Check the selling price, transaction limits, and credibility of merchants before buying USDT on a P2P exchange - Photo: CONG TRUNG
Behind the USDT (one of the world's most popular stablecoins pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio) buy and sell orders completed in minutes lie a host of risks, from forged documents to fraud-related issues and frozen bank accounts.
The cryptocurrency "market" is booming.
On the morning of June 14th, when I entered a request to buy 10 million VND worth of USDT on the P2P (person-to-person, no intermediary) section of a major cryptocurrency exchange, hundreds of accounts offering to sell immediately appeared on the screen.
"God of Fortune 247", "Prosperity and Good Fortune", "Fast Transaction 68"... appeared one after another, along with the selling price, limit per order, number of transactions executed, and a list of receiving banks. The prevailing price at the time of recording was approximately 26,269 VND/USDT. The difference between traders was usually only a few dong to a few tens of dong.
Buyers choose a "counter," enter the amount, make a bank transfer, and then wait for the seller to release the USDT to their wallet. The process seems quite simple at first glance, but the lowest price isn't necessarily the safest option.
The USDT market is booming because, in Vietnam, since VND is not widely supported in direct trading pairs with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many other digital assets, USDT has become an important intermediary currency. To buy coins, investors usually have to exchange VND to USDT. When taking profits, cutting losses, or withdrawing capital, they sell the assets back to USDT, then exchange USDT for VND through the P2P market.
The flow of money continuously circulates in a cycle of VND - USDT - coin - USDT - VND, turning P2P areas into currency exchange "markets" that operate almost 24/7.
Profit from price differences
The difference between the buying and selling price is one of the factors that attracts traders to participate in the market. For example, if a trader buys USDT at 25,439 VND and sells it at 26,334 VND, they profit from a difference of 895 VND/USDT (approximately 3.5%).
With 100 million VND, they can buy nearly 3,931 USDT and earn approximately 103.5 million VND when they sell it all, resulting in a gross profit of over 3.5 million VND after one trading cycle.
If the turnover is fast, revenue increases significantly. However, this is only a theoretical calculation, not taking into account price fluctuations, order execution waiting times, bank limits, and potential disputes arising from transactions.
A freelance trader in Ho Chi Minh City admitted that during periods of high market volatility, his phone was constantly receiving notifications of new orders, ranging from a few million to hundreds of millions of dong.
"Anyone looking at it would think you're just sitting around using your phone and making money. But in reality, just one incident can take days, even months, to resolve," this businessman said.
The intensity of the P2P "marketplace" lies in the fact that transactions occur at breakneck speed, but the exchange's security mechanisms are limited to what is displayed on the order screen.
Mr. Minh, an investor in Ho Chi Minh City, shared a memorable lesson. Seeing an account offering a price about 30 VND/USDT cheaper than the average, Mr. Minh immediately placed a buy order for 10 million VND.
He saved less than 12,000 dong, but in return, he had to endure suffocating moments after transferring the money only to find the seller completely silent.
"If you get involved in disputes or have your capital tied up, and miss the opportunity to buy coins at the bottom when prices are good, the losses will be significant," Minh concluded.
The danger stems more from subjective errors. Sharing with Tuoi Tre newspaper, Mr. Q. An (Binh Thanh ward, Ho Chi Minh City) said that due to hasty actions, he placed an order to buy USDT for 3 million VND, but when executing the transaction through the banking app, he mistakenly typed 30 million VND instead.
Because the order on the exchange only recorded 3 million, the seller, after receiving the money, only released the corresponding amount of USDT. The remaining 27 million VND became a civil dispute between the two individuals.
"I was shocked when I looked at my bank account balance. On the P2P platform at that time, only a nickname, a chat box, and an account number were displayed; there was absolutely no phone number to call directly," An recounted.
After several days of contact, the seller finally responded and asked him to create another USDT buy order with the corresponding value.
However, the USDT price in the new order was higher than the average. After completion, the assets he received were only worth about 25.5 million VND, 1.5 million VND less than the excess amount transferred.
Account locked due to fraudulent cash flow.
If transferring money to the wrong person or encountering a merchant who pressures you into accepting a lower price primarily results in financial loss, then a three-party transaction can draw buyers and sellers of USDT into a scam.
A common tactic is for someone to order USDT on a P2P exchange but not directly transfer the money. At the same time, this person requests a victim to transfer money under the pretext of a deposit, investment, or payment for goods... And that victim could be the victim of a money transfer scam.
Mr. H., a trader in Ho Chi Minh City, once sold 3,000 USDT and received over 78 million VND. Two days later, his bank account was frozen to verify the flow of funds related to a high-tech scam.
"I saw that the money arrived at the correct order value, so I transferred the USDT, unaware that the sender was the victim. The USDT has left the wallet, while the money in my bank account is being held," he said.
Speaking to Tuổi Trẻ newspaper, Mr. Tran Xuan Tien, General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Blockchain Association, said that Vietnamese Dong and USDT originating from illegal activities can be broken down and distributed through numerous P2P transactions.
"New accounts with low trading volumes but offering overly attractive rates often carry significant risks," Mr. Tien warned.
Minimize risks when trading P2P.
According to Mr. Tran Xuan Tien, there is currently no solution that provides absolute protection for participants in P2P transactions.
To reduce risk, users should avoid transactions outside the platform, only receive funds from accounts matching the order-placement recipient's name, and refuse requests for transfers made by others.
Investors should also avoid buying and selling digital assets on behalf of others. All screenshots, transfer receipts, order codes, chat content, wallet addresses, and blockchain transaction codes should be saved for verification purposes in case of disputes.
In particular, users should be wary of new accounts with little transaction history but offering unusually good buy and sell prices. The attractive spread may not be enough to offset the risk if the cash flow or digital assets involved in the transaction violate the terms.
The legal landscape for digital assets enters a new phase.
From January 1, 2026, the Law on Digital Technology Industry will come into effect, for the first time creating a legal framework for digital assets in the form of digital data. The government will also pilot a cryptocurrency market from 2026 to 2030 according to Resolution 05/2025.
Accordingly, citizens are allowed to own, store, and trade digital assets through licensed domestic organizations, but they are not permitted to use Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services instead of Vietnamese Dong. Investors must also verify their accounts.
While waiting for the domestic market to fully develop and become operational, many Vietnamese investors are still trading on Binance, OKX, Bybit, or MEXC, mainly through P2P. This method is convenient but carries inherent risks.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mat-trai-cua-cho-usdt-soi-dong-20260615081535522.htm
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