Vietnam’s Credit Expansion and Cryptocurrency Adoption
The central banking authority of Vietnam has projected a significant credit expansion of approximately 20% by the year 2025. This surge in credit could potentially channel more liquidity into the surging global cryptocurrency markets as local adoption continues to rise. Pham Thanh Ha, who serves as the deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, emphasized on Friday that in order to foster economic growth and alleviate the adverse impacts of tariffs imposed by the United States, a reduction in interest rates becomes increasingly crucial, as reported by Reuters.
Legalization and Regulation of Cryptocurrencies
In a landmark move, the Vietnamese government legalized cryptocurrencies in June, marking a progressive step in the regulation of technology. Cryptocurrencies are now officially classified either as virtual assets that represent physical tokenized products or as crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, the government has restricted the issuance of on-chain fiat-backed assets, which includes stablecoins and security tokens, as part of the freshly enacted crypto regulations and its ongoing sandbox pilot initiative launched in September.
Vietnam’s Position in the Crypto Landscape
Vietnam is emerging as a significant player in the Southeast Asian crypto landscape, bolstered by its youthful demographic and growing interest in digital currencies. The country has earned the fourth position in Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Index for 2025, reflecting its promising potential as a regional crypto hub.
Regional Trends in Cryptocurrency Adoption
The Asia-Pacific region has been identified as the leading area for cryptocurrency adoption, according to data from Chainalysis. It featured nine out of the top 20 nations in the Global Crypto Adoption Index, showcasing substantial growth. The region witnessed a staggering 69% increase in the value of received crypto, with transaction volumes soaring from $1.4 trillion to over $2.3 trillion by 2025, driven largely by advancements in India, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
National Blockchain Initiative
As part of its digital economy strategy, the Vietnamese government launched a national blockchain database in July, aimed at revolutionizing public record keeping and personal identification. Named NDAChain, this layer-1 blockchain network consists of 49 nodes and is developed through public-private collaborations. The initiative seeks to enhance the security of sensitive data, traditionally kept on centralized systems, by employing a partially decentralized architecture. According to Nguyen Huy, the head of technology at the National Data Association (NDA)—which oversees the NDAChain project—this blend of decentralized and permissioned systems is designed to bolster data security against cyber threats.
