There are currently 17 million Vietnamese people who own digital assets. — Photo baodautu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Authorities with potential responsibility for digital assets are stepping up moves for the development of a legal corridor where they will be covered.

Under the Government’s Resolution No. 27/NQ-CP issued recently, the Government has directed the Ministry of Finance to preside over and coordinate with agencies and localities to urgently complete proposals to develop legal regulations on digital assets.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment also sought comments on a draft resolution of the National Assembly on the building of a regional and international financial centre in Việt Nam. The draft resolution mentions a sandbox policy for business models applying technology in the financial sector (fintech), including crypto assets and cryptocurrencies.

Accordingly, the competent management and operation agency of the financial centre has the authority to licence, manage, assess the impact and manage risks for the sandbox in fintech activities, including trading exchanges for crypto assets and cryptocurrencies. Transactions using crypto assets and cryptocurrencies in the financial centre will be implemented from July 1, 2026.

A draft Law on Digital Technology Industry, which is open for public comments by the Ministry of Information and Communications, also introduces the concept of digital assets for the first time. Accordingly, the ministry proposes to introduce the concept of digital assets as a type of digital technology product and assign the Ministry of Finance to preside over and coordinate with competent ministries and branches to issue or develop and submit to competent authorities to issue regulations on the management of digital assets and service providers of the assets.

According to a report of blockchain data platform Chainalysis, by 2024, Việt Nam ranked fifth in the world in terms of interest in digital assets, third globally in terms of using international trading platforms, and sixth in terms of trading volume on decentralised platforms. The report shows there are currently 17 million Vietnamese people who have digital assets and the total value of the market exceeds US$100 billion. Unofficial digital asset trading is creating a huge underground economy.

Chairman of the Digital Assets - Fintech Committee under the Vietnam Blockchain Association,Trần Huyền Dinh, said Việt Nam has a great opportunity to take advantage of revenue from digital asset transactions. If the personal income tax rate of 0.1 per cent is applied for digital asset transactions like securities transactions, Việt Nam can collect more than $800 million in taxes from digital asset transactions each year.

In addition, digital asset trading platforms often apply a fee of 0.01-0.8 per cent per transaction. This not only brings economic benefits, but also creates conditions for monitoring and regulating the market and protecting investors from risks.

According to Định, a clear legal framework is needed to ensure the rights of users in digital asset transactions, from identity verification (KYC) to personal data protection and dispute resolution. Currently, in a market that lacks legal regulations, users are at risk of being scammed or losing their assets. Legalising digital assets not only helps people feel secure when participating in transactions, but also strengthens their trust in blockchain technology and related applications.

Chairman of the board of directors of Saigon Securities Incorporation, Nguyễn Duy Hưng, said that the ten largest exchanges in the world all acknowledged that Việt Nam ranks in the list of the world’s four largest trading markets in terms of transaction volume. However, Việt Nam had not have a legal framework to help businesses and investors feel secure, create conditions for development, and at the same time avoid being scammed in cyberspace.

Việt Nam needed a transparent legal framework for digital assets so that developers and investors of the assets would be protected transparently and no one could profit from tricks in the market. The Government should support the development of business and entrepreneur groups in this field.

Lawyer Phạm Ba Đô, who is a director of SJKLAW Law Firm, said that the lack and incompleteness of the legal framework to regulate activities related to virtual assets, cryptocurrencies and transactions in the digital environment had created a fertile environment for fraudulent activities to develop.

According to Đô, it is necessary to urgently build a clear legal framework for virtual currencies and virtual assets. Specifically, the legal framework needs to clearly define virtual currencies and virtual assets, and recognise that virtual currencies can be traded and paid for in certain areas, but are not legal means of payment in all commercial transactions.

Besides, the legal framework must regulate the registration, licensing and management of virtual currency exchanges, because currently, virtual currency issuing organisations are not fully controlled, which causes the issuance of virtual currencies without collateral or real value, creating opportunities for scammers. BIZHUB/VNS