RESEARCH: Vietnam Enforcement Actions

Executive Summary

• Crypto is legal to hold but unregulated as a means of payment; the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) explicitly prohibits the issuance and use of virtual currency (tiền ảo) as legal tender or a payment instrument, with violations subject to administrative fines of 100–200 million VND (approx. €3,800–€7,600) under Decree 52/2024/ND-CP. State Bank of Vietnam - Decision No. 27/2024; Government of Vietnam - Decree 52/2024
• No dedicated licensing regime exists for crypto businesses; the Ministry of Finance is drafting a legal framework for virtual assets (tài sản ảo) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) pursuant to Directive No. 24/CT-TTg (22 July 2024), with a target of completing the framework by May 2025; no final decree has been published and the status remains "in draft." Ministry of Finance - Drafting Committee Announcement; Government of Vietnam - Directive 24/CT-TTg
• The State Securities Commission (SSC) regulates securities activities, but digital assets not classified as securities fall outside its remit and remain in a legal gray zone; the SSC has confirmed that no initial coin offering (ICO) or token sale has ever been approved. State Securities Commission of Vietnam
• The State Bank of Vietnam is the primary monetary authority and regulator of payment systems, enforcing the ban on crypto payments, while the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) handles criminal enforcement against fraud and money laundering involving crypto. State Bank of Vietnam; Ministry of Public Security
• No crypto exchange or custodial service has ever received a license; enforcement actions to date have been limited to fraud prosecutions, payment-ban violations, and administrative fines under existing criminal, banking, and securities laws. No public enforcement case has been brought solely for operating a crypto exchange or mining crypto without a license, because no license category exists.

Definitions & Terminology

Usage note: This document uses "virtual currency" when citing the payment ban and banking sanctions (Decrees 101/2012, 80/2016, 52/2024, Decision 27/2024) and "virtual asset" when referencing the draft framework (Directive 24/CT-TTg) and FATF standards. The two terms are not interchangeable under current Vietnamese law.

Regulatory Framework

Regulatory Bodies

• State Bank of Vietnam (SBV): Primary monetary authority; regulator of payment systems; enforces the virtual currency payment ban; designated Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). State Bank of Vietnam
• Ministry of Finance (MoF): Oversees financial markets, tax policy, and the drafting of the virtual asset legal framework; chairs the inter-ministerial drafting committee. Ministry of Finance
• State Securities Commission (SSC): Regulates securities and capital markets; has authority over digital assets that meet the legal definition of "securities" under the Law on Securities No. 54/2019/QH14. State Securities Commission of Vietnam
• Ministry of Public Security (MPS): Handles criminal enforcement (fraud, money laundering, illegal gambling, cybercrime) involving crypto; operates the Economic Crime Police (C03) and Cyber Crimes Department (A05). Ministry of Public Security
• General Department of Taxation (GDT): Tax administration authority; no binding guidance on virtual asset taxation has been issued. General Department of Taxation

Primary Legislation – Payment Ban

• Decree No. 101/2012/ND-CP (22 November 2012) on non-cash payments, amended by Decree No. 80/2016/ND-CP (1 July 2016), prohibits the use of virtual currency as a payment instrument (Art. 4.1). Government of Vietnam - Decree 101/2012
• SBV Decision No. 27/2024/QD-NHNN (15 April 2024) provides implementing guidance for credit institutions and payment intermediaries to detect and block virtual currency payment transactions. State Bank of Vietnam - Decision 27/2024

Primary Legislation – Administrative Sanctions (cross-referenced to Enforcement Actions)

• Decree No. 52/2024/ND-CP (15 May 2024) on administrative sanctions in banking and foreign exchange operations sets fines of 100–200 million VND for unauthorized use of virtual currencies as means of payment (Art. 12, Clause 1). See Enforcement Actions for penalty details and case applications. Government of Vietnam - Decree 52/2024

Primary Legislation – AML/CFT

• Law on Anti-Money Laundering No. 14/2022/QH15 (effective 1 March 2023) and Decree No. 19/2023/ND-CP (28 April 2023) detailing AML measures. Virtual asset service providers are not listed as reporting entities. See AML/KYC Requirements for full analysis. Vietnam National Assembly - Law 14/2022; Government of Vietnam - Decree 19/2023

Primary Legislation – Securities

• Law on Securities No. 54/2019/QH14 (effective 1 January 2021) defines "securities" and empowers the SSC to regulate offerings. Tokens deemed securities fall under SSC licensing; the SSC has ruled that no ICO/token sale has met the definition to date. State Securities Commission

International Standing

• Vietnam became a full member of the FATF in June 2019 (observer status 2011–2019). It is currently on the FATF Enhanced Follow-Up list (as of the October 2024 plenary) with significant deficiencies noted in the regulation of virtual assets, including non-implementation of Recommendation 15 (new technologies) for VASPs. FATF - Vietnam Membership; FATF - Follow-Up Report 2022

Draft Framework

• Directive No. 24/CT-TTg (22 July 2024) instructs the MoF to lead an inter-ministerial committee to develop a legal framework for virtual assets and VASPs, with a target completion date of May 2025. As of the research date (15 January 2026), no draft decree has been published for public comment; the May 2025 target has passed without public output. Government of Vietnam - Directive 24/CT-TTg

Licensing Requirements

• No licensing regime exists for the following activities: crypto exchange operation, crypto custody, crypto brokerage, crypto mining, or digital asset token issuance. Ministry of Finance - Drafting Committee Announcement
• The State Bank of Vietnam has not issued any license to a crypto exchange, payment processor, or digital asset service provider, and no such license category exists in Vietnamese law. State Bank of Vietnam
• The State Securities Commission has stated that initial coin offerings (ICOs), token sales, and digital assets that do not meet the legal definition of a "security" are not eligible for its licensing or registration processes; no ICO approval has ever been granted. State Securities Commission of Vietnam
• Capital requirements for any hypothetical future license are unspecified — no statute, decree, or circular defines minimum capital for a virtual asset service provider in Vietnam. Government of Vietnam - Decree 52/2024
• Application process and timeline: none exists in law or regulation; the only formal avenue is to await the draft decree from the Ministry of Finance, which as of this research date (15 January 2026) has not yet been published for public comment. Government of Vietnam - Directive 24/CT-TTg
• Zero entities have been licensed for any crypto business activity. This is stated as a clear fact. State Bank of Vietnam

AML/KYC Requirements

• The amended Law on Anti-Money Laundering No. 14/2022/QH15 (effective 1 March 2023) requires customer due diligence (CDD), ongoing monitoring, and suspicious transaction reporting, but its obligations apply only to defined financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses — virtual asset service providers are explicitly not named in the law's scope. Vietnam National Assembly - Law 14/2022
• Decree No. 19/2023/ND-CP details CDD procedures, beneficial ownership identification, and STR filing thresholds (suspicious transactions over 300 million VND, approx. €11,400), but again does not extend these duties to crypto intermediaries. Government of Vietnam - Decree 19/2023
• Politically exposed persons (PEPs) are defined under Article 4 of Law 14/2022 and require enhanced due diligence (EDD) for banks and licensed financial entities; crypto businesses are not subject to these requirements as they are not listed as obliged entities. Vietnam National Assembly - Law 14/2022
• Record retention obligations of five years apply to AML subject entities under Article 17 of Law 14/2022; no similar retention obligation exists for crypto service providers as a standalone category. Vietnam National Assembly - Law 14/2022
• The State Bank of Vietnam is the designated Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and manages the Anti-Money Laundering Information Management System (AMLIC), but it collects reports only from formally licensed entities — crypto businesses are outside this reporting channel. State Bank of Vietnam

Enforcement Actions

Hierarchy clarification: Decree No. 52/2024/ND-CP (Government decree, 15 May 2024) is the primary legal basis setting administrative fine levels (100–200 million VND) for virtual currency payment violations. SBV Decision No. 27/2024/QD-NHNN (15 April 2024) is the SBV's implementing directive to credit institutions and payment intermediaries on detection and blocking procedures. The Decision does not set fine amounts; it operationalizes the Decree's prohibitions. The Executive Summary and this section cite Decree 52/2024 for penalty amounts.

Administrative Sanctions (Payment Ban Violations)

Criminal Prosecutions (Fraud, Money Laundering, Illegal Gambling)

Enforcement Patterns & Observations

1. No "pure" licensing enforcement: No case has been brought solely for operating a crypto exchange, custody service, or mining operation without a license — because no license category exists.
2. Payment ban is the primary administrative tool: SBV uses Decree 52/2024 against banks and payment intermediaries that fail to block crypto payments, not directly against end-users or exchanges.
3. Criminal law fills the gap: MPS uses Penal Code Articles 174 (fraud), 324 (money laundering), and 321 (gambling) to prosecute crypto-related schemes. The underlying crypto activity is not the charge; the fraud or laundering is.
4. Securities law applied to token offerings: SSC fined Vietstake for unregistered securities offering — the first public case treating tokens as securities.
5. Coordination increasing: 2024–2025 shows SBV (administrative), MPS (criminal), and SSC (securities) acting in parallel on different facets of the same ecosystem.

Tax Treatment

Research date: 15 January 2026. No binding national tax guidance on virtual assets exists.

Key takeaway: The absence of tax law mentioning virtual assets creates a compliance vacuum, not an exemption. A strict reading provides no basis for assessment, but also no safe harbor. The GDT has signaled (internal workshops, 2023–2024) that a Circular on virtual asset taxation is under study, but no draft has been published.

Operational Guidance for Market Entrants

Actionable risk framework for a firm deciding whether/how to enter the Vietnam market as of 15 January 2026.

Jurisdictional Comparison: Enforcement Rigor Context

Vietnam's outlier status: Among ASEAN-6, Vietnam is the only jurisdiction with no licensing regime, a strict payment ban enforced at the banking layer, and zero tax guidance — while simultaneously applying criminal law aggressively to crypto-linked fraud. This creates a "worst of both worlds" environment: no legal path to operate, but full exposure to enforcement.

Key Gaps & Risks

• Missing legal definition: Vietnamese law contains no legal definition of "virtual asset," "crypto asset," or "digital token" in any primary statute, decree, or circular; the term "virtual currency" appears in banking decrees but only in the context of the payment ban, creating uncertainty as to whether a token is a commodity, a security, or a means of payment. Government of Vietnam - Decree 101/2012
• No supervisory authority for crypto businesses: Neither the State Bank, the Ministry of Finance, nor the State Securities Commission has yet been designated as the regulator for virtual asset service providers in a legally binding instrument; until the drafting process completes, a crypto business has no official authority to report to or be supervised by. Government of Vietnam - Directive 24/CT-TTg
• Banking access risk: Commercial banks in Vietnam have, since 2021, unilaterally closed accounts of individuals and firms suspected of crypto-related transactions, citing internal compliance policies; there is no law requiring banks to accept crypto-related customers, and no appeal mechanism exists for account closures in this context. State Bank of Vietnam - Credit Institution Circular 09/2022
• Criminal liability exposure: The Penal Code (No. 100/2015/QH13, amended by 12/2017/QH14) contains offenses that are broad enough to apply to crypto activity, including "organizing gambling" (Article 321), "fraud" (Article 174), and "money laundering" (Article 324); a crypto business that commits any misrepresentation can face criminal prosecution even where the underlying activity is not itself illegal. Government of Vietnam - Penal Code 100/2015
• FATF listing pressure: Vietnam's continued placement in the FATF Enhanced Follow-Up category, with identified deficiencies on virtual assets, creates external pressure to pass a virtual asset law; failure to legislate risks worsening international reputation and could lead to countermeasures in the financial sector. FATF - Vietnam Follow-Up Report
• Practical enforcement gap: Law enforcement has investigated crypto fraud cases but has not prosecuted any business solely for being a crypto exchange or for mining crypto; enforcement targets fraud, payment violations, or money laundering, meaning that a legitimate crypto business operations without any license or registration requirement is in a legal no-man's-land where nothing is technically illegal but nothing is protected. Ministry of Public Security
• Tax compliance vacuum: As detailed in the Tax Treatment section, no binding tax guidance exists for any crypto-related income, gain, or transaction. This creates simultaneous risks of (a) non-filing penalties when rules are eventually issued retroactively, and (b) inability to obtain tax residency certificates or treaty benefits for cross-border structures. General Department of Taxation

Sources

• State Bank of Vietnam - Official Portal
• Ministry of Finance - Vietnam
• State Securities Commission of Vietnam
• Ministry of Public Security - English Portal
• Government of Vietnam - Decree 101/2012 on Non-cash Payments
• Government of Vietnam - Decree 52/2024 on Banking Sanctions
• Government of Vietnam - Law 14/2022 on Anti-Money Laundering
• Government of Vietnam - Decree 19/2023 on AML Details
• Government of Vietnam - Directive 24/CT-TTg (2024)
• FATF - Vietnam Membership Page
• FATF - Vietnam Follow-Up Report (2022)
• Hanoi City Court - Official Portal
• General Department of Taxation - Vietnam
• Government of Vietnam - Law on Corporate Income Tax (14/2008/QH12)
• Government of Vietnam - Penal Code (100/2015/QH13)
• Government of Vietnam - Law on Securities (54/2019/QH14)
• Government of Vietnam - Law on VAT (13/2008/QH12)
• Government of Vietnam - Law on PIT (04/2007/QH12)
• Government of Vietnam - Law on Tax Administration (38/2019/QH14)
• Government of Vietnam - Decree 13/2023/ND-CP on Personal Data Protection
• FATF - Guidance on Virtual Assets and VASPs (2021)

Research Date: 15 January 2026
Next Review Trigger: Publication of MoF draft decree on virtual assets; FATF October 2026 plenary outcome; GDT issuance of Circular on virtual asset taxation.