Vietnam could become a regional blockchain security hub

Experts assess that Vietnam has the potential to become a regional blockchain security hub thanks to its high-quality human resources and experience in handling major attacks.

In the first 6 months of 2025 alone, blockchain hacks caused $2 billion in losses. Photo: Created by AI .

Vietnam has a great opportunity to become a regional blockchain security hub. This is the opinion affirmed by experts at the discussion "Vietnam on the global blockchain security map: Opportunities and challenges" within the framework of GM Vietnam - Vietnam Blockchain Week 2025.

Three pillars of secure blockchain development

Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Chinh, Permanent Vice President of the National Cyber Security Association, emphasized the importance of blockchain technology in the digital age.

"By 2030, blockchain will be an important infrastructure for many economic sectors such as banking and finance, logistics, supply chain, digital asset registration, healthcare, education and state administration," he affirmed.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Chinh, Permanent Vice President of the National Cyber Security Association, shared about the orientation for developing a safe and sustainable blockchain ecosystem. Photo: BTC.

According to Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Chinh, to develop a safe and sustainable blockchain ecosystem, Vietnam needs to focus on three main strategies.

The first is to design a secure ecosystem from the ground up. Every layer of technology, from blockchain infrastructure, smart contracts, custodial wallets, to identity systems, needs to incorporate security standards from the design stage. “Security needs to be a default component, not a stopgap solution,” he says.

Second is to improve early detection and rapid response capabilities. It is necessary to establish a warning mechanism and share information on cross-sectoral response between parties. Each platform must have a clear crisis handling process from detection, transparent handling to recovery.

Third is to ensure compliance with the law and access to international standards. Development must be linked to regulations on anti-money laundering, personal data protection and capital flow controls.

Vietnamese businesses have experience in dealing with blockchain hacking incidents

In his presentation, Mr. Nguyen Le Thanh, CEO of security company Verichains, shared his experiences in dealing with major hacks in the blockchain industry, most recently the theft of 1.4 billion USD from the Bybit exchange.

The latest statistics show that blockchain projects and cryptocurrency exchanges are becoming attractive targets for cybercriminals. In 2024, the total loss reached 2.2 billion USD . This number continues to increase with 2 billion USD stolen in the first 6 months of 2025 alone.

"In fact, decentralized applications on blockchain still depend on many factors that are not decentralized," said Mr. Nguyen Le Thanh.

Mr. Nguyen Le Thanh, CEO of security company Verichains, shares his company's own experiences in responding to major hacking incidents in the blockchain field. Photo: Minh Khoi.

Notable attacks include the case of Sky Mavis' Ronin Network losing $650 million in 2022. The Lazarus group from North Korea infiltrated through social engineering techniques, tricking employees into installing malware.

Most recently, the Sintus hack caused a loss of $230 million due to an overflow bug in the smart contract. Despite being tested by many leading security firms, the bug remained undetected.

Bybit also lost more than $1.4 billion due to a hack of its multi-signature wallet provider SafeWallet. Hackers changed the source code, turning normal transactions into money transfer orders for the attackers.

"Most Web3 projects succeed very quickly but lack experience in security, unlike banks with decades of experience," Mr. Thanh said, which is why blockchain projects are often targeted by hackers.

According to experts, blockchain projects need to learn from the traditional financial system to build more effective risk control mechanisms.

Complete legal basis, potential human resources

The Law on Digital Technology Industry, expected to take effect from January 1, 2026, mentions digital assets. This is an important legal basis for the completion of Vietnam's legal system related to digital assets. The goal is to create conditions for the formation of a safe, transparent and controlled digital financial ecosystem.

2025 is also the first year Vietnam will celebrate National Cyber Security Day on August 6. "This is a strong message from the Government that cybersecurity is an inseparable part of national security in the digital age," Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Chinh shared.

Vietnam has a population of over 100 million, with a large proportion of young people. Domestic investors are participating in the foreign digital asset market with a value of billions of dollars but are not fully controlled.

In addition to legal perfection, experts also highly appreciate the human resources in the cybersecurity industry in Vietnam. Verichains is one of the global leaders in blockchain security, regularly providing services to the world's largest exchanges.

"Vietnam has always been a country with very good quality human resources. There are many engineers and information security experts playing important roles in large companies and corporations abroad," Mr. Thanh shared.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of the Research Department of the National Cyber Security Association, shared about the advantages of Vietnamese people in the field of cyber security. Photo: Organizing Committee.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of the Research Department of the National Cyber Security Association, commented that Vietnamese people have advantages in mathematical and logical thinking. "Most of the vulnerabilities related to software are logical and mathematical vulnerabilities. Vietnam has strong thinking in these two areas," Mr. Son analyzed.

Experts also proposed the creation of a national network dedicated to sharing early warning data. This model is similar to CERT but is specific to blockchain.

"When hacked, people often know before the owner because the information is all on the blockchain," Mr. Thanh explained the importance of the early warning system.

International coordination to freeze stolen assets is also essential, requiring a tight network of global exchanges and authorities.

Source: https://znews.vn/viet-nam-co-the-thanh-trung-tam-an-ninh-blockchain-khu-vuc-post1573678.html