Vietnam Ministry of Finance makes client-asset segregation a hard control in the crypto-asset pilot

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has moved the crypto-asset pilot from market-design language into auditable operating rules.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has moved the crypto-asset pilot from market-design language into auditable operating rules.

Circular 15/2026/TT-BTC requires service providers performing custody to separate customer cash and crypto assets from house assets, track them by customer and asset type, and avoid recognizing custodial customer crypto as provider assets.

In a pilot where only Ministry-licensed entities can run crypto-asset market services and issuance, trading, and settlement must be conducted in Vietnamese đồng, that accounting treatment matters as public proof of who holds what, what belongs to whom, and what can be reconciled at close.

Circular 15/2026/TT-BTC does more than standardize bookkeeping. It requires service providers to separate customer cash and crypto from house assets, maintain customer- and asset-level detail, and avoid recognizing custodial client crypto as provider assets—public proof that Vietnam’s pilot expects auditable custody and treasury boundaries, not venue rhetoric.