Vietnam just made one of the most concrete moves any Southeast Asian government has taken toward integrating digital assets into traditional finance. The country’s Ministry of Finance has proposed amendments that would allow small and medium enterprises to use digital assets, virtual assets, and intellectual property as collateral when borrowing from banks.
This isn’t a vague policy signal or a whitepaper gathering dust. The draft was released for public feedback between May 25 and May 29, 2026, with plans to submit it to the National Assembly in October 2026. If approved, the new rules would take effect on July 1, 2027.
Why SMEs need new collateral options
Small and medium enterprises make up over 98% of all registered businesses in Vietnam, yet they capture only around 19-20% of total banking credit.
Outstanding SME loans totaled nearly VND 3.8 quadrillion, approximately $144.2B, as of the end of April 2026. The Ministry of Finance clearly sees room to grow that number significantly if the collateral rules become more flexible.
The proposed amendments would expand acceptable collateral to include digital assets, virtual assets, intellectual property rights, future-formed assets, and other intangible assets. The draft also encourages banks to adopt lending approaches based on cash flows, business plans, and credit ratings rather than insisting on fixed-asset security.
The political and economic backdrop
This proposal aligns with Politburo Resolution 68-NQ/TW, which frames the private sector as a pivotal driver of Vietnam’s economic growth.
In 2017, the State Bank of Vietnam prohibited the use of virtual assets for payments, resulting in a murky legal status for ownership and trading of these assets. From 2025 to 2026, the government initiated a five-year pilot program to oversee digital asset exchanges and the licensing of service providers, involving several banks and conglomerates. By explicitly naming digital and virtual assets as acceptable collateral under lending law, Vietnam would be giving these assets a form of institutional legitimacy they haven’t previously enjoyed in the country.
What this means for investors
If this passes, digital assets in Vietnam gain a function beyond trading and speculation. They become productive financial instruments that can unlock real-world capital.
The challenge is valuation and risk management. Banks will need frameworks for assessing the worth of digital assets that can swing significantly in value. The draft proposal doesn’t prescribe exactly how banks should value these assets or manage liquidation risk, which means the implementation details between now and July 2027 will matter enormously.
The timeline, with a National Assembly submission in October 2026 and a target launch in mid-2027, gives regulators roughly a year to work through those details.