Vietnam | 2022

Cryptocurrency Adoption and trends in Vietnam in 2022

18.73

%

of Vietnamese
own cryptocurrency

How many crypto owners are in Vietnam?

It is estimated that 18.6 million Vietnamese, slightly less than a fifth of its entire population own cryptocurrency.

State of crypto in Vietnam

For the second year running, Vietnam has once again emerged first in the world in terms of crypto adoption according to an annual report by Chainalysis, a US blockchain data platform.  The study results, released in September 2022, gave Vietnam a maximum of 1 in its Global Crypto Adoption Index. The report also concluded that Vietnam holds the second largest cryptocurrency market in ASEAN, only behind Thailand. This is no surprise as Vietnam continues to witness its economy becoming more digitized in the last decade, with cashless quickly becoming the norm (such as Moca, Momo, or Zalopay). Concurrently, the government has also taken note of the evolving economy and the blooming popularity of cryptocurrency. Its Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been tasked with developing a legalisation reform on cryptocurrency and virtual assets, which has already created a research task force for it.

Vietnamese crypto ownership demographics

According to a report by Finders, there is a huge gap between male and female crypto ownership, with 44% of its male population saying it owns cryptocurrency as compared to 35% of the female population.⁵ As of 2022, roughly 70% of Vietnamese crypto owners are 18-34 years old, while 25% are 35-54 years old. Amongst all the different cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin reigns as the most popular cryptocurrency with one in every five Vietnamese crypto owners holding Bitcoin. Besides cryptocurrency, Vietnamese investors are also very involved in GameFi, which is another popular cryptocurrency category, that combines gaming and DeFi.

Crypto's rising popularity in Vietnam

  • Vietnam’s crypto adoption: Factors driving growth in Southeast Asia – Sep 2022
    Vietnam continues to rank among the top nations adopting cryptocurrencies. Analysts have attributed Vietnam’s dominance to relatively lax crypto taxes, limited access to financial services and a hedge against inflation. Additionally, as the birthplace of Axie Infinity, the game that arguably kicked started the ‘play-to-earn’ genre, Vietnam has become a hubspot for the thriving GameFi scene, with many crypto/GameFi startups flocking to the Southeast Asia nation 
  • Most Influential 2021: Trung Nguyen – Dec 2021
    Trung Nguyen and his GameFi’s success has bolstered the Vietnamese economy and industry, fueling local job creation and spurring a wave of startup innovation.
  • SGGP: Vietnam has second highest rate of cryptocurrency use – April 2021
    Out of 74 countries in the Statista Global Consumer Survey, the second highest rate of cryptocurrency use in the survey was recorded in Vietnam while Nigerians were the most likely to say they used or owned cryptocurrency. There has been a recent boom of cryptocurrencies (bitcoin) in Vietnam as investors realize the potential of this currency, while the government and experts have constantly been warning of possible risks, including Cybercrime. Cryptocurrency has not been recognized as a legitimate means of payment in Vietnam.

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