Crypto assets - A strategic piece in Vietnam's journey to global financial integration

Crypto Asset Market: Latecomer Advantage and Tokenization Leverage

The global crypto-asset market is reshaping how capital is raised, assets are owned, and transactions are conducted. Vietnam, once a vibrant market lacking legal recognition, now has the opportunity to take advantage of its “latecomer” advantage to build a solid crypto-asset platform, learning from the experiences of countries that have gone before it.

According to many investors and financial experts, the biggest opportunity lies in the ability to Tokenize assets. This is not just a technological concept, but a strategic business solution, expected to solve the big problem of liquidity and capital for businesses. "Tokenization allows Vietnamese businesses, which are holding large but illiquid physical assets such as real estate, energy projects, etc., to divide their value and digitize them. This creates a more direct and effective capital mobilization channel, reducing dependence on bank credit or complex traditional capital calling rounds," said Mr. Tran Tuan Minh - an investor with more than 10 years of experience in the field of digital finance.

The government's pilot development of a crypto-asset market is not only to manage risks, but also to lay the foundation for Vietnam to enter a new era of the digital economy . This is considered a strategy to "unlock" potential, helping the domestic market to keep pace with international financial flows.

Increased liquidity not only activates dormant assets but also attracts foreign individual and institutional investors. When crypto-asset transactions take place on the blockchain platform, transaction transparency, traceability and monitoring are enhanced, creating a more trustworthy investment environment, which is especially important to meet international governance standards.

Legal path-clearing: Increasing investor confidence and enhancing national governance capacity

The Government's official announcement of Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP on piloting the crypto asset market is considered a decisive action to move the Vietnamese market from a "gray zone" to a regulated area. This is a strategic policy tool, helping Vietnam officially integrate with global capital and technology flows.

This legal identification is a key factor for traditional financial institutions to have a basis to participate, thereby formalizing and increasing the market size. The application of strict mechanisms such as identity control (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML), which are mandatory requirements of international organizations, will build a layer of "armor of trust" for the Vietnamese market.

Sharing with reporters, Ms. Nguyen Hai Yen, a long-time individual investor in the crypto asset sector, expressed her hope: "What we need most is not 'super-huge' profits anymore, but safety and transparency. Previously, we traded on international exchanges without legal protection. The Government's pilot and setting a capital limit of 10,000 billion VND is a 'commitment' to quality, making us much more secure when transferring transactions domestically, paying full taxes and having our rights protected."

Establishing and operating a regulated crypto-asset market is also an opportunity for Vietnam to improve its financial governance capacity. Resolution 05 with its strict capital requirements (minimum VND 10,000 billion) and high cybersecurity standards (level 4 or higher) acts as a "filter" to ensure that only businesses with potential and responsibility are allowed to participate in the pilot.

According to the direction of the State Securities Commission, the licensing of organizations participating in the pilot crypto-asset market will be carried out cautiously, accompanied by a strict monitoring mechanism. The management agency is also researching the application of on-chain analytics tools to improve the ability to monitor and prevent financial risks and ensure the transparency of capital flows.

The challenge of identification, risk management and the problem of macro balance

While the prospects for market expansion are clear, the crypto-asset market has many “non-traditional” characteristics – decentralization, high volatility and cross-border transactions. This creates a major challenge in establishing a harmonious and effective legal framework.

Furthermore, according to economists, the biggest legal challenge is the identification and classification of assets. The temporary application of securities regulations to crypto assets is a temporary solution. However, economists say that the diverse nature of the market (e.g., NFTs, stablecoins, utility tokens...) requires a specialized classification framework.

Regarding this story, Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, an economic and financial expert, expressed a cautious view that the crypto-asset market is an attractive market, but also full of risks. The government has taken the right step in putting it into a pilot framework, but special attention needs to be paid to systemic risk management and investor education . My point of view is to be extremely cautious, because crypto-assets are highly volatile, and the fact that Vietnamese investors have invested a huge amount of capital in the 'virtual currency' market in the past shows that there is great demand but knowledge is not synchronized. At the same time, he emphasized that the tax problem is a big bottleneck. It is impossible to impose rigid taxes like traditional securities, there needs to be flexible policies to encourage transparency, avoiding pushing staking and airdrop activities into a gray area because it is difficult to determine the basis for tax calculation.

In addition, the crypto-asset market has the ability to move capital across borders almost instantly. This puts great pressure on regulators to control capital flows in and out and prevent the risk of cross-border money laundering, which is a top priority in global financial integration. According to Mr. Tran Tuan Minh, the challenge for businesses is not only the capital of 10,000 billion VND, but also ensuring continuous level 4 network security. Transactions on the blockchain are permanent, the risk of hackers is very high...

It can be seen that the 5-year pilot path is a golden opportunity for Vietnam to seek a balance between innovation and risk management. Success will depend on the ability to conduct flexible mid-term assessments and publicize the results. Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu and other experts all proposed that after the first years of the pilot, Vietnam should refer to international models to develop an official legal framework, including clearly classifying token types and establishing competitive tax policies to encourage long-term holding. This will help increase the market's attractiveness and minimize legal risks.

"The Government's initiative to "unlock" crypto assets has demonstrated its strategic vision. If the pilot is successful, Vietnam will not only retain domestic capital but also attract international capital flows, officially entering the new financial era with a highly competitive position in the region. This development requires synchronization between three core factors: flexible policies, high security technology and professional risk management capacity," Mr. Hieu emphasized./.

Source: https://vtv.vn/tai-san-ma-hoa-manh-ghep-chien-luoc-trong-hanh-trinh-viet-nam-hoi-nhap-tai-chinh-toan-cau-1002510151314465.htm