The Ministry of Finance has issued accounting principles for participating in the crypto asset market. Accordingly, crypto assets will be accounted for like securities, but are not considered securities.

The Ministry of Finance has just issued Circular No. 15/2026/TT-BTC to guide accounting principles for organizations participating in the crypto asset market in Vietnam.

This is considered the next step in gradually perfecting the rulebook for businesses and organizations planning to participate in the pilot cryptocurrency market in Vietnam under Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP.

This Circular applies to crypto asset service providers, crypto asset issuers, and domestic institutional investors established and operating according to Vietnamese law that participate in the Vietnamese crypto asset market.

For organizations' proprietary trading of crypto assets, guidance is also provided stating that revenue, costs, and provisions for risks related to proprietary trading activities will be similar to those in securities trading activities. Notably, when discussing proprietary trading of crypto assets, the Ministry of Finance clearly states: "This similar application is solely for accounting purposes and does not mean that crypto assets are considered securities."

The Circular requires crypto asset service providers to record revenue from providing services such as organizing crypto asset trading markets, crypto asset custody, and providing crypto asset issuance platforms into the "Revenue from sales and service provision" account.

Furthermore, crypto asset service providers are responsible for classifying, monitoring, and detailing accounting of receivables to take measures for recovery and timely handling to prevent losses in accordance with legal regulations.

For the custody activities of these enterprises, a notable point of the Circular is that crypto asset service providers must account separately for customers' deposited funds and crypto assets from the enterprise's own funds and crypto assets.

Customers' crypto assets deposited with service providers shall not be recognized as assets of the organization but shall only be monitored to serve management requirements and for explanation in the financial statements. At the same time, service providers in this field need to monitor in detail the "Customer receivables" account of custody members by each entity, each receivable item, and each payment.

According to estimates by some organizations such as Triple-A or Chainalysis, as of 2024, Vietnam currently has about 17-20 million people owning cryptocurrency, and the number of people who know about cryptocurrency is even higher. The transaction value from July 2024 to June 2025 in the Vietnamese market reached over 230 billion USD (averaging about 12 billion USD per month).

Circular 15/2026, effective from March 4, 2026, will mark a new milestone for establishing operational accounting standards for businesses in the field. At the same time, it will also contribute significantly to helping crypto asset service providers, crypto asset issuers, and domestic institutional investors be more proactive in researching and planning effective financial and business strategies.