Well, all of us know that privacy scandals are as common as morning coffee and trust in government-issued digital systems is often lukewarm at best. Now, Vietnam has gone ahead and done something startling. Vietnam’s digital progress comes to our focal point, as there were no grand speeches or glitzy launch events. Instead, it quietly stitched together one of the world’s most ambitious attempts at digital identity and data protection, using blockchain.
Yes, blockchain. The technology so often associated with hype coins and Silicon Valley whiteboards has found a home in the offices of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security. It’s called NDAChain, and no, it’s not a startup with venture capital chasing a unicorn valuation. It’s a government-run, enterprise-backed blockchain system designed to secure data, verify identity, and rebuild citizen trust in a digital age riddled with leaks, hacks, and the gnawing sense that someone always knows more than they should.
But Vietnam didn’t do this just to brag. It did it because the stakes are high. With over 100 million citizens generating petabytes of data at every tap, swipe, and scan, the need for a serious solution has moved from theoretical to existential.
5 Key Takeaways
1. Vietnam Didn’t Hype Blockchain: While others turned blockchain into a catchphrase graveyard, Vietnam made it boring, in the best way possible. No NFTs, no meme coins, just a government-run system that secures data and verifies identity without turning citizens into surveillance subjects.
2. Privacy Is the Starting Point: With NDA DID wallets and Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Vietnam built a system where citizens control their data, not the other way around. You don’t have to sacrifice your privacy just to access basic services. That alone puts Vietnam ahead of many so-called digital democracies.
3. Laws Were Passed and Enforced: Unlike the usual digital lip service, Vietnam backed its blockchain rollout with serious legislation. The Data Law and the Personal Data Protection Law weren’t just written, they’re working. Accountability is baked into the chain.
4. It’s a Blockchain You Can Call: Validator nodes aren’t run by anonymous tech bros or Reddit pseudonyms. They’re managed by state agencies and big-name Vietnamese companies you can visit, audit, and, if needed, blame. That’s real-world governance for a digital system.
5. The Rest of Us Should Pay Attention: Vietnam didn’t try to reinvent the internet. It simply realized what citizens need from a digital identity and then built that. No fluff, just a serious attempt to earn back public trust. And guess what? It’s working.
Vietnam’s Digital Progress: A Pragmatic State
Vietnam’s approach to digitalization has been anything but reckless. The country’s legislators didn’t just scribble privacy policies and throw them on a government website. They passed the Data Law, followed swiftly by the Personal Data Protection Law, forming a legal skeleton that puts many democracies to shame. Then, they enforced it, something most governments conveniently forget to do.
At the center of this initiative is the National Data Centre (NDC), which acts as the country’s central vault of citizen data. Think of it as the Fort Knox of digital Vietnam. But even Fort Knox needs guards. And there we come to place where NDAChain is at, a blockchain-based outer layer that does what traditional centralized systems cannot: verify data origin, authenticate users, and prevent tampering without ever revealing the contents.
Unlike much-hyped but often speculative crypto ventures, NDAChain is refreshingly utilitarian. It’s a Layer 1 blockchain with validator nodes not controlled by crypto bros but by state agencies and corporate heavyweights like SunGroup, Masan, and Zalo. It uses Proof of Authority, which in plain English means you can trace accountability back to someone with an office and a phone number, not a cartoon avatar on Twitter.
What really makes NDAChain different is how it treats data like it matters. Through a cocktail of blockchain, Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), and national policy muscle, it provides traceability without invasiveness. The government knows just enough to deliver services and stop crime, but not enough to become Big Brother.
The Digital Wallet that Isn’t Watching You
The most tangible innovation in Vietnam’s digital overhaul is the NDA DID Wallet. This isn’t your average state app that asks for your shoe size before letting you renew your driver’s license. It’s a digital identity wallet that gives you, not the government, not Google—control over your information. You decide who sees what, when, and for how long,
In Vietnam, this is not science fiction. Citizens are already using this system for everything from verifying university degrees to buying insurance. It’s also tied into VNeID, the country’s national e-identification system. So, when you log into your bank or e-commerce portal, you’re not asked to remember a password you created during the Obama administration. You’re verified by a real-time, blockchain-backed identity.
For businesses, the implications are equally compelling. Counterfeit medicines? Gone, once every box gets its own decentralized identifier. Dodgy supply chains? Cleaned up, when each shipment logs its movements on an immutable ledger. From food safety to diploma authentication, NDAChain promise, and delivers, practicality. Vietnam’s Digital Progress at its best!
Vietnam’s Digital Progress: What Teaches the Rest of Us
As The RegTech specializes in helping governments in the Global South go digital without losing public trust or drowning in complexity. Vietnam, though it’s not often discussed in World Bank panel circuits as a model, might just be the example to follow. Here’s why: They didn’t start with apps. They started with trust, legislated it, coded it, and distributed it.
Too many digital transformations get bogged down in performative tech. Vietnam focused on what matters most: clarity, legal backing, and citizen control. Its NDA DID system gives users real agency. That’s the kind of digital dignity missing in many national identity programs, especially where surveillance masquerades as efficiency.
We’ve seen governments try to push data protection laws without real enforcement. Vietnam went the other way, tight enforcement, secure infrastructure, and a wallet citizens really want to use. The fact that the NDAChain complies with GDPR and W3C standards means it didn’t insulate itself either. It’s looking outward, ready to play on the global field.
For us, the takeaway is simple: technology must serve governance, not replace it. The Vietnamese asked, “How do we protect people’s data while making government work better?” Then they built that. It’s this kind of clarity that makes NDAChain worth studying, not as a blockchain project, but as a policy choice done right.
Not Utopia, But Something Better?
By the end of next year, Vietnam wants NDAChain deeply integrated into local governments, schools, and public services. It’s not stopping at identity or health records. Plans are underway for sector-specific expansions and partnerships that reach beyond borders.
And the ambition doesn’t stop with the tech. The Vietnamese government is rolling out training programs to build local talent who understand the architecture, manage the validator nodes, and maintain the system. In a country where young people form a large share of the workforce, that’s essential from the point of strategy.
But, let’s not romanticize this. Vietnam still has its flaws, press freedom issues, political opacity, and state-heavy digital oversight. But on the very specific issue of data protection and digital identity, it is showing a seriousness that few others have managed. Instead of pitching blockchain as a cure-all, it’s used as a tool. Instead of shouting about sovereignty, Vietnam is building it, block by block.
As someone working with governments who want to build trust in digital public services, we’re not looking for perfection. We are focused on finding the proof that it can be done better. Vietnam’s digital progress offers exactly that: not a perfect model, but a workable one. And in our field, workable is rare and valuable.
We are here to help governments, financial institutions, and businesses to effectively comply with growing regulatory requirements through technology.
