Author: Joe Zhou, Foresight News
Original title: I bought seafood in Vietnam with USDT: Is Web3 really a mass option?
Vietnam, a fascinating country repeatedly mentioned in countless Web3 research reports.
It boasts one of the world's youngest population structures, extremely high mobile internet penetration rates, and a near-wild growth in the financial sector. In Chainalysis's Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, Vietnam has consistently ranked first or among the top performers for several years.
As an observer who has long followed the crypto industry, I've always wanted to figure out one question: what kind of chemical reaction will occur when grand concepts like "crypto payments," "stablecoins," and "Mass Adoption," which are written in PowerPoint presentations and research reports, are actually put into practice on the streets of Vietnam?
At the end of 2025, I set foot on this land. During my two weeks in Vietnam, I didn't visit any high-end stock exchanges or attend any lavish industry parties. Instead, I acted as an ordinary tourist, taking taxis, getting massages, and eating at roadside stalls.
I documented five small incidents from my trip. They may not represent the whole picture, but they are the most authentic glimpses into the current state of Web3 in Vietnam.
1. "No international credit cards, cash and USDT preferred."
At a spa in Nha Trang, Vietnam, our group of 12 spent $320. When we paid, the shopkeeper stated that they would offer a 10% discount for cash payments, and the full price would be charged for Visa or Mastercard.
I was initially a little annoyed, since carrying a large amount of Vietnamese dong in cash is inconvenient, and I even questioned whether the owner was "ripping off" a loyal customer. But the owner's patient explanation dispelled my misunderstanding.
In Vietnam, international credit card fees are exorbitant, typically 3% or even higher. More importantly, swiping a card means the funds enter the banking system, incurring additional taxes, while cash avoids these. The business owner, speaking from the perspective of a pragmatic small business owner, explained her difficulties.
In the end, we paid the bill in cash for $300. The shop owner paid less in taxes, and we saved tens of dollars—a win-win situation. Of course, the ones who suffer are the credit card organizations and banks, the "middlemen."
Above: The author is paying in US dollar cash.
This struck me deeply: the global credit card payment system has long been monopolized by a few giants, who not only charge a 3% "toll" on each transaction, but also charge ATM withdrawal fees as high as 4% or more. For merchants, this is not only a financial cost, but also a compliance cost.
Since merchants have a natural preference for "US dollars", theoretically, their acceptance of "digital dollars" (stablecoins) is also worth looking forward to - as long as the payment tool can help them solve the "last mile" problem, that is, instantly convert USDT into the Vietnamese dong they need.
With this verification logic in mind, I embarked on my subsequent journey to experience encrypted payments in Vietnam.
Part Two: Vietnam's Stablecoin Payments – A Glimmer of Hope for Mass Adoption
When Vietnamese businesses accept US dollar banknotes, are they prepared to accept US dollar stablecoins as well?
For the rest of my trip, I started consciously trying to live solely using Bitget Wallet. From Grab rides and street vendor pho to spa massages and seafood feasts, I was amazed to find that as long as the merchant had VietQR (Vietnam's universal QR code for payments), I could basically scan the code directly with my wallet, and the funds were transferred and credited instantly. And VietQR can be seen in almost every corner of Vietnam.
The reason I used the word "basic" is that I discovered a significant bug in encrypted payments, which will be mentioned in Chapter 3.
Above: VietQR machines (bottom right corner) are ubiquitous in Vietnam, allowing you to pay directly with Bitget Wallet.
It's no exaggeration to say that in Vietnam, the experience of encrypted payments is almost indistinguishable from Alipay.
Although I had heard about it before, the impact of experiencing it firsthand was still profound. Crypto wallets like Bitget Wallet are integrated with payment aggregation networks like Aeon Pay, which has transformed cryptocurrency from a "speculative asset" into "purchasing power," directly reaching tens of millions of merchants in Vietnam and neighboring countries.
Of course, this smooth experience is built on the foundation of Vietnam's highly unified and widespread QR code payment system (VietQR). It is the infrastructure, and encrypted payments are the new lifeblood running on it.
However, after frequent use, I finally discovered that Bitget Wallet's QR code payment isn't foolproof. I even found a bug once.
Thirdly, a failed encrypted payment led me to discover a "real-world bug."
On December 20, 2025, I dined again at Moc Seafood, a well-known restaurant in Nha Trang. The first two times I used cash and credit card respectively, and the third time, I decided to challenge myself to pay with Bitget Wallet.
However, this "challenge" failed.
The reason is that the store did not present a standard VietQR aggregate code, but rather a printed QR code from an internal bank system or an outdated system. My wallet showed a successful deduction after scanning the code, but after the funds were transferred out on the blockchain, the store did not issue a voice announcement or a notification of receipt.
The other party also demonstrated to me that after she paid with her mobile phone, she immediately received a notification that the money had been deposited into her account.
Above: The author's attempt at encrypted payment failed, but the cashier successfully completed the transaction by scanning the QR code using a local bank account.
The shopkeeper reluctantly showed me their verification method: scan the code with a local financial app, and the money will be credited instantly.
These few dollars in losses are the "tuition fee" I paid for this experience. This little incident made me realize that encrypted payments are still fragile in the "last mile" of the real world. The lack of compatibility protocols, the delay in confirmation on the merchant side, and the cognitive time lag between "successful deduction" on the user side and "receipt of funds is valid" on the merchant side are all pitfalls that Mass Adoption must overcome.
Fourth: In the minds of ordinary people, cryptocurrency remains a "gray area".
The commercialization of technology depends not only on the maturity of the code, but also on its acceptance by the culture.
Despite Vietnam's highly youthful population, cryptocurrencies don't have a glamorous image in the eyes of the general public, especially in northern cities. During my conversations in Hanoi with several locals—including money changers, motorcycle taxi drivers, and university students—their initial reactions to cryptocurrencies were remarkably consistent: money laundering tools, shady dealings, and gambling.
In their view, this is not the "future of the internet" or the "future of finance," but a means of circumventing regulation.
On the bustling streets of Hanoi and Nha Trang, I could hardly find any Bitcoin ATMs or physical OTC exchange shops. This was a stark visual contrast to Hong Kong, Japan, or Georgia, where neon signs for Crypto Exchanges have long since taken center stage in the commercial districts.
On one hand, it boasts the world's largest on-chain data; on the other hand, it's virtually invisible in the physical world. This complete separation between online and offline vividly illustrates a "Vietnamese-style cryptographic folding."
5. I found a Binance hat in the driver's car.
A chance discovery has opened a corner of Vietnam's encrypted world.
During a Grab ride, my colleague noticed a hat with the Binance logo casually placed on the young driver's dashboard. Seeing our attention, the driver grinned, expertly pulled out his phone, and showed us the Binance app he was running.
This scene made me realize that cryptocurrency is not just an underground phenomenon in this country; it is permeating the lives of ordinary people in a very vibrant way. Multiple public data show that more than 20 million people in Vietnam have held or used digital assets, and the high proportion of young people in Vietnam (for example, a large proportion of the population is between 10 and 24 years old) has significantly promoted the acceptance of digital assets and the formation of Web3 usage habits.
This penetration manifests in an interesting "north-south difference" geographically.
A university student in Hanoi, Vietnam, told me that the northern and southern regions of Vietnam have completely different views on money: the northerners, represented by the capital Hanoi, are conservative, tend to save money, and plan ahead; while the southerners, represented by the economic center Ho Chi Minh City, are deeply influenced by Western business culture, are used to spending in advance, and are highly receptive to new things.
This also explains why the vast majority of Chinese Web3 practitioners—whether media professionals, VCs, or blockchain game developers—choose to settle in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Here, low labor costs collide with a high-return crypto economy, making Vietnam a paradise for geographical arbitrage in "blockchain mining." Many young people are ordinary office workers during the day, but transform into "gold-farming ants" on the blockchain at night.
If the fourth point of my travelogue showed me the "prejudice" that people in northern Vietnamese cities have against cryptocurrencies, then on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, my friends described the country's "frenzy" for cryptocurrencies.
Vietnam has a rich coffee culture, and in those crowded Highlands Coffee or The Coffee House, my friend witnessed an extremely hardcore scene: on the screens of rows of young people typing on their laptops, it wasn't all games or social media software; frequently, I saw Binance candlestick charts, and even the black window of a Solidity code editor.
The data doesn't lie. According to Chainalysis's Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, Vietnam has consistently ranked at the top or among the leading countries for several years. It boasts a perfect "golden demographic structure," with tens of millions of young people eager for upward mobility, adept at digital technology, and unlike older generations, not blindly trusting the traditional banking system.
This gives Vietnam a peculiar "folded" feel:
On the street, a motorcycle taxi driver might tell you that Crypto is a "money laundering tool"; but in a coffee shop at the end of an alley, a young developer might be building the next Axie Infinity (a phenomenal Web3 game born in Vietnam).
This bottom-up vitality is perhaps the true essence of Vietnam's Web3. There are no grand financial centers here, but every crowded café may be a node in Web3; every Grab bus weaving through the downpour may have a young person in the driver's seat waiting for the Bitcoin bull market.
Conclusion: Searching for the next decade's "Alpha"
These five small things are just the tip of the iceberg of my observations of Vietnam.
The journey is far from over. Next, I will delve into Ho Chi Minh City, the "economic heart of the south," climb the plateau of Da Lat, known as the "Dali of Vietnam," traverse the coastal hub of Da Nang, and finally arrive at Phu Quoc Island at the southern tip.
Having traveled to dozens of countries and engaged in repeated exchanges with many friends who have long been deeply involved in local communities and with Vietnamese people, I am increasingly convinced of one judgment: in the next decade, Vietnam will be one of the world's most promising economies, if not the only one. Its young population, its continuously burgeoning ambitions, and its relatively open attitude towards foreign ideas combine to create a rare and fertile ground for new technologies.
I will continue to travel across this vibrant land and surrounding countries, not only as a tourist but also as an observer, to explore the true growth of Web3 in Southeast Asia.
Please stay tuned; our exploration continues.
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