PAX Gold in Vietnam: rules, access and the SJC gap

Where things stand

Vietnam is in the middle of building a legal crypto market, and PAX Gold sits in the gap. Crypto assets are now recognized in law. A five-year pilot lets licensed exchanges operate under strict rules. Five applicants passed initial review in March 2026. But as of late August 2026, according to officials speaking at the Vietnam RWA Summit, no licence had been issued. We found no report of one between then and 12 October 2026.

So there is no licensed Vietnamese venue where you can buy PAXG with dong today. People in Vietnam who hold PAXG generally bought it on foreign exchanges or through peer-to-peer trades. This page explains the rules, the realistic options and the risks, and why the token still interests many Vietnamese gold buyers.

The reason is the SJC premium. Domestic gold bars have traded well above the world price for years. PAXG, issued by the US trust bank Paxos Trust Company, N.A., follows the international price, because each token is one fine troy ounce of a London Good Delivery bar. The live card shows the PAXG price in dong. Our PAX Gold explainer covers how the token works.

The legal framework

It helps to keep the law, the regulator’s current position and market practice apart, because in Vietnam they are moving at different speeds.

The law. The Law on Digital Technology Industry, passed by the National Assembly in June 2025 and in force from 1 January 2026, recognizes digital assets and crypto assets as a legal category. Our research could not check the law number and dates against the official legal database, so please confirm them on vbpl.vn before relying on them. The detailed market rules sit in government resolutions and ministry decisions.

The pilot. Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP of 9 September 2025 created a five-year pilot crypto-asset market. Only service providers licensed by the Ministry of Finance may run it. The bar is high: charter capital of at least VND 10 trillion, roughly $383 million, and foreign ownership capped at 49%. Once the first licence is issued, domestic investors have six months to move to licensed platforms. The Ministry’s Decision 96/QD-BTC of 20 January 2026 set out the application procedure, and applications opened that month.

Practice today. In March 2026 five applicants passed the initial review: VIX Digital Asset Exchange, Loc Phat Vietnam Crypto Asset Exchange, Vietnam Prosperity Crypto Asset Exchange, Techcom Digital Asset Exchange (part of the Techcombank group) and Vietnam Digital Assets. None was licensed as of late August 2026. It is also not yet confirmed whether gold-backed tokens such as PAXG will be eligible for trading on pilot exchanges at all.

1. Jun 2025Digital technology law passed

   Crypto assets recognized; in force 1 Jan 2026

2. 9 Sep 2025Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP

   Five-year licensed exchange pilot

3. 20 Jan 2026Decision 96/QD-BTC

   Licence application procedure; filings open

4. Mar 2026Five applicants shortlisted

   Circular 32/2026 tax takes effect 27 Mar

5. Late Aug 2026Still no licence issued

   Per the SSC digital-asset board

How Vietnamese users reach PAXG

With no licensed local venue, people use two routes. The first is a foreign exchange: you buy USDT, often from another person through the exchange’s P2P desk, then buy PAXG on a PAXG/USDT order book. The second is pure peer-to-peer, buying PAXG or USDT directly from another person, which carries more counterparty risk. Neither route is a licensed Vietnamese service, and once the first pilot licence arrives the six-month transition rule in Resolution 05 will apply.

The table lists large global venues that had a PAXG market on 12 October 2026. It is a factual list, not a recommendation to use an unlicensed service. Our full exchange guide compares liquidity and fees in more detail.

None of these venues takes dong directly as of October 2026, and none holds a Vietnamese licence. That matters for two reasons. If a dispute arises, you have no local regulator to complain to. And once licensed exchanges launch, domestic investors are expected to move to them, so an offshore account is best seen as a temporary arrangement.

The 0.1% transfer tax

Circular 32/2026/TT-BTC took effect on 27 March 2026. Individuals, both resident and non-resident, pay 0.1% of the value of each crypto-asset transfer, whether the trade made a gain or a loss. Domestic companies pay 20% corporate income tax on profit instead. Crypto transfers are not subject to VAT. The circular is written for transactions within the Resolution 05 pilot.

Here is a worked example. If you sell 0.5 PAXG for about VND 54 million on a licensed pilot exchange, the 0.1% tax is about VND 54,000. A buy, a sale and a later transfer could each count as a transfer, so frequent trading adds up. How the circular treats trades on foreign platforms, before any pilot exchange operates, is not clear from the material we reviewed. This is not tax advice; ask a Vietnamese tax advisor.

PAXG and the SJC premium

For most Vietnamese readers the interesting question is not the token but the price gap. SJC bars, the national brand, have traded at a persistent premium over the world gold price. Press reports put it at about VND 13.5 million per tael in late 2024, about VND 20 million in May 2025 and about VND 17 million in January 2026. We found no verified figure after January 2026.

Policy is trying to close that gap. Decree 232/2025/ND-CP of 26 August 2025 ended the state monopoly on gold-bar production and gold imports. Bar production now needs a State Bank of Vietnam licence. Gold transactions of VND 20 million or more per day must go through a bank account.

The flip side is that you cannot sell PAXG at a Vietnamese gold shop, and you cannot walk into one with a token and leave with a bar. If the SJC premium shrinks, a bar holder loses some value while a PAXG holder does not, because PAXG never had it. If the premium widens, the bar holder gains. Our PAXG vs physical gold page covers storage and resale costs in general.

Converting to chỉ and lượng

Vietnamese gold is weighed in chỉ (3.75 g) and lượng, also called a tael or cây (37.5 g, ten chỉ). One PAXG holds 31.1035 g of fine gold. The arithmetic follows from there, and our gold calculator applies it to live prices.

As a dated example, CoinGecko’s PAXG price on 12 October 2026 was about VND 108.2 million. Multiplying by 1.2057 gives about VND 130.4 million for a lượng of gold at the world price, or about VND 13.0 million per chỉ. Comparing that with a same-day SJC quote shows the premium directly. Remember the example mixes in no dealer spread, while SJC quotes always have one.

A careful buying routine

If you decide to buy PAXG despite the open questions, a disciplined process reduces the avoidable risks. Our general how-to-buy guide has more detail on each step.

1. Check for a pilot licence first

   Look for a Ministry of Finance announcement. If a licensed exchange lists PAXG, that is the cleaner route.

2. Use a large, established exchange

   Pick a venue with a real PAXG/USDT book and complete its identity checks in your own name.

3. Fund with care

   If you buy USDT on a P2P desk, use the exchange’s escrow and never release funds before payment clears.

4. Buy PAXG with a limit order

   Example: 1,000 USDT at a 0.1% fee costs 1 USDT in trading fees, plus any spread.

5. Consider self-custody

   Withdraw to a wallet you control on Ethereum. See our wallet guide and verify the contract on our networks page.

The fee in step four is a simple illustration, not any exchange’s published rate.

Risks to weigh

PAXG also carries the price risk of gold itself, which hit record highs in January 2026 and then fell about 27% by early July 2026. For the issuer side, read our PAXG safety guide, and see how neighbors handle licensing on our country pages.