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Thu Huong Le · · 9 min readExplaining Vietnam’s crypto boom
Nam Nguyen joined the crypto craze in March 2021 and has invested about US$3,000. Being a newbie, he says, actually offered some advantages. “I didn’t read a lot. I was decisive because I didn’t know much and wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Nam ended up making enough money from crypto to rescue his restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which was shut down for months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Restrictions in the country have since been lifted, and his business has been up and running. In turn, the restaurant generates money to sustain Nam’s crypto bets. The 25-year-old doesn’t mind that his crypto assets have lost about 46% in value lately.
“Unlike the stock market, the crypto world is more convenient for me because it’s 24/7,” he tells Tech in Asia. “I often wake up late, and that means I’ve already missed the stock market’s morning trading session.”
Considering that Vietnam is still primarily a cash-based society, crypto adoption is surprisingly high.
Nearly 6 million people – or about 6% of the population – own the digital asset, putting the country among the top five in the world, according to data from cryptocurrency payments firm TripleA. Vietnam and India also led research firm Chainalysis’ global ranking of crypto adoption by individual investors.
Years ago, Vietnam’s young and tech-savvy population leapfrogged the desktop and went straight to mobile. Today, the same story is happening with cryptocurrency.
Despite not being recognized by the government, the virtual currency has already become a hot investment asset, especially among millennials and Gen Z.
The Covid-19 pandemic and Axie Infinity – a play-to-earn game that has achieved global fame from its base in Ho Chi Minh City – have contributed to the growing allure of crypto.
Forget about real estate and gold; suddenly, everyone is “playing” coins.
Photo credit: ©velivinki/123rf.com
Grassroots adoption
Trung Nguyen joined the market in 2014 but luckily quit in 2018 before the crypto winter hit. He returned in 2020 and now likes to stay informed by reading and consulting different sources. “Currently, my portfolio is: 40% crypto, 40% stocks and 20% savings,” he adds.
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