablecoin support could become possible in the future because the majority of markets in the world depend on the pair such as the USDT/VND or the USDC/BTC.
- Like Korea, local transactions can use VND/stablecoin pairs as the transition to liquid and international connectivity.
In South Korea alone, more stablecoin volume amounted to $42 billion in 2025 alone, a pointer that endorsing stablecoins is important in competition.
Sources from: 5 Phút Crypto – Kênh thông tin crypto dễ hiểu nhất
