A stablecoin experiment in Vietnam has just concluded. This experiment aimed to verify a proposition that has been raised countless times: can stablecoins truly bridge the "last mile" of payments, replace national-level products like Alipay, and evolve into a truly mainstream global payment method?
Without investigation, there is no right to speak. Whether stablecoins can truly be implemented in people's lives and replace the old fiat currency system requires more real-world cases to corroborate or refute.
To this end, I conducted a 30-day field study in Vietnam in December 2025. During this research, I deliberately avoided traditional fiat currency tools such as cash and credit cards, relying entirely on stablecoins such as USDT for daily transactions (note: merchants and other receiving parties still settled in Vietnamese Dong). My research covered five cities: Hanoi, Nha Trang, Da Lat, and Ho Chi Minh City.
The facts and conclusions of the investigation are presented below.
106 real-world tests show that stablecoins now cover 97.17% of daily consumption in Vietnam.
After 30 days of extreme stress testing across 5 cities and 106 real-world consumption scenarios, the investigation's conclusions are becoming clear: in Vietnam, stablecoins (USDT, USDC, etc.) have moved beyond crypto exchage and the on-chain world, becoming a payment method covering 97.17% of everyday life scenarios.
To recreate the most realistic payment environment, I set almost stringent "extreme stress test" standards: refusing to select scenarios and refusing to avoid difficult problems.
Whether facing different types of QR codes, being in a mountainous area with weak network signals, being in a critical moment when the phone battery is running low, or dealing with elderly people, young children, or even the typical cross-border social payment problem of "AA system transfer" with Vietnamese friends... I have recorded all the payment needs I have encountered in daily life and included all extreme variables in the statistical sample.
Final result: Out of 106 challenges, 95 were successful using only encrypted wallet QR code payments, achieving a success rate of 89.6%.
This only applies to the "stablecoin QR code payment" function. If U-card (stablecoin credit card) payment is included, the number of successful stablecoin payments reaches 103, with a success rate of 97.17%.
This means that with just a mobile phone (with a Web3 wallet), people can travel almost freely in Vietnam.
Figure: Statistics of Real-World Data on Stablecoin Payments in Vietnam
This survey collected 106 samples, spanning online and offline channels, connecting chain giants with roadside vendors, and covering diverse groups from the elderly to Generation Z... aiming to achieve a panoramic scan of Vietnam's consumer ecosystem.
This survey covered various scenarios, including online platforms such as Trip.com (the overseas version of Ctrip) and Vexere (the Vietnamese version of 12306), and offline scenarios such as train stations, scenic spots, Grab ride-hailing services, and street vendors. Furthermore, stablecoin QR code payments were almost universally accepted in high-frequency daily life scenarios such as dining, entertainment, and retail (e.g., convenience stores).
The underlying logic of this phenomenon lies in the "leapfrog development" of Vietnam's financial system: driven by rapid economic growth, the entire country has completed a historic transformation at an extremely fast pace—skipping the long era of credit cards and stepping directly into the mature stage of mobile payments.
Photo: A Vietnamese restaurant waiter is showing a VietQR code.
I found that Vietnam has an extremely high mobile payment penetration rate. VietQR (Vietnam's national QR code) is almost a standard feature for every citizen. Whether in shopping malls or roadside stalls, whether it's the elderly or preschool children, a mobile phone and a QR code are the most mainstream financial terminals.
By leveraging VietQR, a national-level infrastructure, crypto wallets like Bitget Wallet have broken down the barriers between "on-chain" and "off-chain" by integrating underlying payment protocols such as Aeon: users pay with stablecoins, and merchants receive Vietnamese dong, with both parties completing the value exchange within their respective comfort zones.
Vietnam's Second Financial System: Three Breakthroughs of Stablecoins
"What's surprising is that this explosive growth in the payment ecosystem has only happened in the last year. In 2024, the stablecoin QR code and U-card payment market in Vietnam was practically undeveloped," an entrepreneur deeply involved in crypto payments told the author.
Interviews with several local Vietnamese individuals corroborated this timeline: the real turning point occurred in the second half of 2025. Before that, stablecoins were primarily traded on exchanges; after that, they began to penetrate the capillaries of cities through individual transactions.
This change is first evident in Jessica, a Chinese entrepreneur who has settled in Ho Chi Minh City. She frankly told the author that she has now completely switched to using U-cards and stablecoins for transactions in Vietnam, a payment combination that is "very convenient and covers almost all aspects of daily life."
Jing, a restaurant owner in Nha Trang, confirmed this trend from a business perspective. He told the author that starting in November 2025, customers began trying to use stablecoins to scan codes at his restaurant. "Quite a few have come over gradually; you're definitely not the first."
As the conversation got heated, Jing readily gave me directions: "If you want to exchange your stablecoins for Vietnamese dong, just turn left and there's a Chinese convenience store about 1 kilometer away." In Vietnam, convenience stores are often the most discreet exchanges.
Photo: A typical supermarket in Vietnam
As the most basic "exchange node" in the ecosystem, Scarlett and Lin, who run a husband-and-wife offline currency exchange shop, demonstrated to me the astonishing maturity and openness of exchange channels in some Vietnamese cities. "Want to exchange stablecoins for Vietnamese Dong? Just come to our shop anytime." They skillfully quoted me, "Exchange rate 26,000, using the TRON blockchain, transaction fee 2 USDT per transaction."
Of course, this "openness" is not a consensus across Vietnam. During my research, I discovered significant differences in business culture between northern and southern Vietnam: what is commonplace in southern cities like Ho Chi Minh City is taboo in the capital, Hanoi. When I inquired about the same issue with local exchange brokers in Hanoi, they were extremely evasive and refused to discuss stablecoin exchanges whatsoever.
After engaging in in-depth conversations with locals from different social strata in Hanoi (from students to small shop owners), I discovered a distinct regional disparity: compared to the openness of the south, residents in northern Vietnam generally hold a cautious, even instinctively wary, attitude towards stablecoins.
"However, in any case, a new payment formalization has been established."
Stablecoins have achieved full penetration of payment terminals in Vietnam. Whether through cash, stablecoin credit cards, or QR code payments, these three methods go hand in hand, signifying that Vietnam has effectively opened up the entire process for foreigners to use stablecoins for local consumption.
A financial closed loop, parallel to the fiat currency system, began to operate on its own.
The Singularity: A Two-Way "Domestication" of Humans and Technology
The Vietnamese stablecoin market is currently at a critical juncture.
By importing the survey data into Manus for multidimensional modeling and analysis, we found that the payment success rate is not a single technical indicator, but is significantly affected by two implicit variables: "user adaptability" and "usage scale".
And data and real-world examples are revealing this.
From a macro perspective, Manus's analysis divides the 30-day survey data into three clear phases: from the "exploration phase" in the first week (low spending, high failure rate), to the "adaptation phase" in the second week, and finally to the "maturity phase" in the third week. My payment success rate also followed this trend, showing a beautiful upward curve, climbing from less than 80% in the early stages to over 95% in the last two weeks.
This leap in data can be explained at the micro level. Take, for example, the "QR code displays Invalid" scenario that occurred nine times in the survey: initially, the author passively judged it as a "failure"; however, as familiarity with the tools and the scenario grew, the author later learned to proactively intervene—asking the store clerk to refresh the screen or change the QR code, thus successfully salvaging the payment. This "human correction" means that as "operational proficiency" increases, users possess the subjective initiative to judge the situation and troubleshoot, and this initiative significantly boosts the final payment success rate.
Photo: Grab driver showing VietQR
This trend indicates that a dynamic "interaction and domestication" is taking place between consumers and payment tools. People adapt to the tools, and the tools become more convenient for people to use.
"Users are adapting to the tools, and businesses are also actively adapting to the users."
In my observation, local Vietnamese businesses, individuals consciously aligning with international standards, and even Grab drivers are transforming from "bystanders" into "active adaptors."
Whether it's proactively switching to the standard VietQR to match Web3 wallets, or skillfully using stablecoins to accommodate international partners, these actions all point to the same logic: embracing technology for business purposes. This pragmatic business culture, rooted in Vietnamese society, is the key driving force behind stablecoins' ability to overcome technological barriers and achieve rapid adoption.
The agonizing 20 seconds: the "last mile" of stablecoin payments.
A 97.17% payment success rate is enough to prove that stablecoins have the technical foundation for Mass Adoption; however, those 11 glaring failures serve as a wake-up call, constantly reminding us that the seemingly short "last mile" to truly "globally usable" is actually still a formidable chasm.
This survey yielded only cold, hard data: 13 successful convenience store purchases; 23 successful Grab rides out of 25 attempts; 35 successful restaurant trips out of 41 attempts; and 5 successful flights, hotels, and buses. Behind this data, however, the author dissects those 11 failures into three major obstacles hindering widespread adoption.
The first challenge was the "instant collapse of trust." This was the most chilling moment in the entire research—"The money was deducted, but the recipient didn't receive it." This actually happened three times: December 20, 2025, MOC SEAFOOD restaurant, a loss of 3.75 USDT; December 22, 2025, Lao Chengdu Sichuan Restaurant in Nha Trang, a loss of 6.75 USDT; January 5, 2026, Liên Hoa Bakery, a loss of 2.26 USDT.
For a tech professional accustomed to tolerating bugs, this might just be a "waste"; but for the average user, it's a disaster. You can't prove your innocence to a merchant like you would with a bank transfer record, because the hash value on the blockchain is just gibberish to the cashier. Standing at the checkout counter, facing the merchant's suspicious gaze, the trust built on technology vanishes in an instant. This embarrassment is enough to deter any non-geek user.
The second hurdle is the "social awkwardness," or the "long 20 seconds." Every on-chain transaction requires confirmation, which can take anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds. While this might be a significant technological advancement, in a busy convenience store checkout line, those 30 seconds feel like an eternity. The anxious gazes of the people behind you make those few seconds of waiting feel like a thorn in your side. Compared to Alipay's "millisecond-level" response, this 20-second "time difference" creates a huge psychological barrier. If this social pressure of those 20 seconds isn't addressed, Web3 payments will forever remain a toy for geeks, never becoming a part of everyday life for ordinary people.
Photo: A MUJI store employee in Ho Chi Minh City is displaying a QR code.
The third hurdle is the "walls of giants" and the "threshold of micro-payments." Even though VietQR is the national standard, Muji, Haidilao, and some large, trendy restaurants still try to build their own "walls," tending to use self-built aggregated QR codes, resulting in "Invalid" messages appearing multiple times when I scanned them. While this can usually be mitigated by using a Visa card, it's undoubtedly a series of cold, hard rejections. Furthermore, "micro-payments" are a hidden pain point. The current payment system has a mandatory starting price of around 17,000 Vietnamese Dong (approximately 5 RMB). Even when you only want to buy a bottle of water or take a short Grab ride, the system will still deduct about 5 RMB worth of Vietnamese Dong. This is an economic loophole that must be fixed for high-frequency, everyday transactions.
These 11 failures reveal that the distance from 97% to 100% is not a simple linear increase, but a qualitative leap. Only when users no longer worry about their money disappearing, no longer feel ashamed of waiting, and no longer have their amounts "reverse-rounded" because they are too small, will the stablecoin payment revolution have truly crossed the insurmountable barrier known as the "last mile."
Echoes of History: From China to Vietnam
History has repeatedly proven that a new economic growth model inevitably calls for a new financial system to support it.
Twenty years ago, China bypassed the credit card system and used mobile payments to support the rapid development of e-commerce and the digital economy through Alipay and WeChat Pay. Today, Vietnam is building a unique "dual-track finance" system—popularizing mobile payments domestically and embracing stablecoins internationally—attempting to make the same risky leap.
The same applies to China and Vietnam.
The difference this time is that Vietnam has set out a more decentralized and globally fluid path. This is not accidental, but rather a continuation of the land's consistent "pragmatism".
Although the "long 20 seconds" still exist, and although the mechanisms of trust still need to be repaired, the wheels cannot be turned back. On this land of steadfast pragmatism, a financial artery parallel to traditional banks is carrying the aspirations of countless individuals, roaring into the future amidst the roar of the times.
