Vietnam is discovering that developing a cryptocurrency industry is harder than it looks. After all, how many other segments of financial services are regularly rocked by massive scams in which victims have little recourse?
To that end, in late March, Vietnamese police busted a multi-billion-dollar scam that focused on selling fake crypto to victims on a large scale. Vietnamese authorities have arrested at least seven people in connection with the fraudulent platform that was visited by millions of Vietnamese.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, scammers sold the bogus digital tokens VNDC, ONUS and HNG through the Onus platform, using misleading promotions and coordinated trading activity to attract users. Authorities claim the group manipulated supply and demand and adjusted token prices, presenting the assets as legitimate investment opportunities while maintaining centralized control over their markets.
The ONUS platform had been promoting itself as a digital asset ecosystem offering trading, staking and investment products. It claims to have more than seven million users and backing from the U.S.-based fintech company Vemanti Group.
However, the future of ONUS does not look promising. Among those arrested by Vietnamese authorities is the platform’s founder Eric Vuong. Further, starting around March 20, 2026, millions of users reported being locked out of the app, unable to access their funds or digital assets. Scammers frequently lock users out of platforms when they decide to abscond with their money.
Despite this high-profile scam, we do not expect crypto demand in Vietnam to wane. Research firm Chainalysis notes that along with India and Pakistan, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing decentralized virtual currency markets in both the Asia-Pacific region and the world. 21% of Vietnamese adults hold digital assets.
The Southeast Asian country has numerous characteristics that make it amenable to digital assets. The population is young and connected, while 70% of adults have limited access to traditional banking. In addition, it has a significant remittances market that can benefit from the efficiencies and lower costs associated with stablecoin use. It consistently ranks in the top 10 for remittance reception globally, with inflows often exceeding $16 billion.
Until late 2025, Vietnam’s digital assets market operated in a legal gray area with no specific taxes on digital asset gains, allowing it to grow rapidly without regulation. However, the government has begun to introduce a pilot licensing regime to move exchanges out of the legal gray area, requiring high capital requirements for compliance. On January 20, Vietnam began licensing crypto exchanges in a five-year pilot program.
Licensing requires Vietnamese corporate status with a minimum capitalization of 10 trillion dong, approximately $380 million. Institutional shareholders must control at least 65% of capital, while foreign ownership faces a 49% ceiling under the regulatory structure.
In late March, Vietnam’s State Securities Commission started accepting digital asset exchange license applications, launching the operational phase of the country’s regulated crypto pilot program. The licensing process follows Ministry of Finance Decision No. 96, which implements administrative procedures for the market pilot.
Looking ahead, domestic financial firms are likely to have a significant role in shaping Vietnam’s nascent crypto exchange system. Some are in the process of setting up dedicated crypto-focused entities, or in the case of SSI Securities (with SSI Digital), did so several years ago. VIX Securities has created VIX Digital Asset Exchange. Techcombank established the Techcom Crypto Asset Exchange, while VPBank said that it is prepared to begin crypto-related operations with regulatory approval.
Foreign investors will play an important supporting role in market development through partnerships. So far this includes Dunamu (operator of South Korea’s Upbit) partnering with MBBank.Thus far, the ministry has received seven applications for operating licenses. Of these, five have been assessed as complete and compliant with regulatory requirements. They include VIX Crypto Asset Exchange JSC, Loc Phat Vietnam Crypto Assets Exchange JSC, Vietnam Prosperity Crypto Assets Exchange JSC, Techcom Crypto Exchange JSC, and Vietnam Digital Asset JSC.