Vietnamese firms are racing to secure licences for the country’s first domestic cryptocurrency exchanges as Hanoi moves to restrict trading on foreign platforms.

A government resolution issued in February calls for a pilot program for locally run digital asset exchanges, with a rollout possible as soon as March.

A March 12 Finance Ministry document showed that five companies cleared an initial screening round, Reuters reported. These include affiliates of three private banks in the country including Techcombank, VPBank and LPBank, along with VIX Securities and the Sun Group conglomerate.

The move could reshape a market that has grown fast with little formal oversight. Vietnam has ranked fourth in Chainalysis’ latest Global Crypto…