Vietnam's Crypto License Wait: Nine Months and Still No Sign
Vietnam's journey to granting crypto licenses has been a long and arduous one. Nine months have passed since the application window opened, but no licenses have been issued yet.
The country's plan is to launch licensed exchanges in Q2 of this year, with seven firms having applied. However, only five have cleared the first round, and none have been approved.
The rulebook for crypto regulation in Vietnam closely follows the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations and European Union models.
A key reason behind this is that Vietnam was still on the FATF grey list after the June 2026 plenary. A licensed, monitored, dong-settled venue is seen as a direct answer to this issue.
The first license will mark the beginning of a six-month transition period for domestic traders to move off foreign platforms. However, once this happens, offshore liquidity will be squeezed quickly, and a gap between onshore and offshore prices is likely to emerge.