🌐 Vietnam’s Blockchain Moment: From Strategy to Sovereign Infrastructure

In the emerging data‑driven era, information has evolved from a mere resource to a strategic national asset. Against this backdrop, blockchain technology has emerged as the linchpin of digital trust—the essential foundation for a transparent, efficient, and sustainable digital economy.

Once seen merely as the backbone of cryptocurrencies, blockchain is now recognized as strategic infrastructure, enshrined in Politburo Resolution No. 57 (December 2024) and Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1131/QĐ-TTg (June 12, 2025), which identifies blockchain as one of 11 strategic technologies vital to Vietnam’s economic transformation

Execution & Impact

At the “Developing Strategic Blockchain Technology in Vietnam’s New Era” seminar on August 2, 2025, Deputy Director General Nguyễn Thanh Tuyên (Ministry of Science & Technology) outlined blockchain’s sector‑wide utility:

• Agriculture & Exports: Enables end-to-end traceability—from Central Highlands coffee to Mekong Delta shrimp—enhancing global trust in Vietnamese produce.
• Finance & Banking: Cuts intermediary costs and boosts transaction speed and security.
• Securities Markets: Supports same-day settlement (T+0), issuance of digital securities, enhanced oversight, and fraud mitigation.
• Supply Chain & Logistics: Facilitates transparent tracking from production to consumption, reducing losses and improving efficiency.
• Public Administration: Promotes integrity and efficiency, reduces red tape and corruption, and builds a modern digital government

Current State

As Vietnam accelerates its digital transformation, a new blockchain platform – NDAChain – a state-backed, Layer‑1 blockchain platform developed by the National Data Association and operated under the Ministry of Public Security. It emerges as a government-backed blockchain infrastructure, designed to enhance data protection, identity verification, and compliance. Businesses across sectors can leverage this decentralized platform to secure transactions, combat counterfeiting, and streamline digital trust.

With a population exceeding 100 million and a rapidly digitizing economy, Vietnam faces increasing challenges in safeguarding sensitive information. While the National Data Centre centralizes citizen and national data, existing systems remain vulnerable to forgery, leaks, and cyberattacks. NDAChain bridges that trust gap by creating a tamper‑resistant verification layer across e‑government, finance, healthcare, logistics, and education.

Vietnam joins a global cohort—alongside China’s BSN, the EU’s EBSI, and others—in building national blockchain systems. Yet, NDAChain stands out with its public-private validator consortium, strong privacy protocols, and deep integration with national identity infrastructure. This deliberate approach underscores a long-term vision: not just digital services, but secure, trusted digital governance and economic innovation.

How It Works: Hybrid Architecture with Security at Scale

• Permissioned Blockchain: Featuring a consortium of 49 validator nodes, managed jointly by government agencies and leading private firms like SunGroup, Zalo, Masan, MISA, Sovico, and VNVC.
• Consensus Protocols: Operates using Proof‑of‑Authority (PoA) for efficiency and centralized control, enhanced with Zero‑Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to protect privacy while ensuring data integrity.
• High Throughput: Capable of processing up to 1,200–3,600 transactions per second, enabling low-latency performance for mission-critical services.

Built-In Use Cases: Trusted Digital Identity & Supply Chain Integrity

• NDA DID + NDAKey App: A decentralized identity framework integrated with Vietnam’s VNeID system, enabling real-time identity verification for digital contracts, access control, and fraud prevention.
• NDATrace for Product Traceability: Each product is assigned a GS1-compliant Unique Identifier (UID) aligned with international standards, empowering Vietnamese exporters to counter counterfeiting and participate seamlessly in global supply chin.

Solutions provided by the National Decentralized Identity System (NDA DID)

Built on the NDAChain infrastructure, NDA DID serves as Vietnam’s national decentralized identity (DID) system. It enables individuals, enterprises, and institutions to verify and manage digital identities securely, privately, and transparently, supporting the country’s broader push toward digital sovereignty and data trust. The key benefits of NDA DID include:

• Citizen DID wallet: The NDA DID Wallet empowers citizens to independently manage their digital identities and exercise complete control over personal data. By eliminating the need for intermediaries, users can securely authenticate themselves across digital platforms, enhancing both privacy and autonomy;
• Product traceability and verification: Enterprises can generate product-level decentralized identifiers (DIDs) to support end-to-end traceability. Verified credentials (VCs) can be exchanged across the supply chain to verify product origin, ensure authenticity, and enable compliance with both domestic and international standards.
• Cross-platform integration: NDA DID is integrated with the VNeID, Vietnam’s national electronic identification application, and supports interoperability with banking systems, e-commerce platforms, and public services. This ensures that digital transactions across sectors are authenticated using real and verified identities.
• Smart contracts: All identity-related activities, such as user authentication, credential issuance, and access permissions, are secured through smart contracts on the NDAChain. This ensures transparency and streamlines processing.
• Digital copyright: NDA DID also support digital copyright authentication by issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) tied to digital content. This functionality enables artists, content creators, and Intellectual Property (IP) holders to assert and verify ownership across platforms; and
• Identity verification: Users can verify identity using biometrics, NFC, QR codes, and ZKPs, allowing authentication without compromising sensitive personal data. This approach balances security with privacy-first principles.

Strategic Takeaways

• National Trust Infrastructure: NDAChain is positioned as the backbone of Vietnam’s digital trust layer, embedding transparency and resilience at the core of data flows.
• Platform for Innovation: By securely connecting systems across sectors, it unlocks opportunities for blockchain-based solutions—from digital identity wallets to supply chain automation and secure contracts.
• Regulatory Readiness: The emphasis on compliance and integration with global standards makes it attractive for both domestic and international enterprises.
• Call to Action: Organizations—public, private, startup, or global—should now align with Vietnam’s digital agenda. Collaborations, pilot projects, and technical partnerships built on NDAChain will drive the next wave of scalable innovation.

Future roadmap and integration plans

By the end of 2025, NDAChain is expected to be fully embedded into the National Data Centre’s infrastructure, with plans for expansion into local governments, universities, and public service units by 2026.

Next-phase development will focus on:

• Sector-specific Layer 2 applications;
• International partnerships; and
• Talent and training programs to develop blockchain fluency among Vietnam’s IT workforces.

Driving Strategy: Toward 2030

Decision No. 1236/QĐ‑TTg, issued on October 22, 2024, laid out Vietnam’s National Strategy for Blockchain Development (2025, with orientation to 2030). It's structured around five pillars: legal framework, infrastructure and ecosystem development, talent cultivation, sectoral adoption, and international collaboration.

Key targets include:

• At least 20 reputable regional blockchain brands by 2025.
• Establishment of three national blockchain testing centers (in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and another province).
• Placement of Vietnamese institutions among Asia’s top 10 blockchain research and training centers by 2030

Parallel to this, the Law on Digital Technology Industry, effective January 1, 2026, officially recognizes digital and tokenized assets, establishing property rights, business conditions, and data security protocols—the first of its kind in Vietnam

Why It Matters—and What’s Next

Vo Xuân Hoài, Deputy Director at the National Innovation Center, describes blockchain as foundational to national competitiveness and digital sovereignty, highlighting ongoing policy support and incentives. Meanwhile, Nguyễn Thanh Tuyên stressed that Vietnam now has vision, talent, and policy alignment; the next phase is turning strategy into implementation—via infrastructure investment, technology localization, real-world pilots, and value-chain activation.

“Blockchain is not just a trend—it’s core infrastructure enabling transparency, anti‑corruption, supply chain optimization, agricultural value enhancement, and innovation. With the right legal framework and rapid action, blockchain can become a strategic pillar for Vietnam’s digital economy and digital sovereignty.”“Vietnam has the vision, policies, and creative young talent. Now is the time to move from awareness to action—from strategy to implementation.” — Nguyễn Thanh Tuyên

Vietnam’s journey from awareness to action is underway. Now is the moment for us to lead.