Vietnam just shut down more than 86 million bank accounts. People did not get a warning. They did not get a choice. The State Bank of Vietnam said if you did not get a digital ID called VNeID, your money was gone. Millions of ordinary people, especially older folks and people in villages who cannot handle digital tools, suddenly could not use their own money.
The government says this is to fight fraud. Comsuregroup.com reported, “By the end of September, approximately 86 million of the nation’s 200 million bank accounts had been deactivated.” https://www.comsuregroup.com/news/the-state-bank-of-vietnam-sbv-has-deactivated-over-86-million-bank-accounts/
People are calling this digital authoritarianism. Webpronews wrote, “Millions of citizens, particularly the elderly and those in rural areas, have found themselves excluded from the financial system due to their inability to comply with the biometric verification process.” https://www.webpronews.com/vietnam-deactivates-86m-bank-accounts-in-biometric-fraud-crackdown/
The backlash is real. People are turning to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to keep control of their money. Cointelegraph said, “Advocates argue that decentralized currencies offer a means of financial autonomy, free from state control and surveillance.” Raw link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoiners-criticize-vietnam-closing-86m-bank-accounts
Vietnam is moving toward a world where you cannot live fully without a digital ID. The government wants to expand this system to foreign nationals and businesses, creating a society where access depends on a digital ID. https://www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/vietnam-issues-draft-rules-on-foreigners-electronic-identification-e-id-registration.html
Vietnam is not just taking people’s money. It is deciding who can live normally in society. People without a digital ID cannot pay bills, cannot open accounts, cannot access services. Families are struggling. Small business owners cannot run their shops. Ordinary people are trapped because the system is forcing them to comply with a digital ID they may not even want.
Other countries are looking at this and thinking it might work for them. The UK is talking about digital IDs too. If they copy this, millions could suddenly lose access to their money. This is no longer about banking. It is about control. If you do not follow the rules, the system does not let you live like everyone else.