OKX Ventures, HashKey back VPBank-linked CAEX for Vietnam crypto pilot push

OKX Ventures and HashKey are buying into VPBank-backed CAEX as Vietnam’s strict crypto pilot pushes offshore exchanges toward a challenging onshore licensing regime.

CAEX, a crypto platform linked to the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) ecosystem, said OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital are backing the company as it seeks to qualify for Vietnam’s pilot regime for crypto exchanges.

CAEX said Friday that the two offshore companies will join VPBank Securities (VPBankS) and technology partner LynkiD as shareholders.

According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, their investment is intended to help CAEX reach Vietnam’s minimum charter capital threshold of 10 trillion dong (about $380 million), a key condition for participating in the pilot program.

The move comes as Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance and State Securities Commission press ahead with a five-year crypto pilot that will admit only a limited number of licensed digital asset service providers. Officials have said no more than five enterprises will be allowed to operate exchanges under the pilot, which opened its licensing window on Jan. 20.

The framework also caps foreign ownership at 49% and requires at least 65% of capital to be held by institutional shareholders, creating high barriers to entry even for bank-backed contenders.

Authorities have also signaled they may block access to unlicensed overseas platforms once the first onshore exchanges are operational, raising the stakes for foreign firms seeking a compliant route into the market.

A spokesperson for OKX told Cointelegraph they could not disclose the size of the investment or the companies’ stakes in CAEX, nor whether the investment confirms the exchange’s selection in the pilot, saying it would “not be appropriate to comment further on the regulatory process.” However, they said the investment would enable CAEX to meet the capital requirements to pursue entry into Vietnam's regulated crypto pilot program.

CAEX is part of VPBank’s broader financial ecosystem and previously said it was in the final stages of raising its charter capital to 10 trillion dong to qualify for the pilot, while VPBank is one of Vietnam’s largest private lenders.

The OKX spokesperson said that, as a strategic partner, the company would work with the other shareholders “as appropriate” to ensure CAEX has “the financial strength and technical know-how” to meet user expectations and regulatory standards. Potential areas of collaboration include technical infrastructure, security systems, compliance and risk management, they said.

Related: Banks want to run Vietnam’s crypto exchanges, Boyaa’s $70M BTC plan: Asia Express

Vietnam’s crypto market has boomed in recent years, with Chainalysis ranking the country fourth in global crypto adoption in 2025. However, that growth has been marred by several high-profile scams and fraud investigations, giving regulators additional impetus to tighten control.

In March 2026, Vietnamese authorities detained multiple ONUS-linked suspects after alleging they used false promotions and manipulated token trading to misappropriate billions of dollars of investor funds through the crypto platform.

The spokesperson said Vietnam is an important market for digital asset innovation, and that the “development of a regulated framework” is a “constructive step” for the country’s industry.

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Source: CoinTelegraph