OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital are backing a new Vietnam-based crypto exchange as Hanoi accelerates efforts to bring one of the world’s most active retail crypto markets under formal regulation.
Vietnam Prosperity Crypto Asset Exchange (CAEX) said on Friday that the two firms have agreed to invest and become strategic partners alongside founding shareholders VPBank Securities and digital identity firm LynkiD.
The funding will bring CAEX’s capital base to VND 10 trillion – about $380 million – the minimum required to participate in a government pilot program for regulated crypto trading under Resolution 05/2025.
The agreement lands as Vietnam’s Digital Technology Industry Law, which took effect in January, formally recognized cryptoassets and laid the legal foundation for licensing, oversight and industry incentives. Now regulators are pushing to move activity onshore through a pilot program expected to grant licenses to a handful of domestic exchanges, part of a broader effort to limit offshore trading and tighten controls on capital flows.
This combination – legal recognition paired with controlled market access – has sparked a race between local financial institutions and global crypto firms to lock in early positioning. Vietnamese users moved an estimated $200 billion in digital assets a year through mid-2025, placing the country among the top crypto adoption markets globally.
Under the partnership, OKX Ventures and HashKey will work with CAEX on infrastructure, security, compliance and liquidity. The exchange is within the VPBank ecosystem and draws on VPBankS for financial support and management and LynkiD for core technology and digital identity.
Vietnam was added to the Financial Action Task Force’s 2023 gray list for weak anti-money laundering controls, particularly with regard to virtual assets. This designation has been a major motivator behind the regulatory push.
The new framework requires crypto firms to obtain licenses, verify user identities, monitor transactions and file reports — measures designed to bring Vietnam closer to global compliance standards.
For Hanoi, the bet is that a regulated crypto market can help repair the country’s economic reputation. For OKX and HashKey, the calculation is simpler: Get in early, meet the compliance line, and grow with the market while the rules are still being written.
