Yes, as property but not as money. Since 1 January 2026 the Law on the Digital Technology Industry recognises crypto assets, and a five-year pilot lets only Ministry of Finance licensees run exchanges, none of which is licensed yet.

The Law on the Digital Technology Industry (No. 71/2025/QH15) was passed on 14 June 2025. It defines digital assets as property under the Civil Code and names two types, virtual assets and crypto assets, neither of which includes securities or digital forms of fiat money. It sets out ownership, anti-money-laundering and business conditions for crypto services, and leaves the detail to a Government decree. Government Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP, issued on 9 September 2025, is that detail for now: a five-year pilot in which offering, trading and payment happen in dong only.

Crypto is not a way to pay. The State Bank’s Directive 02/CT-NHNN of 13 April 2018 bars banks and intermediary payment providers from payment services, card transactions, transfers and currency conversion tied to virtual currencies. Holding and trading are not banned. What the state does is push trading toward licensed providers and fine residents who stay outside them, as the sections below show. A report in March 2026 said the Ministry of Finance was drafting a ban on citizens using foreign exchanges; we found no sign it was enacted.

Which crypto exchanges work in Vietnam?

Every exchange we track that serves Vietnamese residents does so from abroad, because no exchange holds a Vietnamese licence yet. The Ministry of Finance judged five of seven applications valid, and the stated capital of each is far below the VND 10,000 billion minimum.

Applications opened on 20 January 2026. The conditions in Resolution 05 are strict: a Vietnamese company with at least VND 10,000 billion of contributed charter capital paid in dong, at least 65% of it from institutions, foreign ownership capped at 49% and top-level information-system security. A deputy finance minister said on 5 October 2025 that at most five firms would be licensed. VietnamNet reported on 19 March 2026 that five of seven dossiers were valid, and that Dolphinex and SSID were rejected.

Bar chart of the stated charter capital of the five crypto exchange applicants whose dossiers the Ministry of Finance judged valid, in VND billion, against the minimum of 10,000. VIXEX 1,000; Vietnam Digital Asset 1,000; TCEX 101; CAEX 25; LPEX 6.8. Beside it: 5 of 7 applications were judged valid, with Dolphinex and SSID rejected; no licence had been issued by 17 October 2026; OKX invested in CAEX in April 2026, the one tracked exchange with a stake in an applicant.

Foreign companies cannot apply, per VietnamNet, so the exchanges we track reach residents without a local entity. OKX is the one with a stake in the process: VietnamNet reports that it joined CAEX as a strategic partner in April 2026. We found no report of a licence granted by 17 October 2026, and the Ministry of Finance publishes no register we could read, so we hold no licence rows for Vietnam.

Best crypto platforms for Vietnamese residents

By our access score, Aster, Binance, Bitfinex, Bitget, Bybit, HTX, Hyperliquid, KuCoin, Lighter, MEXC and OKX tie at 8.0 out of 10, and no platform holds a Vietnamese licence to lift one above the others. Gemini scores lowest at 5.4 because it offers only perpetuals.

The score rates how fully a Vietnamese resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the Vietnamese licences we hold on file (2) and what our geo-access test saw from a Vietnamese address (1). Platforms that refuse Vietnamese residents are not scored. With no licence on file for any platform, the picks differ by product coverage and test results. The full method is on our methodology page.

Exchanges

  1. Binance

    Best for Spot access without a Vietnamese company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its prohibited list
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Binance report

  2. Bitfinex

    Best for Spot access without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Bitfinex report

  3. Bitget

    Best for Spot and derivatives without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not on its prohibited countries of 16 October 2026
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Bitget report

  4. Bybit

    Best for Spot and derivatives without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its excluded-jurisdictions list
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Bybit report

  5. HTX

    Best for Spot and derivatives without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not on its restricted list of September 2026
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our HTX report

  6. KuCoin

    Best for Spot and derivatives without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not on its restricted locations of 29 September 2026
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our KuCoin report

  7. MEXC

    Best for Spot and derivatives without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not on its prohibited jurisdictions of 13 October 2026
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our MEXC report

  8. OKX

    Best for Spot and derivatives without a local company

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its restricted locations of 8 July 2026
    • Loaded without a block in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    • Holds a stake in applicant CAEX, which has no licence
    Read our OKX report

  9. Bitstamp

    Best for Plain spot trading

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • No Bitstamp document excludes Vietnam

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    • Not covered by our geo-access test
    Read our Bitstamp report

  10. Coinbase

    Best for Spot trading with a US-listed brand

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is a listed sign-up country in its identity verification guide

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    • We hold no Vietnamese source for its derivatives or staking
    Read our Coinbase report

  11. Crypto.com

    Best for Spot trading in the app

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its app, spot or sanctions lists

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Crypto.com report

  12. Kraken

    Best for Spot trading without a Vietnamese company

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its do-not-serve list

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Kraken report

  13. Gemini

    Best for Perpetuals only

    5.4/10
    Access
    3/4
    Products
    1.9/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is on its perpetuals list

    Cons

    • Spot is not offered: Vietnam is not on its main list
    Read our Gemini report

DeFi

  1. Aster

    Best for Perpetuals and spot trading

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Perpetuals load in the trading app in our test

    Cons

    • Prediction trading is barred under its prediction rules
    Read our Aster report

  2. Hyperliquid

    Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not blocked in our geo-access test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Hyperliquid report

  3. Lighter

    Best for Perpetuals on its trading app

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not named in its terms
    • The trading app loaded in our test

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Lighter report

  4. Jupiter

    Best for Solana swaps

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not named in its terms

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Jupiter report

  5. PancakeSwap

    Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Its terms bar only people and places under US sanctions

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our PancakeSwap report

  6. Uniswap

    Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    Read our Uniswap report

Prediction markets

  1. Kalshi

    Best for Event contracts with a US-regulated brand

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its restricted-jurisdictions list

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    • Prediction markets are not addressed in Vietnamese law
    Read our Kalshi report

  2. Polymarket

    Best for Event markets on a large order book

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Vietnam is not on its blocked-countries list

    Cons

    • No Vietnamese licence on file
    • Prediction markets are not addressed in Vietnamese law
    Read our Polymarket report

Which platforms block Vietnamese users?

Only Gate refuses Vietnam in its own terms, and Gemini offers Vietnamese residents perpetuals but not spot trading. No platform we track has been blocked by the state.

Gate lists Vietnam among the restricted locations in clause 2.5 of its user agreement (22 July 2026), a list that “includes but is not limited to” the countries named. Gemini’s areas of availability do not list Vietnam for spot trading, but its perpetuals list does.

Decree 284 targets residents rather than platforms: it describes no blocking mechanism, and we found no report of an internet provider blocking an exchange. VietnamNet writes that Binance staff have left Vietnamese community groups and a country manager role is advertised, and that experts expect BingX, Bitget, Gate and MEXC to block domestic investors. None of that is a platform notice, so every other row stays available at medium confidence.

Platforms that limit or refuse Vietnamese residentsPick one to see what the record says
PlatformStatusTypeWhat the record saysVietnamese option
GateRestrictedExchangeOn the restricted-locations list in Gate’s user agreement (22 July 2026)–
GeminiLimitedExchangeVietnam is on its perpetuals list but not its main list, so spot is not offeredPerpetuals

Source: platform terms, verified 17 October 2026. What each site showed us is in the next section.

What our geo-access test saw from Vietnam

From a Vietnamese address on 14 and 16 October 2026 we tested 12 platforms: 11 loaded with no barrier and Gate showed its restricted-location notice.

An open page is not permission. The test uses a virtual Vietnamese location, which sees a platform’s own geo-blocking but cannot see a block applied by Vietnamese internet providers, and most platforms enforce at identity verification rather than at the page. Gate’s notice named the United States, Canada, Cambodia, Thailand and others but not Vietnam, which its user agreement does. We have no Vietnamese test for the other ten platforms we track. Swipe through the screenshots below; each card says what the page showed.

What each platform showed us from hereScreenshots from our geo-access test, 14 Oct 2026 and 16 Oct 2026. Scroll sideways or use the arrows.
Home page of Gate loaded from Vietnam: Blocked by IP: Gate shows its restricted-location pop-up, and Vietnam is on the list in its user agreement

BlockedGate · Home page

Blocked by IP: Gate shows its restricted-location pop-up, and Vietnam is on the list in its user agreement

“It seems that you are attempting to access our services from a Restricted Location where Gate is unable to provide services.”

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of Binance loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierBinance · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 202 · Binance located us in Vietnam · virtual location

Home page of Bitget loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierBitget · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of Bybit loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierBybit · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of HTX loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierHTX · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of KuCoin loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierKuCoin · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of MEXC loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierMEXC · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of OKX loaded from Vietnam: No barrier: the home page loads normally

No barrierOKX · Home page

No barrier: the home page loads normally

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

CRYPTORESTRICTIONS

Who regulates crypto in Vietnam?

The Ministry of Finance licenses, taxes and sanctions, the State Bank covers payments and money laundering, and the Ministry of Public Security appraises applicants’ security and pursues violations.

Timeline in three lanes. Law and Government, 14 June 2025: Tech industry law (Law 71/2025 passed). Law and Government, 9 September 2025: Pilot resolution (Resolution 05/2025). Law and Government, 1 January 2026: Law in force (Crypto assets recognised). Finance Ministry, 20 January 2026: Applications open (Decision 96). Finance Ministry, 19 March 2026: 5 of 7 valid (No licence since). Finance Ministry, 27 March 2026: Tax circular (Circular 32/2026). Enforcement, 16 July 2026: Penalty decree (Decree 284/2026). Enforcement, 1 September 2026: Fines apply (Decree in force).

  • Ministry of Finance. The lead regulator under Resolution 05: it decides licence applications within 30 days of a complete dossier, and it issued the tax circular. Decision 96/QD-BTC opened applications on 20 January 2026.
  • State Bank of Vietnam. Directive 02 keeps banks out of crypto payments, and the Resolution has foreign investors trade through a dedicated dong account at a licensed bank.
  • Ministry of Public Security. It appraises each applicant’s information-system security and is the enforcement arm for violations. VietnamNet reported that the five valid dossiers went to it and the State Bank for opinion.
  • Penalties. Decree 284/2026/ND-CP, signed on 16 July 2026 and in force from 1 September 2026, fines unlicensed providers and advertisers VND 180 to 200 million and domestic investors who trade through them VND 30 to 50 million.
  • Timing. Resolution 05 lets the state sanction domestic trading outside licensed providers six months after the first licence. We found no report of a licence, so we found no report of anyone fined.

Which crypto products are limited in Vietnam?

Paying with crypto is the one outright ban. Everything else is limited to licensed providers working in dong, and Gemini is the one tracked platform that offers only perpetuals.

Ledger of five rules. Paying with crypto: banned, banks may not process payments for it, since 13 April 2018. Trading, custody, issuing: licensed only, ministry of finance licensees, in dong only, since 9 September 2025. Token offerings: foreign investors, issuers are vietnamese firms; buyers foreign investors, since 9 September 2025. Unlicensed providers: fined, vnd 30 to 50 million for a domestic investor, since 1 September 2026. Gemini: perpetuals only, spot is not offered; perpetuals list includes vietnam, since 17 October 2026.

  • Payments. Banks and payment intermediaries may not process crypto payments, under the State Bank’s 2018 directive, and the pilot allows offering, trading and payment in dong only.
  • Trading, custody and issuing. Only Ministry of Finance licensees may offer these services or advertise them, and custody sits with licensed providers.
  • Token offerings. Issuers must be Vietnamese firms and the assets must be backed by real assets. Offerings are limited to foreign investors.
  • Leverage and derivatives. We found no Vietnamese rule on them. Gemini’s perpetuals list includes Vietnam, and we hold no Vietnamese source for the derivatives of the other platforms.

The law does not say. The Penal Code makes gambling a crime and no licence for online gambling exists, but we found no official statement on prediction markets, and Polymarket and Kalshi both serve Vietnam.

Status of two prediction market platforms for Vietnam: Polymarket available and Kalshi available, as Vietnam is not on either restricted list. Beside it, Penal Code prison terms: playing illegal gambling 6 months to 3 years, playing online 3 to 7 years, organising gambling 1 to 5 years. Key facts: play becomes a crime from a stake of VND 5 million, the fine for the basic offence is VND 20 to 100 million, and no official statement names prediction markets.

LawNet’s summary of Article 321 of the Penal Code says playing illegal gambling with a stake of VND 5 million or more carries a fine of VND 20 to 100 million, a community sentence of up to 3 years or 6 months to 3 years in prison, and 3 to 7 years in aggravated cases that include use of the internet. Article 322, on organising gambling, carries a fine of VND 50 to 300 million or 1 to 5 years. Whether a prediction market counts as gambling is not settled in anything we read, so we treat the risk as open rather than assume either answer.

Polymarket does not list Vietnam among its blocked countries, and Kalshi does not list it among its restricted jurisdictions. Both rows are medium confidence: the platforms enforce at sign-up, and a platform’s terms do not decide the local law.

How is crypto taxed in Vietnam?

Under the pilot, individuals pay 0.1% personal income tax on each crypto transfer, Vietnamese organisations pay 20% corporate tax on the gain, and transfers carry no VAT.

Column chart of Vietnam crypto transfer tax rates for the pilot period under Circular 32/2026/TT-BTC: individuals pay 0.1% personal income tax on each transfer, foreign organisations 0.1% corporate tax on the revenue of each transfer, Vietnamese organisations 20% corporate tax on the gain, and transfers are exempt from VAT. Key facts: the circular took effect on 27 March 2026; individuals are charged on the value of each transfer, not the gain, whether resident or not; the rates apply to transfers made through service providers and none is licensed yet; we found no declaration rule for gains made on foreign platforms.

Ministry of Finance Circular 32/2026/TT-BTC took effect on 27 March 2026 for the pilot period, Viet Nam News reported. Individuals, resident or not, pay 0.1% of the value of each transfer, so the tax does not depend on whether they made a gain. Vietnamese organisations pay 20% on the sale price less the purchase price and documented costs. Foreign organisations pay 0.1% of the revenue from each transfer made through service providers in Vietnam. Transfers and trading are exempt from VAT, while related services such as custody stay under the normal rules. Resolution 05 says tax follows the rules for securities until a specific policy exists.

The rates apply to transfers through licensed service providers, and none is licensed yet. We found no rule on how an individual declares gains from a foreign platform, so we state none. Working out your position takes four steps:

Working out your crypto tax in VietnamUnder Circular 32/2026/TT-BTC, for the pilot period
StepDetail
Check how the transfer is madeThe circular covers transfers through service providers in Vietnam; none is licensed yet
Individuals: 0.1% of each transferCharged on the value of the transfer, resident or not
Organisations: 20% on the gainSale price less purchase price and documented costs; foreign organisations pay 0.1% of each transfer’s revenue
Leave out VAT on transfersTransfers and trading are exempt; custody and other services are not

Source: Viet Nam News on Circular 32/2026/TT-BTC, checked 17 October 2026.