Ahead of the February 28 deadline for piloting cryptocurrency exchanges, many businesses have rapidly increased capital and changed their leadership personnel. To date, seven entities have submitted applications for licenses to the Ministry of Finance.
From the beginning of the year, the cryptocurrency market in Vietnam has witnessed strong movement following the government's directive to accelerate the pilot implementation of cryptocurrency exchanges. The main goal is to bring the market into a safe and transparent operating framework.
Businesses and financial institutions are currently racing to seize the opportunity to enter this market. Recently, on February 11th, Loc Phat Vietnam Cryptocurrency Exchange Joint Stock Company (LPEX) attracted attention by increasing its charter capital from VND 6.8 billion to VND 360 billion, demonstrating the company's strong determination.
In addition to financial preparations, exchanges affiliated with major securities companies are also making changes to their senior management. Specifically, at TCEX, part of the Techcombank Securities (TCBS) ecosystem, Ms. Doan Mai Hanh has been appointed as General Director. At VIXEX (affiliated with VIX Securities), Ms. Nguyen Thanh Que has officially taken over as General Director, replacing Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu.
This race actually began in 2025, with many banks and securities companies such as SSI, MBBank, and VPBankS joining. However, not everyone can easily join, as there are significant legal hurdles. For example, Vietcap Securities withdrew from its plan to establish a cryptocurrency exchange due to the minimum charter capital requirement of 10,000 billion VND as stipulated in Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP.
Nevertheless, according to the Ministry of Finance, seven entities have already submitted applications for licenses to operate cryptocurrency trading markets. Legalizing the digital asset market is expected to generate significant revenue for the state budget and help bring illicit financial flows to light.
According to estimates by the Vietnam Blockchain Association, applying a personal income tax rate of 0.1% to cryptocurrency transactions could generate over $800 million annually for the State budget. In addition, trading platforms typically charge transaction fees ranging from 0.01% to 0.8%, creating a sustainable revenue stream for operators and enhancing oversight from authorities, thus protecting investor rights.
