From the perspective of an international organization, how would you evaluate the current state of Vietnam’s digital asset market? What potential do you see for the development of RWAs in the country?
Vietnam’s digital asset market today is in a formative but promising phase. The country has strong grassroots adoption, a young technical developer base, and a government that is increasingly open to structured experimentation through its pilot crypto asset framework and Vietnam International Financial Center (VIFC) initiatives. What Vietnam still lacks in regulatory maturity it compensates for with scale, speed, and a willingness to learn from regional precedents.
From my experience working across the Asia-Pacific, Vietnam today feels similar to where Hong Kong (China) and the UAE were in the early stages of their digital asset journeys: high energy, strong domestic awareness, and a government actively exploring how to balance innovation with risk management.
RWAs are where Vietnam can leapfrog other countries. Unlike trading-focused markets that have mature digital asset frameworks, Vietnam’s strengths lie in real-economy assets from manufacturing, agriculture, energy, real estate, and carbon markets. Tokenization can unlock value in sectors where Vietnam already has global competitiveness.
Vietnam’s biggest RWA advantage is its ability to build a modern tokenization framework without legacy constraints. Markets like Singapore and Hong Kong (China) have highly-mature systems, but also highly-rigid ones designed to protect their existing market functions. Vietnam can design RWA rails that are digitally native, interoperable, and aligned with global standards from Day 1, similar to the success seen in the UAE but at scale.
- Vietnam is in the process of developing a legal framework for crypto assets. In your view, what are the most important principles that officials should prioritize to both foster innovation and safeguard market integrity?
The experience of many jurisdictions suggests that governments should not rush to overhaul the existing legal system. Before making permanent legislative changes, governments need sufficient market data, practical experience, and a well-defined regulatory framework.
I believe Vietnam is taking a sensible approach by implementing a regulatory sandbox alongside a dedicated policy framework, including special mechanisms for foreign exchange, taxation, investment, and regulatory experimentation through the VIFC. A sandbox provides a controlled environment where businesses can test new business models, digital asset products, and tokenized RWAs under regulatory supervision and dialogue without disrupting existing market functions or the onshore legal framework.
A regulatory mechanism that can foster innovation while ensuring protections involves building a licensing regime that regulates activities such as custody, exchange, tokenization, stablecoin issuance, and staking rather than trying to define every type of token upfront.
It must also introduce risk tiers, with lighter requirements for low-risk activities such as pure technology and infrastructure providers and non-custodial services, and stricter rules for high-risk activities such as custody, retail trading, and leveraged products.
Technology-neutral rules should be encouraged that focus on outcomes such as security, resilience, recoverability, and auditability, rather than mandating specific chains or architectures. Minimum technical standards should also be identified for key functions such as custody, key management, smart contract audits, and incident response.
Institutional and retail access for domestic and international investors must be clarified, with stronger suitability, disclosure, and conduct rules where necessary. This is important because it gives builders, institutions, and investors confidence that their activities are compliant and appropriate for the Vietnam market.
What challenges is Vietnam likely to face in attracting international investment into its pilot crypto asset market?
One of the biggest challenges is managing the perceived risk of investing in Vietnam’s onshore market. International investors evaluate opportunities through a strict risk-adjusted lens, and today Vietnam’s pilot digital asset framework is still seen as early stage, with uncertainties around regulatory scope, licensing pathways, and long-term policy continuity. To attract meaningful, smart capital through blended finance, Vietnam needs to demonstrate both stability and credible return potential.
Beyond that, several additional factors shape investor sentiment, based on my experience in Hong Kong (China) and the UAE:
Regulatory clarity: Global institutions need predictable rules on custody, token issuance, exchange operations, and compliance obligations. Vietnam’s pilot is a strong first step, but investors will look for a clear roadmap toward full regulatory maturity.
Market infrastructure: Capital flows depend on trusted intermediaries: licensed exchanges, compliant custodians, audit-ready tokenization platforms, and robust AML/KYC (Anti-Money Laundering/Know-Your-Customer) rails. Without these, institutions will hesitate to deploy capital at scale.
Cross-border capital mobility: Investors need confidence that capital can move in and out efficiently. Vietnam’s broader foreign exchange and capital control environment often raises questions about repatriation and liquidity management.
Talent and operational depth: Sophisticated markets require engineers, compliance professionals, auditors, and product teams who understand tokenization, digital asset risk, and institutional-grade operations. Vietnam’s talent pool is growing quickly but remains less mature than those of Singapore or Hong Kong (China).
Institutional-grade use cases: Investors want to see real economic activity: tokenized bonds, RWAs, carbon credits, supply chain assets, and regulated stablecoins. Demonstrating these at scale will shift Vietnam from an “interesting pilot” to a “credible investment destination.”
Which sectors or asset classes do you believe Vietnam should prioritize tokenizing to leverage its competitive advantage and attract more investment?
RWAs can only be successful if the real-world registries supporting them are fully digitalized. This is necessary to enable the automation required by smart contracts governing tokenized assets based on reliable data feeds. Therefore, in my opinion, RWA projects related to new energy, electrification, or data center assets are a good first step toward realizing the promise of RWAs.
Building on Vietnam’s strengths, tokenizing commodities such as agricultural products, minerals, and production-related assets would create an entirely new financing channel for intermediaries instead of relying on bank credit or expensive mezzanine financing. As one of the world’s leading exporters of rice, coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, and rubber, Vietnam could enable individuals and businesses to issue tokens backed by inventory or production assets, allowing them to raise capital more quickly and efficiently. Blockchain can also improve traceability and transparency, helping businesses strengthen quality control and meet international standards.
Another area with significant potential is strategic resources, particularly rare earths. Northern Vietnam holds substantial rare earth reserves, which are increasingly critical to industries such as semiconductors, robotics, medical technology, defense, and new energy. Tokenizing these assets could make the sector highly attractive to international investors.
How can a well-functioning RWA market contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth?
Tokenized RWAs can expand access to capital, improve market transparency, enhance resource allocation, and support long-term economic growth. However, capital naturally flows to markets where investors have confidence in the legal framework, policy stability, and transparency of the investment environment. This has been demonstrated by financial centers such as Hong Kong (China) and Singapore. Clear regulations do not diminish a market’s attractiveness; on the contrary, they give businesses and investors the confidence to commit capital for the long term.
For Vietnam, the top priority is to establish a clear legal framework for the digital asset market while maintaining regular dialogue between regulators and the business community. Businesses need regulatory certainty to make long-term investments and deploy strategic assets.
In my view, effective regulation does not mean continuously introducing new laws. More importantly, it means developing practical regulations through a rules-based approach that can operate within the existing legal framework, encouraging innovation through sandboxes and public-private consultation while ensuring that the market develops in a transparent and sustainable manner.
Ultimately, the goal is to build an ecosystem in which the government protects the public interest while businesses have the confidence to invest, innovate, and scale. In doing so, the digital asset market can become a new channel for capital formation and contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth.
Google translate