OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital are backing a new Vietnam-based crypto exchange as Hanoi accelerates efforts to bring one of the world’s most active retail crypto markets under formal regulation.

Vietnam Prosperity Crypto Asset Exchange (CAEX) said Friday that the two firms have agreed to invest and become strategic partners alongside founding shareholders VPBank Securities and digital-identity firm LynkiD.

The funding will bring CAEX’s capital base to VND 10 trillion — roughly $380 million — the minimum needed to enter a government pilot program for regulated crypto trading under Resolution 05/2025.

The deal lands as Vietnam’s Digital Technology Industry Law, which took effect in January, formally recognized crypto assets and laid the legal groundwork for licensing, oversight, and industry incentives. Now regulators are pushing to shift activity onshore through a pilot program expected to grant licenses to a handful of domestic exchanges, part of a broader effort to restrict offshore trading and tighten control over capital flows.

That combination — legal recognition paired with controlled market access — has triggered a race among local financial institutions and global crypto firms to lock in early positioning. Vietnamese users moved an estimated $200 billion in digital assets in the year through mid-2025, placing the country among the top crypto-adoption markets globally.

Under the partnership, OKX Ventures and HashKey will work with CAEX on infrastructure, security, compliance, and liquidity. The exchange sits within the VPBank ecosystem, drawing on VPBankS for financial backing and governance and LynkiD for core technology and digital identity.

Vietnam was added to the Financial Action Task Force grey list in 2023 for weak anti-money laundering controls, particularly regarding virtual assets. That designation has been a major motivator behind the regulatory push.

The new framework requires crypto firms to obtain licenses, verify user identities, monitor transactions and file reports — measures designed to bring Vietnam closer to global compliance standards.

For Hanoi, the bet is that a regulated crypto market can help repair the country’s financial reputation. For OKX and HashKey, the calculus is simpler: get in early, meet the compliance bar, and grow with the market while the rules are still being written..

The DOJ crypto conflict reached a formal accusation this week when six Democratic senators told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche he had a “glaring conflict of interest” after ProPublica reported he held between $158,000 and $470,000 in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana when he issued the memo disbanding the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

ProPublica’s investigation documents that Blanche’s memo, titled Ending Regulation by Prosecution, disbanded the NCET, halted Biden-era investigations into crypto companies, and directed the DOJ to assist Trump’s crypto working group. The memo benefited the crypto industry broadly, including Blanche’s own portfolio. A DOJ spokesperson told ProPublica the actions were “appropriately flagged, addressed and cleared in advance,” without specifying who cleared them or how. The senators wrote directly to Blanche: “At the very least, you had a glaring conflict of interest and should have recused yourself.”

The NCET was established in 2022 and led the Binance investigation that resulted in a $4.3 billion settlement. Blanche’s memo disbanded it entirely and directed the Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit to cease cryptocurrency enforcement in order to focus on other priorities including immigration and procurement fraud. Going forward, the DOJ would only pursue crypto cases involving terrorism, narcotics, human trafficking, hacking, and cartel financing. The senators cited a January 2026 Chainalysis report showing illicit crypto activity surged 162 percent the prior year, arguing their predictions about the consequences of the rollback had proven correct.

The Divestiture Problem

When Blanche transferred his crypto holdings to family members rather than selling them outright, ethics experts told ProPublica this approach was at odds with the spirit of the law. The Campaign Legal Center argued the transfers did not eliminate his potential financial interest because his family retained the appreciated assets. ProPublica calculated his Bitcoin holdings rose 34 percent between the date of the memo and the date he divested, a gain that reached approximately $105,000 on that position alone.

What the Senators Demanded and What Comes Next

As crypto.news has reported, the DOJ conflict question has become a live variable inside CLARITY Act negotiations, where Democratic senators are pushing for ethics language barring government officials from profiting from crypto. As crypto.news has noted, the federal regulatory framework is being rebuilt through financial regulators rather than criminal enforcement, a structural shift Blanche’s memo accelerated. The Inspector General complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center remains open, and the DOJ has not responded publicly to the senators’ demand for documentation.

Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group fell sharply Thursday following a Wall Street downgrade and reports tied to a legal probe connected to a recent crypto exploit.

Circle’s stock price closed near session lows in Nasdaq trading, falling 9.9% to $85.10.

The decline adds to a broader slide in the company’s shares, which are down nearly 24% over the past month and about 43% over the past six months, reflecting continued volatility after Circle’s high-profile public debut last year.

However, the latest pullback may also reflect profit-taking after Circle shares surged between February and March, driven largely by growing stablecoin adoption.

Nevertheless, some analysts are urging caution. On Thursday, Compass Point downgraded Circle to “sell” from “neutral” and issued a $77 price target, implying roughly 9% downside from current levels.

Circle has also faced pressure from regulatory uncertainty in the United States. Progress on market structure legislation has stalled, while banking industry groups continue to lobby against yield-bearing stablecoins.

Analysts at Bernstein said the concerns are overstated, noting that Circle’s underlying business remains unaffected and pointing to growing USDC (USDC) adoption and strong reserve income.

Related: Crypto investor sentiment will rise once CLARITY Act is passed: Bessent

Fallout from Drift Protocol exploit continues to weigh on crypto markets

Separately, legal scrutiny tied to the recent exploit of decentralized exchange Drift Protocol has added another layer of uncertainty to the broader crypto market, indirectly weighing on sentiment toward Circle.

According to a notice circulated this week, investors affected by the $280 million Drift exploit are being urged to contact the Oakland, California law firm Gibbs Mura for potential financial recovery. The outreach signals the early stages of a possible class-action investigation tied to losses from the incident.

While Circle is not directly implicated in the exploit, the episode has renewed concerns about counterparty risk and the stability of decentralized finance platforms — an overhang that can spill over into publicly traded crypto-linked equities.

The perpetrator of the Drift exploit moved the stolen assets into USDC, prompting speculation over whether the funds could have been frozen by Circle, though no action was taken.

Related: Crypto hacks fall to $49M in February as attackers shift to phishing scams