Vietnam has recorded a 16% credit growth as of the first nine months of 2025, with the central bank expecting it to hit 20% by the end of the year. According to the country’s central bank, this rapid expansion will fuel asset prices, with Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha expecting the liquidity to flow into the digital asset sector.
Vietnam’s total outstanding loans stood at $671 billion in the first nine months, 4% higher than the same period the year prior. The State Bank of Vietnam expects this year’s credit growth to be the highest in 15 years, cushioning the $480 billion Vietnamese economy from the impact of United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The central bank expects this increased liquidity to flow into more risky assets, with digital assets among the sectors set to benefit from the credit growth.
Vietnam has consistently ranked as one of the world’s most vibrant digital asset markets. In the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, the Southeast Asian nation ranked fourth, only behind India, the U.S., and Pakistan, respectively. A study by the Crypto Council for Innovation found that over 21 million Vietnamese citizens, or 21.2% of the population, hold digital assets, the second-highest ownership rate globally after the United Arab Emirates.
Vietnam’s enabling regulations and zero taxation on digital assets have been key factors in this growth. However, the government has been tightening the regulations recently to protect investors.
Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry revealed that it intends to limit the number of exchanges licensed to operate in the country. Deputy Minister Nguyen Duc Chi told reporters that under a proposed framework, only five exchanges would be allowed to serve the market at any one time.
The ministry is spearheading a five-year ‘crypto’ trading pilot program whose participants would work under sandbox conditions that allow them to experiment with new products and services in a controlled environment.
However, according to Chi, no exchange has applied to join the pilot, which could delay its implementation.
“As of now, the ministry has not received any proposals from enterprises. We hope to launch this pilot before 2026. However, the progress will depend on how well enterprises can meet the required conditions,” he stated.
Industry leaders point to onerous capital and operational demands as key reasons for the low interest in the pilot. Exchanges must, for instance, maintain at least 10 trillion dong ($380 million) in capital, which matches the standards that regulated banks are subjected to. In comparison, other Asian financial hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore require exchanges to hold less than $5 million in capital.
Kazakhstan’s dual approach: Balancing stablecoins and CBDCs
In Kazakhstan, the central bank has defended its dual approach to digital currencies amid concerns about whether government-backed stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can coexist.
Last month, the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) launched Evo, a stablecoin denominated in the tenge currency. According to the regulator, Evo will promote “the localization of liquidity within the country” and protect its monetary sovereignty.
However, while it focuses on the stablecoin, NBK is also advancing its CBDC, which is known as the digital tenge. Deputy Governor Berik Sholpankulov has defended this approach, which he says will only promote the country’s digital payments growth.
“When discussing the Evo stablecoin and the digital tenge, we see not competition, but rather opportunities for integration and interoperability,” he told one outlet.
While the Evo will be easy to integrate into the existing financial rails, it does not offer the same guarantee as the digital tenge, which is backed by the central bank, he added.
Talgat Dossanov, the founder of the Intebix exchange, concurs. Intebix was charged with issuing the Evo stablecoin. Dossanov says that the CBDC will be used by the top bank as a monetary policy tool, while the stablecoin will be the day-to-day payment instrument.
“The digital tenge strengthens the role of the central bank and the country’s financial sovereignty, while the stablecoin accelerates integration into the global crypto market, attracts international projects, and provides a convenient instrument for cross-border payments,” he stated.
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Source: https://coingeek.com/vietnam-credit-boom-fuels-asset-prices-trickles-to-crypto/
