S Korean digital asset custodian BDACS enters Vietnam with local partnership

BDACS, a leading regulated institutional digital asset custodian in South Korea, has signed an MOU with IDGX, a Vietnam-based digital asset investment firm under IDG Capital Vietnam, to form a joint venture in Vietnam.

According to BDACS’s announcement on Tuesday, the partnership will focus on digital asset exchange and custody services, regulatory compliance and verification frameworks, and infrastructure for Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) company integration.

The joint venture will be launched within the year, with initial operations under Vietnam’s regulatory sandbox program, setting the stage for scalable expansion across the region.

IDGX will support the JV’s successful market entry with its local operational experience, regulatory networks, and capital resources.

BDACS will contribute its proven expertise in regulatory compliance and blockchain technology from the South Korean market, driving the creation of a stable and transparent digital asset financial infrastructure.

The agreement comes as the Vietnamese government has introduced a new regulatory framework for digital assets, which pilots a crypto asset market in Vietnam in five years.

Under the trial program, crypto assets must be backed by real underlying assets, excluding securities and fiat money. Such assets can only be issued by Vietnamese companies registered as limited liability or joint stock firms. All transactions and payments must be conducted in Vietnamese dong.

Additionally, in mid-June, the National Assembly, the country’s legislature, passed the Law on the Digital Technology Industry, marking a historic milestone and a strategic advancement to gradually position Vietnam as a global digital technology hub.

The Law on Digital Technology Industry will take effect on January 1, 2026. One key feature of the law is the formal definition of tokenized digital assets, which are created, issued, stored, and transferred using cryptographic or other digital technologies.

Under the law, state agencies are tasked with managing digital assets to ensure cybersecurity, prevent money laundering, combat terrorist financing, and block the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.