Vietnam’s Digital Asset Market: Legal Signals, Structural Alignment, and the Foundations of the Next Phase

An IDGX Perspective

Vietnam’s digital asset market is often described as entering a quiet phase. From IDGX’s perspective, this apparent calm does not signal stagnation, but rather a period of legal alignment, institutional preparation, and capability building that historically precedes structural transformation. In mature markets, digital assets have never progressed sustainably through speculation alone. They advance when regulation, infrastructure, and human capital begin moving in the same direction.

Vietnam is now navigating this transition. The question shaping the market is no longer whether digital assets should exist within the financial system, but how they should be governed, integrated, and scaled responsibly. Signals emerging from regulatory discourse, enterprise behavior, and talent development suggest that Vietnam is positioning itself for a more institutional, compliant, and durable digital asset future.

From IDGX’s viewpoint, three interdependent foundations define this next phase: institutional-grade custody, real-world asset tokenization, and education for Blockchain & Artificial Intelligence. Together, they form the structural backbone upon which Vietnam’s digital asset ecosystem can evolve beyond experimentation.

Vietnam’s Legal Landscape: What Is in Place — and What It Enables

Vietnam does not yet have a standalone digital asset law, and this reality must be stated clearly. However, the absence of a single “crypto law” does not imply a legal vacuum. Instead, Vietnam is constructing its digital asset framework through foundational legislation that governs digital transactions, data integrity, system security, and institutional responsibility.

The revised Law on Electronic Transactions (2023), effective from 2024, significantly expands the legal recognition of electronic data, digital signatures, and digital records. While it does not explicitly reference digital assets or tokens, it establishes a crucial legal base: transactions and rights expressed in digital form can carry enforceable legal validity. This principle underpins both custody operations and tokenized representations of assets.

Complementing this, cybersecurity and information security laws define obligations around system protection, access control, and risk management. For digital asset markets, these frameworks translate directly into expectations around key management, system resilience, and operational governance — all core requirements for institutional-grade custody and compliant digital infrastructure.

At the policy level, Vietnam has consistently stated that digital assets are not recognized as legal means of payment, while simultaneously allowing research, development, and application of blockchain technology across economic sectors. This separation between payment regulation and technology development mirrors early approaches taken in Japan and South Korea, where innovation was permitted under strict boundaries before broader frameworks emerged.

Taken together, Vietnam’s legal direction reflects a familiar regional pattern: build enforceable foundations first, expand applications later. This approach favors stability over speed — a choice that shapes how the three keynotes evolve.

Institutional Custody: Where Vietnam’s Legal Logic Converges

Across regulated markets, custody consistently emerges as the first non-negotiable layer. No enterprise, financial institution, or high-net-worth individual participates meaningfully in digital assets without clarity around asset ownership, segregation, auditability, and liability.

In Vietnam, the legal logic supporting custody already exists within traditional financial law. Principles governing asset safeguarding, fiduciary duty, and accountability of custodians are well established. Extending these principles to digital assets does not require reinventing the legal system — it requires adapting existing standards to a new asset form.

International experience reinforces this sequence. In Japan, custody standards were embedded into supervisory frameworks before security tokens reached scale. In Singapore, custody licensing and operational controls were prioritized well ahead of large-scale tokenization initiatives. Across the European Union, custodial accountability has been treated as a prerequisite for market stability.

For Vietnam, custody is therefore not a speculative category. It is the most legally intuitive entry point into a regulated digital asset market. Once custody standards are clarified, they create trust for institutions, a supervisory anchor for regulators, and a stable baseline for compliant innovation.

Real Asset Tokenization: Converting Legal Reality into Digital Efficiency

If custody establishes trust, real-world asset tokenization creates economic traction. Among all digital asset applications, tokenization aligns most naturally with Vietnam’s legal and economic structure.

Vietnam’s economy is deeply rooted in tangible assets: real estate, manufacturing output, export flows, commodities, invoices, and enterprise receivables. Legal frameworks governing ownership, contracts, and collateral are already in place. Tokenization does not alter the legal nature of these assets; it enhances how rights and value are represented, transferred, and managed.

Global precedents illustrate this clearly. Germany and other European jurisdictions have integrated tokenized securities into existing capital market laws. Singapore has demonstrated how tokenized assets can operate within regulated environments without undermining enforceability. Thailand has explored regulated tokenized instruments linked to real economic activity rather than speculative trading.

In Vietnam’s context, tokenization becomes meaningful only when anchored to custody, enforceability, and compliance. When these conditions are met, tokenization can improve financing efficiency, transparency, and capital access — particularly in areas such as export finance, supply-chain assets, and enterprise funding.

Education for Blockchain & AI: The Invisible Infrastructure

Technology and regulation alone do not build markets. People do. Education for Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence is the least visible, yet most decisive pillar of long-term digital asset development.

Custody cannot operate securely without trained operators. Tokenization cannot scale legally without professionals who understand both technology and law. Regulation cannot be enforced effectively without institutional literacy. This makes education not a support function, but core infrastructure.

Advanced markets recognized this early. Japan invested in structured digital finance education aligned with industry needs. The European Union emphasized professional certification and compliance training alongside regulatory development. These investments ensured that innovation and supervision evolved together rather than in conflict.

For Vietnam, education determines whether digital assets remain experimental or become institutional. Education for Blockchain & AI is therefore a structural investment — one that shapes adoption quality more than adoption speed.

What This Structural Shift Means for Market Participants

As Vietnam’s digital asset market moves toward a more structured phase, the implications will not be uniform — but they will be consequential for all.

For policy makers and regulators, this convergence offers a way to guide the market through sequencing rather than reaction. Custody, tokenization, and education together create a controllable path that prioritizes supervision, enforceability, and systemic stability. Preparation at this stage means strengthening cross-agency coordination and institutional technical literacy.

For financial institutions and large enterprises, digital assets shift from abstract innovation to infrastructure relevance. Custody frameworks enable compliant exposure, while tokenization introduces efficiency into asset management and financing. Readiness lies in governance, risk frameworks, and internal capability rather than market timing.

For high-net-worth individuals and family offices, structure signals a move away from informal participation toward professionally governed access. Asset protection, compliance alignment, and durability become more important than speculative returns.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those tied to trade and manufacturing, tokenization represents a potential efficiency layer — improving access to capital and transparency when integrated with existing legal and accounting systems.

Within the technology and infrastructure community, the shift rewards builders who prioritize security, auditability, and regulatory alignment over rapid experimentation. Market-ready systems increasingly resemble institutional infrastructure rather than consumer products.

For professional market participants — including legal, compliance, risk, and operations professionals — this phase creates new relevance. Expertise at the intersection of law, technology, and governance becomes a strategic asset rather than a niche skill.

Together, these dynamics suggest that Vietnam’s digital asset future will be shaped not by a single group, but by how different participants prepare and align as the market moves from possibility to structure.

Direction Before Acceleration

Vietnam’s digital asset market is not defined by the absence of regulation, but by the careful construction of its foundations. From IDGX’s perspective, institutional custody anchors trust, real-world asset tokenization translates economic value, and education for Blockchain & AI sustains progress.

The next phase is not about speed alone.      
It is about direction — and the strength of the structures built to support it.

Published by IDGX — Institutional insights on digital assets, infrastructure, and the future of Vietnam’s digital economy.