Vietnam Economic Times January, 19 2026

Dear readers,

In the era of Industry 4.0, digital assets have been constantly created, issued, stored, accumulated, exchanged, traded, and invested in many countries globally, becoming an essential part of an economy in general and a digital economy in particular.

Under the Law on Digital Technology Industry, passed by the 15th National Assembly on June 14, 2025, and effective from January 1, 2026, “Digital assets are assets as defined by the Civil Code, represented in the form of digital data, created, issued, stored, transferred, and verified by digital technology in an electronic environment”; with digital assets including virtual assets in the electronic environment, encrypted assets, and other digital assets, but, as stipulated by the Law, excluding securities, digital currencies, cryptocurrencies, and other financial assets under the Civil Code.

This is a significant legal advancement in Vietnam in defining and clarifying the concept of “digital assets” and related activities concerning this important type of asset, facilitating the process of storing, accumulating, exchanging, buying, selling, and investing in such assets, as these and encrypted assets have officially been legalized (excluding digital currencies and cryptocurrencies, which have not yet been regulated in the Law on Digital Technology Industry) and are being piloted as an important asset class, according to Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP from the government on piloting the cryptocurrency asset market in Vietnam.

Thanks to the rapid development of the digital economy and legal advantages, with the Law on Digital Technology Industry coming into effect, along with Prime Ministerial Decision No. 1131/QD-TTg, dated June 12, 2025, which identifies blockchain technology as a strategic technology group, and digital assets, digital currencies, cryptocurrencies, and traceability systems as part of the strategic technology products group, Vietnam is facing many opportunities to capitalize on the growth wave of the tokenized asset market, with tokenization defined as the process of digitizing traditional assets into digital tokens on blockchain.

In recent years, the tokenization of real-world assets has emerged as a notable innovative trend in the global financial system.

The global tokenized asset market in 2025 was valued at approximately $600 billion and is projected to grow to $18.9 trillion by 2033 in an average growth scenario, accounting for over 10 per cent of global GDP, while in an optimistic growth scenario it could reach up to $23.4 trillion.

The question arises as to how Vietnam will seize the growth wave of the tokenized asset market, in the context of rapidly-developing tokenized assets globally, with the country already among those with the highest transaction volumes and ownership rates of tokenized assets in the world.

By providing forecast information and analyzing the growth trends of the tokenized asset market while identifying the policy limitations regarding the trend in the context of a rapidly-developing digital economy in the country, including issues related to the market, legal aspects, and technology concerning asset tokenization, our Cover Story in this edition focuses on the potential of Vietnam’s tokenized asset market, which is expected to open a new door for the domestic capital market.

Warmest regards.

Dr. CHU VAN LAM
CHAIRMAN OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD