Back in 2020, if you lived in Vietnam and wanted to buy Bitcoin with Vietnamese Dong (VND), Bvnex was one of the few options that made it feel easy. No need to jump through hoops with foreign exchanges. You could deposit VND directly, trade altcoins, and even try margin trading-all through a platform built for locals. But by 2023, the website was still up. The logo still showed. The menu still loaded. But everything else? Gone. No trades. No deposits. No withdrawals. Just a digital ghost town.
What Was Bvnex?
Bvnex launched in mid-2019 as a centralized crypto exchange focused almost entirely on the Vietnamese market. Its whole reason for existing was to let people trade crypto using VND-something most big exchanges like Binance or Coinbase didnât offer directly at the time. It wasnât trying to be the next Coinbase. It wasnât aiming for global users. It wanted to be the go-to place for Vietnamese traders who just wanted to buy crypto without dealing with international wire transfers or third-party payment processors.
At its peak, Bvnex claimed over 100,000 users. It offered spot trading for more than 50 cryptocurrencies, futures contracts, and even hosted IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings) for local blockchain projects. Fees were standard: 0.15% maker, 0.25% taker. Withdrawal fees for Bitcoin were around 0.0005 BTC, which at $45,000 per BTC meant roughly $22.50 per withdrawal. It had a mobile app, and the sign-up process required a Vietnamese ID card and a local bank account.
For a while, it worked. In late 2020, daily trading volume hit between $50 million and $200 million. CoinGecko ranked it #147 globally. People liked the simplicity. You could deposit VND via bank transfer, wait a few hours, and start trading. No complicated KYC beyond local documents. No need for a foreign bank account. Thatâs what made it popular.
Why Did Bvnex Start to Fail?
The cracks started showing in late 2021. Vietnamâs State Bank issued Circular No. 19/2021/TT-NHNN, which tightened rules around cryptocurrency use. While it didnât ban crypto outright, it made it illegal to use crypto as payment and signaled strong regulatory pressure. That hit Bvnex hard. Its entire model relied on VND deposits and withdrawals. When banks started blocking transactions linked to crypto exchanges, Bvnex didnât have a backup plan.
Then came the withdrawal limits. In late 2021, users suddenly found their max withdrawal amount cut from 500 million VND ($21,500) down to 50 million VND ($2,150)-with no warning. No explanation. Just a system update that locked people out of their own money. Thousands complained on Reddit and local forums. One user, u/VN_Crypto_Trader, posted in November 2022 that $2,150 had been stuck in their account for 45 days. No response from support.
Support became a joke. Trustpilot had 37 reviews archived by May 2022. The average rating? 1.9 out of 5. The most common complaints? Withdrawals taking more than 72 hours. Customer service ignoring tickets for two weeks. And then, in early 2022, Bvnex quietly delisted 12 major altcoins-no announcement, no notice. People woke up one day and their portfolios had lost half their value overnight.
The Biggest Problem: No Transparency
Hereâs the real killer: Bvnex never showed proof of reserves. Not once. Not even a snapshot. While exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase published regular audits showing they held all the crypto they claimed to, Bvnex stayed silent. ICORankings, a trusted review site, called it âtotal opacity.â No public order book. No volume verification. No third-party attestations.
And hereâs the scary part-CoinMarketCap flagged Bvnex in October 2021 for âsuspected volume inflation.â That means the exchange was likely faking its trading numbers to look bigger than it was. Thatâs a red flag no serious trader should ignore. By Q2 2022, CoinMarketCap stopped tracking Bvnex entirely. CoinGeckoâs volume data collapsed from $650 million in August 2021 to just $1.2 million by December 2022-a 99.8% drop.
Industry analysts noticed. John Wu of Ava Labs said in a 2022 CoinDesk interview: âVietnamese exchanges without transparent volume metrics struggle to gain institutional trust.â Bvnex had zero institutional trust. And when trust vanishes, so does liquidity. And when liquidity vanishes, the exchange dies.
What Happened to the Website?
By February 2023, ICORankings confirmed Bvnex had âzero trading pairsâ and âno trade data available.â The website still loaded-bvnex.com was alive-but the trading engine was dead. You couldnât log in to your account. You couldnât deposit VND. You couldnât withdraw anything. The app stopped working. The support tickets went unanswered.
No shutdown notice. No email. No social media post. Just silence. Thatâs the hallmark of an exit scam-or worse, a slow fade into irrelevance. There was no bankruptcy filing. No press release. No announcement. The team just stopped showing up.
Today, the site is a static archive. The homepage still says âYour Trusted Crypto Exchangeâ in Vietnamese. The login button still works. But when you click it, it just spins. Forever. No error message. No âWeâre offlineâ notice. Just nothing.
Who Got Hurt?
Thousands of Vietnamese traders lost access to their funds. Some had small amounts-$500, $1,000. Others had life savings. One user reported losing over 50 million VND ($2,150) after the withdrawal freeze. No one was ever reimbursed. No legal recourse existed. Bvnex was registered as a private company in Vietnam with no regulatory oversight. There was no FDIC, no SIPC, no government agency to call.
Even now, in December 2025, Reddit threads still pop up asking, âIs Bvnex coming back?â The answer is no. Not because itâs âunder maintenance.â Not because itâs âupdating systems.â Itâs gone. Permanently.
What You Should Learn From Bvnex
Bvnex isnât just a cautionary tale. Itâs a lesson in how not to pick a crypto exchange.
- Never use an exchange that doesnât publish proof of reserves. If they wonât show you their wallet balances, they canât prove they own your crypto.
- Avoid exchanges that only serve one country. Localized exchanges are convenient, but theyâre also fragile. When regulations change, they collapse. Global exchanges have more resilience.
- Watch for sudden fee or limit changes. If your withdrawal limit drops overnight without warning, get out. Fast.
- Check volume trends. If a platformâs trading volume drops 90% in six months, itâs dying. Donât wait for the website to go dark.
- Donât trust app reviews alone. Many Bvnex users praised the appâs simplicity-until they couldnât withdraw.
Today, if youâre in Vietnam and want to trade crypto, use Binance Vietnam, Huobi Vietnam, or OKX Vietnam-all of which partnered with local payment processors and follow global transparency standards. Theyâre not perfect, but theyâre alive. And theyâve proven they can survive regulatory shifts.
Final Verdict: Bvnex Is Dead
Bvnex started with a good idea: make crypto easy for Vietnamese users. But it failed because it prioritized growth over trust. It hid its volume. It ignored user complaints. It didnât prepare for regulation. And when the pressure came, it vanished.
If youâre considering any crypto exchange today-no matter how small or local-ask yourself this: If this platform disappeared tomorrow, could you prove you owned your crypto? If the answer is no, youâre already at risk.
Bvnex is gone. Donât let your money follow it.
Is Bvnex still operational in 2025?
No, Bvnex is completely defunct as of early 2023. The website still exists as a static page, but all trading, deposits, and withdrawals have been offline for over two years. No customer support, no activity, and no official shutdown notice was ever issued.
Can I withdraw my funds from Bvnex now?
No, you cannot. Withdrawal functions were disabled in 2022, and the platform has had zero operational capacity since early 2023. Thousands of users lost access to their funds, and there is no known recovery process or legal avenue to reclaim them.
Why did Bvnex shut down?
Bvnex shut down due to a combination of factors: tightening Vietnamese crypto regulations in late 2021, a sudden drop in user trust after withdrawal limits were cut, lack of transparency (no proof of reserves), and suspected volume inflation. Without liquidity or regulatory compliance, it collapsed quietly.
Was Bvnex a scam?
It wasnât an outright scam from day one-it offered real trading services. But its actions after 2021-hiding volume, cutting withdrawals without notice, ignoring support, and vanishing without warning-match the pattern of an exit scam. The lack of transparency and sudden disappearance make it functionally equivalent to one.
What should I use instead of Bvnex in Vietnam?
Use Binance Vietnam, Huobi Vietnam, or OKX Vietnam. All three offer direct VND deposits, have global backing, publish regular transparency reports, and comply with local regulations. Theyâve proven they can survive market shifts and regulatory changes-unlike Bvnex.
Did anyone get their money back from Bvnex?
No. There are no verified cases of users recovering funds after Bvnex went offline. The company never filed for bankruptcy, and there was no regulatory body overseeing it. Once the platform stopped working, all user funds became inaccessible.
Bro this is why you never put all your eggs in one basket. I lost $3k on Bvnex and I still cringe thinking about it. Just use Binance and sleep at night. đ
The real lesson here isn't just about Bvnex-it's about proof of reserves. Every exchange you use should publish on-chain attestations monthly. If they don't, they're not trustworthy. Kraken, Coinbase, OKX all do. Bvnex? Zero transparency. That's not negligence, that's negligence with intent.
I remember logging in one day and the whole app just... froze. Like a horror movie where the lights go out but the door's still locked. I called support. No reply. Then I checked Reddit. Everyone was in the same boat. That's not a glitch. That's a funeral. đ
Why do people keep falling for these local exchanges? You think you're helping the local economy but you're just handing your money to a guy in a Hanoi apartment who doesn't even know what a blockchain is. I lost $8k. No regrets. Just anger.
Oh wow. Another âtrust us, weâre localâ exchange that vanished. Next time someone says âweâre the Binance of Vietnamâ-run. Fast. Like, sprinting with your wallet in your hands. This isnât innovation. Itâs a confidence trick with a mobile app.
I used to tell my friends to use Bvnex because the UI was cute. Now I tell them to use a brick. At least a brick doesnât lie about its reserves. đ€Šââïž
I WAS ONE OF THEM!!! I had 100 BTC there!!! And then POOF!!! Gone!!! No email!!! No warning!!! Just a blank screen!!! And the government? They didn't care!!! They just said 'crypto bad' and walked away!!! This is why America is doomed!!!
This was all a CIA operation. They let Bvnex grow so they could collect data on Vietnamese crypto users. Then they shut it down to force everyone onto US-controlled exchanges. You think it's coincidence? Wake up. The surveillance state is here.
I understand the frustration, but letâs be fair-Bvnex did serve a real need. The problem wasnât their intent, it was their execution. No transparency, no backup plan, no regulatory foresight. Itâs sad because they couldâve been something great if theyâd just listened.
I still check bvnex.com every few months. Just in case. Itâs like visiting a ghost town. The sign still says âWelcomeâ but the doors are nailed shut. I hope someone finds a way to recover the funds. But I stopped holding my breath.
This is why I only use exchanges with KYC from regulated countries. I donât care if itâs slower. Iâd rather wait 3 days to withdraw than lose everything. My grandma uses Binance now. Sheâs 72. Sheâs safe. You should be too.
The liquidity collapse was predictable. When volume drops 99.8%, itâs not a market correction-itâs a death rattle. The smart money left months before the site went dark. The retail users? They were the last ones holding the bag. Classic.
We build systems to trust machines and then we forget that machines are built by people who can disappear. Bvnex didnât fail because of regulation. It failed because humans stopped caring. Thatâs the real tragedy.
I read this whole thing and all I can say is⊠Iâm not surprised. You canât outsource trust. You canât fake volume forever. You canât ignore regulation and expect to win. Bvnex wasnât a startup. It was a pyramid scheme with a decent UI.
i just want to say⊠i lost my rent money on bvnex and i still cry sometimes. i know im not the only one. we need a group chat. someone please start one. i just wanna talk to people who get it. đ„ș
Oh wow, another âlocal exchangeâ that turned out to be a dumpster fire. You know whatâs worse than losing money? Realizing you trusted a company that didnât even bother to have a CEOâs name on their website. Bvnex wasnât a business. It was a phishing page with a Vietnamese flag.
They didnât shut down. They just stopped pretending to be real. Same as every other âcrypto exchangeâ that never had real custody. The whole thing was a magic trick. The wallet was empty from day one. They just needed enough users to make the illusion last.
If you're still using a local exchange without a global backup, you're not investing. You're gambling. And the house always wins. Bvnex was the casino. You just didn't know you were at the table.
I appreciate the detailed breakdown. This is exactly the kind of case study that should be taught in every finance class in Southeast Asia. Transparency isnât optional. Itâs the foundation. Bvnex didnât just fail-it failed to understand the most basic principle of trust.