OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital are backing a new Vietnam-based crypto exchange as Hanoi accelerates its 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 companies have agreed to invest and become strategic partners alongside founding shareholders VPBank Securities and digital identity company LynkiD.
The financing will increase CAEX’s capital base to VND10 trillion, or approximately $380 million, the minimum needed to participate in a government cryptocurrency trading pilot program regulated under Resolution 05/2025.
The agreement comes as Vietnam’s Digital Technology Industry Law, which took effect in January, officially recognizes crypto assets and lays the legal foundation for licensing, monitoring and industry incentives. Regulators are now working to move activity overseas through a pilot program expected to grant licenses to a handful of domestic exchanges, part of a broader effort to restrict offshore trading and tighten controls on capital flows.
This combination – legal recognition coupled with controlled market access – has sparked a race between local financial institutions and global crypto companies to lock in early positioning. Vietnamese users moved around $200 billion in digital assets in the year to mid-2025, placing the country among the world’s top cryptocurrency adoption markets.
As part of this partnership, OKX Ventures and HashKey will work with CAEX on infrastructure, security, compliance and liquidity. The exchange is part of the VPBank ecosystem, leveraging VPBankS for financial support and governance and LynkiD for core technology and digital identity.
Vietnam was added to the Financial Action Task Force’s gray list in 2023 for weak anti-money laundering controls, particularly regarding virtual assets. This designation was a major motivating factor behind the regulatory push.
The new framework requires crypto companies 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 restore the country’s financial reputation. For OKX and HashKey, the math is simpler: arrive early, meet the compliance bar, and move with the market while the rules are still being written.
