Vietnam's draft law lets SMEs pledge digital assets as loan collateral. The central bank must set valuation and custody rules before banks accept volatile assets.
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Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has proposed an amendment to the Law on Support for SMEs that would allow small and medium-sized enterprises to pledge digital assets, virtual assets, intellectual property, and property rights as bank loan collateral. The move targets a structural financing gap: SMEs account for more than 98% of the country’s businesses yet receive only a fraction of total bank credit. Most lack the physical assets – land, buildings – that lenders require.
On its face, the proposal suggests a breakthrough for tech startups holding intangible value. The better market read is more cautious. Until valuation methods, custody standards, and liquidation procedures are defined by the central bank, commercial lenders are likely to reject volatile digital assets as collateral on internal risk committee advice. This article breaks down what the draft law changes, the financing gap it addresses, the regulatory backdrop, and the execution risks that determine whether the policy actually loosens credit.
The Ministry of Finance’s draft amendment expands the list of eligible collateral for SME loans. The proposed categories include:
The draft law also pushes banks to evaluate borrowers beyond collateral ratios. Lenders would weigh business plans, cash-flow projections, credit ratings, and market potential. This shift recognises that many tech-driven SMEs hold intangible value not captured in traditional balance sheets.
Separate provisions offer preferential financing, credit guarantees, and interest-rate support for businesses involved in energy-saving projects and circular economy initiatives. Tax incentives and ESG-related assistance are included in the same framework.
Vietnam’s SME sector employs most of the workforce but is structurally under-banked. Banks demand hard collateral because loan recovery through courts is slow and costly. Startups that hold valuable software or crypto assets but no real estate are effectively locked out of formal credit markets.
A real-world test case: if the law passes, a blockchain startup holding ETH or tokenised receivables could hypothetically pledge those to a commercial bank for working capital. That would be a first for Vietnam, where crypto has been used primarily for trading and remittances, not as financial infrastructure.
Vietnam’s commercial banks currently assess loans almost exclusively against physical assets. The draft law does not mandate acceptance of new collateral types – it only permits them. Each bank’s credit committee will decide internally. Without central bank guidance on how to value a volatile asset like Bitcoin or how to hold it during the loan term, most lenders will see the categories as unmanageable risk.
The collateral proposal is part of a broader regulatory package. In early 2026, the government outlined licensing rules for crypto exchanges and custody services. The goal is to bring digital asset activity under a formal framework by Q3 2026.
Vietnam ranked fourth in Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, reflecting high retail participation, peer-to-peer volumes, and DeFi usage. Regulators appear to be responding to real demand rather than engineering top-down adoption.
The licensing pathway requires exchanges to meet capital, compliance, and anti-money laundering standards. Tax treatment for crypto gains is still under discussion. The collateral amendment suggests the government views digital assets as legitimate economic tools, even as the fiscal framework remains incomplete.
For more context on Vietnam’s regulatory trajectory, see Vietnam Proposes Digital Asset Collateral for SME Loans. Broader crypto market conditions are tracked in the crypto market analysis section.
Banks are unlikely to accept volatile assets at face value. The draft law does not specify how digital assets would be valued, liquidated, or held during the loan period. Three interconnected risks stand out.
If a borrower pledges Bitcoin, the lender needs a reliable pricing mechanism. Using exchange spot prices introduces manipulation risk. A typical haircut for volatile collateral would be 50–80%, reducing the credit available to SMEs. Without a regulated price oracle – such as the planned Q3 2026 exchange – banks have no safe reference point.
Who holds the digital assets during the loan term? If the bank lacks crypto custody capabilities, the assets could sit on a third-party exchange, exposing both parties to exchange risk. The law does not mandate custody standards or liquidation procedures. A borrower default would trigger a forced sale at potentially unfavourable prices.
Intellectual property and digital assets can be transferred, hidden, or tied to key-man dependencies. Without clear ownership records – such as a blockchain-based registry – disputes over collateral validity could arise. Vietnam’s legal system is not equipped to handle crypto collateral disputes quickly, which undermines the enforcement assumption that underpins lending.
The draft law is open for public comment. The National Assembly must approve the amendment before it takes effect – likely in late 2026 or early 2027.
The next concrete marker is whether the Ministry of Finance collaborates with the central bank on valuation rules. That determines whether digital assets become real collateral or just a line in the law.
For traders and investors, Vietnam’s regulatory path matters beyond its borders. A functioning legal framework for crypto-backed credit could attract capital and talent from jurisdictions with hostile policies. Southeast Asia already hosts Singapore and Thailand as crypto-friendly hubs. Vietnam’s Chainalysis ranking shows it already has the user base; policy is the last bottleneck.
The collateral proposal is one signal among several that Vietnam is building a formal ecosystem for digital assets. The Q3 2026 exchange launch, if it proceeds as signalled, will provide the price discovery and custody infrastructure that the collateral framework currently lacks. Until then, the draft law is a promising scaffold without the steel of implementation.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.