[Vietnam Accelerates Pilot Regulation of Cryptocurrency Market to Address FATF Review Pressure] According to a report by Business Times, Vietnam is expediting the implementation of a pilot regulated cryptocurrency trading market to alleviate the pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regarding its anti-money laundering mechanisms. Vietnam was placed on the FATF 'gray list' in June 2023, with the long-standing lack of regulation in the cryptocurrency industry identified as one of the major risk factors. Under the five-year pilot program led by Vietnam's Ministry of Finance, the licensing requirements for exchanges include a minimum paid-up registered capital of 10 trillion VND (approximately $380 million), a foreign ownership cap of 49%, and transactions limited to being denominated in VND. Currently, five applicants, including affiliates of Techcombank, VPBank, LPBank, as well as VIX Securities and Sun Group, have passed the preliminary review, with the first official cryptocurrency trading activities in Vietnam expected as early as the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is drafting regulations to prohibit Vietnamese citizens from trading on overseas cryptocurrency platforms.