Is Pi Coin legal in Vietnam? What the rules say in 2026

If you are reading this in Vietnam, you may have seen the story: Hanoi police warned about Pi Network in March 2025, and Pi’s price fell around the same time. Pi Coin (PI) is the native token of Pi Network, and Vietnam is where its official-warning history is most concrete. This guide separates what the authorities actually said from what social media added, explains the pilot licensed market that is supposed to replace the grey zone, and ends with a cautious routine for anyone holding Pi.

What Vietnamese law says about crypto in 2026

Vietnam’s Law on Digital Technology Industry (No. 71/2025/QH15, passed 14 June 2025) entered into force on 1 January 2026. It defines digital assets, virtual assets and crypto assets, excludes securities and fiat currency, and leaves detail to the Government, according to a LuatVietnam English summary; I did not read Article 46 itself, so treat the wording as secondary. Separately, the State Bank of Vietnam does not accept crypto as a means of payment. That is why police statements about Pi focus on payments.

There is no rule that I found making ownership a crime. A March 2026 Reuters-based report relayed by iTiger puts it the same way: Vietnam does not explicitly ban owning crypto, but digital assets are not legal tender or an accepted payment method. That ambiguity, rather than a clear prohibition, is the daily reality for Pioneers.

The Hanoi police warning, read carefully

On 3 March 2025 the Hanoi City Police’s cyber security and high-tech crime unit published a warning, reposted by VnReview and reported by VOV. According to those texts it made five points: crypto, including Pi, is “not yet considered property”, so disputes are hard for the law to protect; under State Bank rules crypto is not a lawful payment means; Pi has no clear practical use and its price is set by the community; fake-Pi tokens and apps are a risk; and using it as payment could draw fines, which VOV’s headline puts at up to VND 100 million under Decree 88/2019 or criminal liability. The statement named OKX, MEXC, Gate, Bitget and ONUS among venues that listed PI on 20 February 2025.

The licensed market that does not exist yet

Vietnam’s answer to the grey zone is a five-year pilot, and understanding it explains why “legal exchange” is still an empty set.

The entry bar is high. A licensee needs at least VND 10 trillion in charter capital (about US$379 million), at least 65 percent of it from institutional investors, a Vietnamese company form and no more than 49 percent foreign ownership, and it must operate in VND, according to LuatVietnam’s summary. As of the latest report I found, no licence had been granted; confirm on the Ministry of Finance site, mof.gov.vn. Even when one is granted, a licensee will list assets by its own screening, so there is no reason to assume PI will be among them.

Tax: 0.1% per transfer, with a gap

Circular 32/2026/TT-BTC of 27 March 2026 sets personal income tax at 0.1% of the price of each crypto transfer made through licensed service providers, for residents and non-residents, with no VAT on crypto transfers and trading. It applies in the pilot period. The practical arithmetic is simple: a transfer worth VND 50,000,000 would carry VND 50,000 of tax.

The gap is that no licensed provider exists, and I could not confirm how trades on offshore exchanges or P2P are taxed. That uncertainty is a reason to keep records, not a reason to assume no tax is due. See the Circular summary and speak to an accountant.

Where people actually trade, and what goes wrong

Without a licensed exchange, Vietnamese traders use offshore platforms and peer-to-peer markets, with Binance P2P, Remitano and OKX P2P among the names reported by Tiger Research and Tuoi Tre. Tuoi Tre’s June 2026 report describes sellers’ bank accounts being frozen when a counterparty’s payment is linked to a fraud case. On 17 March 2026, Reuters, via Cointelegraph, reported that the Ministry of Finance was drafting a rule to restrict citizens’ use of overseas platforms; it had no effective date, and I found nothing showing it has been enacted.

Of the four exchanges listing PI, none lists Vietnam among its restricted countries on its own pages as I read them on 12 October 2026: Gate’s list omits Vietnam, Bitget’s terms do not mention it, OKX’s disclosure does not mention it and MEXC does not classify it as restricted. That makes sign-up possible. It does not make it licensed, and the P2P rails are where most Vietnamese users meet risk. Compare the platforms in the exchange listing status.

PI on ONUS and other local apps

The Hanoi police text names ONUS, a Vietnamese app, among venues that listed PI on 20 February 2025. I could not establish ONUS’s current regulatory status or whether PI is still tradable there, so do not treat it as a regulated alternative. Pi itself tells users to treat only businesses on its KYB list as integrated, and ONUS is not on that list.

Words matter: how Vietnamese law names things

Vietnamese sources use several terms that English readers tend to merge. Tiền ảo (virtual money) and tiền mã hóa (cryptocurrency) are the everyday words and are what the State Bank’s payment rules and the police statement refer to. Tài sản số (digital asset) and tài sản mã hóa (crypto asset) are the legal categories in the 2025 law and the pilot resolution, and the pilot’s “crypto asset” definition excludes securities and fiat. When a Vietnamese article says crypto is “not yet property”, it is using the older civil-law sense, while the 2025 law moves to define digital assets properly, and I have not read the implementing decrees. If you read advice in a Facebook group, check which of these terms it is actually using.

Foreign residents and visitors

The pilot is built around Vietnamese companies, VND settlement and capped foreign shareholding. That structure does not change anything for an individual expat directly, but it does mean that once a licensed exchange exists, it will likely onboard by Vietnamese ID or a passport with local bank details, and it will list assets by its own screening. Pi’s KYC, by contrast, is done inside the Pi app and is not tied to Vietnamese rules; see the KYC guide. If you are visiting rather than living in Vietnam, avoid paying with PI at all: the police statement says payment use may be fined, and a foreign passport will not protect you from a local rule.

A cautious checklist

• Do not use PI to pay for goods or services in Vietnam; the police warning and State Bank rules point the other way.
• Never share your Pi passphrase or “KYC fast-track” payments with anyone; see KYC scams.
• For P2P, trade only with verified counterparties, keep chat and payment records and expect your bank to ask questions.
• Keep dated records of every conversion for a future tax discussion.
• Read the legitimacy review so you can weigh Pi’s own risks, not only the legal ones.

What to do today

Hold in the Pi app unless you have a clear reason to sell, because price was about US$0.08 on 12 October 2026 per CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko and your exit options carry legal and operational friction. If you have decided to sell, the selling guide lists routes, and the regulation overview shows how Vietnam compares with its neighbours. One more product that appears in searches is CEX.IO’s Pi [IOU], described on its own page as a placeholder for future Pi Network tokens; CEX.IO is not on Pi’s KYB list (checked 12 October 2026), ID verification is required and the page does not say whether Vietnam is served, so it is not a withdrawable-PI route.

Vietnam’s rules are being written while you read this. Return to the official Ministry of Finance announcements for licence news, and check how to buy Pi Coin only after you have read the local-law sections above.

Updated: October 12, 2026