Vietnam Weighs Letting Small Firms Pledge Crypto for Bank Loans

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance wants to let small businesses post digital and virtual assets as collateral for bank loans. The proposal sits inside a draft revision of the Law on Support for SMEs, now open for public consultation, and would widen the assets firms can pledge well beyond the real estate and fixed assets that banks currently favor.

The draft list is deliberately broad. It covers assets formed in the future, property rights, intellectual property, intangible assets, digital assets, virtual assets, and other lawful assets. The ministry pitched it as a fix for a long-running credit gap that has squeezed technology startups and private companies, firms that often own software, brands, data, and patents but hold no land for a bank to seize if a loan goes bad.

The scale shows up in the State Bank of Vietnam's numbers. Outstanding SME loans reached nearly VNĐ3.8 quadrillion, about $144.2 billion, by the end of April, roughly 20% of all credit in the banking system. Yet SMEs and household businesses account for more than 98% of Vietnamese enterprises. The ministry tied the proposal to Politburo Resolution 68-NQ/TW, which frames the private sector as an important driver of the economy.

Beyond new forms of collateral, the draft urges credit institutions to judge borrowers on credit ratings, business plans, market expansion potential, and cash flow rather than fixed assets alone. It also bundles in support for innovation, digital transformation, green projects, and sustainable business models.

None of this means banks will be forced to accept any token a borrower offers. The draft requires that assets be lawful under Vietnamese law, leaving valuation, custody, risk control, and legal recognition as unresolved questions for lenders. They are the same questions Vietnam is working through elsewhere as it pilots a domestic digital asset exchange and tightens rules on overseas crypto trading.