According to Cointelegraph, Vietnam has initiated the closure of over 86 million bank accounts that did not comply with a new facial biometric authentication requirement. This move, reported by several Vietnamese media outlets in July, began on September 1. The remaining 113 million bank accounts have been verified under the new biometric laws, aimed at preventing fraud and money laundering. A Reddit user, "Yukzor," who is a former foreign contractor in Vietnam, shared his experience of having to return to the country to prevent his HSBC bank account from being closed, as there was no remote solution available. He expressed frustration over the necessity to travel in person to resolve such issues in 2025.
Bitcoin advocates have long argued for the importance of having access to personal funds without government or external interference. Marty Bent, a Bitcoin industry commentator, highlighted the situation, stating that if users do not comply by September 30, they risk losing their money. Bent emphasized that such scenarios underscore the need for Bitcoin. Cointelegraph could not verify whether customer funds would indeed be unrecoverable after the deadline. Bent also noted that similar capital controls have occurred in countries like Lebanon, Turkey, Venezuela, Cyprus, Nigeria, and India since Bitcoin's inception, suggesting that Vietnam may not be the last to implement such measures. Daniel Batten, a Bitcoin environmentalist, commented that the strict measure provides Vietnam's central bank with advanced financial surveillance capabilities, reinforcing the necessity of permissionless monetary protocols like Bitcoin to protect against state overreach.
Vietnam's introduction of these measures follows a rise in generative AI and sophisticated spoofing techniques that have bypassed security measures like liveness detection in recent years. In May, local authorities dismantled an AI-powered money laundering operation that used fake facial scans to launder approximately 1 trillion Vietnamese dong ($39 million). To comply with the new regulations, bank customers must complete an initial facial biometric authentication and repeat the process for online transfers exceeding 10 million Vietnamese dong ($379), as stated by the State Bank of Vietnam in late June. However, a crypto executive based in Vietnam suggested that the impact of these changes might be overstated, noting that most locals have not been significantly affected. The changes primarily impact foreign residents with inactive accounts. Herbert Sim, AICEAN's chief marketing officer, mentioned that the requirement for in-person biometric verification poses significant challenges, particularly for foreigners who have left the country or have inactive accounts.
