Vietnam Introduces National Blockchain Platform for Data Protection

As Vietnam accelerates its digital transformation, a new blockchain platform – NDAChain – 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.

Growing needs for an advanced data protection tool

The Vietnamese government has made significant progress in enhancing data protection in the country through various legal updates this year, most notably the introduction of the Data Law, the Personal Data Protection Law, and the guiding directives for these two laws. However, enforcing this legal framework is becoming more and more challenging as Vietnam’s population of over 100 million and its fast-paced digital transformation generate data at exponential rates.

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While the government has established the National Data Centre (NDC) as its main repository for citizen and national data, safeguarding this information from forgery, leakage, and misuse requires an advanced layer of verification. NDAChain is the next step to solve this problem. The platform, developed by the National Data Association and run by the Data Innovation and Exploitation Centre under the Ministry of Public Security’s National Data Centre, is a blockchain-based solution to longstanding challenges of centralized data models, such as vulnerability to cyberattacks, poor scalability, and limited global integration.

Main function of the new blockchain platform

In addition to the centralized storage provided by the NDC, NDAChain creates a decentralized layer that protects critical national systems, including e-government, finance, healthcare, logistics, and education. Blockchain technology, chosen for its immutability, transparency, and decentralized nature, provides an ideal mechanism for authenticating and tracing data origin, especially in high-stakes, cross-sectoral interactions.

See also: Vietnam’s Draft Decree for Data Law Implementation

Technical architecture of NDAChain

NDAChain is a Layer 1 blockchain with a consortium of 49 validator nodes, managed by government agencies and major corporations such SunGroup, Zalo, Masan, MISA, Sovico, and Vietnam Vaccine (VNVC). Each validator maintains a distributed ledger, ensuring transparency and traceability of data exchanges without exposing sensitive content.

It is constructed using the following core technologies:

• Permissioned Blockchain: This is a combination of public blockchain technology with secure data governance systems, making it suitable for government and enterprise applications;
• Proof of Authority (PoA): The PoA consensus mechanism ensures high performance, reduced operational costs, and enhanced security;
• Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): By integrating ZKPs with blockchain, the system strengthens data privacy and security, protecting personal information from unauthorized access or breaches; and
• Global Interoperability: The system is compliant with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards to support international identity authentication.

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 streamlined processing;

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• Digital copyright: NDA DID also supports 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.

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 workforce.

Applications for businesses in various sectors

More than a technological platform, NDAChain is expected to be a strategic digital infrastructure across multiple high-impact industries. With its immutable ledger and real-time data traceability, NDAChain offers practical solutions to long-standing business challenges.

Combating counterfeits in food, pharmaceuticals, and health products

In sectors such as food, pharmaceuticals, and health supplements, where counterfeit goods remain a persistent threat, NDAChain enables end-to-end product origin authentication. By tracing a product’s whole journey from manufacturer to end-consumer, businesses can enhance brand trust, reduce legal risk, and meet rising regulatory demands for transparency.

Enhancing supply chain automation in manufacturing and logistics

For manufacturing and logistics firms, NDAChain streamlines supply chain management by automating verification and certification of shipment data, delivery documents, and inventory status. This improves cross-border visibility, reduces operational costs, and builds trust with international and domestic partners.

Securing transactions in education, finance, and insurance

In high-value service sectors such as education, finance, and insurance, NDAChain supports secure verification of identity, contracts, and client records. The platform helps reduce fraud risk, enables seamless onboarding, and enhances the overall user experience in digital environments.

See also: Vietnam’s Draft Decree on Data-related Activities

Takeaway

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NDAChain provides a secure, government-backed blockchain infrastructure that supports trusted digital identity, traceability, and data authentication across various sectors. For businesses, it offers a practical tool to reduce fraud, automate compliance, and enhance consumer trust, particularly in regulated or high-risk industries like healthcare, logistics, and finance.

Startups, tech firms, and private organizations can also leverage this infrastructure to develop their own digital services, such as identity wallets, anti-counterfeiting solutions, traceability platforms, and digital notarization across different sectors. Early adoption can offer strategic advantages as Vietnam’s digital economy grows.