More than a week ago, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh set a very clear deadline for the Ministry of Finance: Before January 15th, licenses must be granted to businesses to participate in the pilot program for the cryptocurrency market.
Immediately, the entire Vietnamese crypto community began… eagerly anticipating it.
1. But does "business" here necessarily mean the exchange?
This is the most controversial point. Many argue that a licensed business is not necessarily an exchange. It could be: a custodial wallet, a payment gateway, a Web3 infrastructure project, experimental models like MIMO, Basic Pay, digital payment intermediaries, etc.
If that's the case, then today there might be… nothing to announce with much fanfare .
2. The biggest scenario
Instead of immediately "greenlighting" a fully functional crypto exchange, the government will most likely:
✅ Partial pilot licensing. Priority will be given initially to areas such as: Custody, Payments, Tokenized asset trading, and integration with banks and securities firms.
⛔ Not yet open to: Free spot crypto; Leveraged, Derivative , or Memecoin, high-risk speculation.
3. Will there be a "first floor" today?
It 's possible, but not the familiar type of exchange like Binance, OKX, BingX... but rather a hybrid digital asset exchange model , tightly regulated.
It's also possible to only announce the list of pilot businesses and not allow them to operate publicly right away.
4. In summary
In your opinion, will Vietnam: Launch its first cryptocurrency exchange or just "test the waters" with infrastructure projects? If an exchange is established, which name is most deserving of being the first to be licensed?
👇 Comment your opinion below – who knows, we might be witnessing the biggest turning point in Vietnamese crypto history .
