Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said that the authorities intend to create a “regulatory sandbox” where Vietnamese companies can test crypto projects under state control. The head of government said that the cryptocurrency market in Vietnam is currently in a “gray zone,” and digital assets are not officially recognized.

Since 2017, the Central Bank has banned the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. This means that Bitcoin and other assets cannot be used to pay for any transactions, and violating the ban can result in fines or criminal liability.

At the same time, the popularity of cryptocurrencies in the country is growing. Vietnamese actively trade and invest through international platforms or p2p, without state control. Over the past year, investments of Vietnamese investors in digital assets have exceeded $105 billion, and the country has taken fifth place in the world in terms of public acceptance of cryptocurrencies, according to the Chainalysis rating.

Earlier, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) proposed to launch a state program to support national crypto trading platforms in specialized financial centers of Ho Chi Minh City and Donang.