This is a very insidious way to do a bail-in while also increasing the surveillance state.
This is a story that I haven't covered yet in the Bent but deserves your attention. Earlier this month, on September 1st to be exact, Vietnam initiated the closure of over 86 MILLION bank accounts across the country due to the owners of those accounts being out of compliance with a biometrics law that went into effect. The law stipulates that account holders must get their fingerprints or faces scanned as a verification method for their accounts. The Vietnamese government is rolling out the predictable marketing narrative for this type of invasion of privacy; it's to prevent fraud and support the push to 'modernize' their banking system so that they can lean into cashless payments as hard as possible.
"You'll be able to walk out of the store without having to pull a debit card, credit card or phone out! We'll just scan your face or finger and you'll walk out without any hassle!"
Of course, this push it to tighten capital controls and cattle herd everyone into a system where they are tagged, bagged, and lightly nudged to stay in line lest they lose access to their money. It's also a great way to manufacture a bail-in via a forced upgrade. "Oh, you couldn't make it to a bank branch to scan your face or give us a fingerprint? Too bad. We're going to freeze your account temporarily, but after a certain date if you don't make it to a bank, we're going to sweep your funds into the Treasury's general account."
Apparently there are scores of people who find themselves overseas and with old bank accounts that they haven't checked in years. They are currently expected to get to a bank branch in Vietnam and complete the biometric scanning within a month or there accounts will be closed. Truly mind boggling.
This is yet another lesson in punitive capital controls that end with people losing their hard earned money over night. We've seen it in Lebanon, Turkey, Venezuela, Cyprus, Nigeria, India and many other countries since bitcoin was launched. It would be naive to think that Vietnam will be the last country to do something like this and that something like this couldn't happen in the West.
Trusted third parties are security holes and no one has to live like this anymore. Bitcoin provides anyone who is so motivated to take control over their financial life and remove banks from their lives. Instead of asking for permissioned access to your money that requires you to scan your face or fingertips, bitcoin provides anyone to download a piece of software, create a private-public key pair, and secure their own money. Once you use bitcoin as your bank, and do it correctly, there is no need to worry about your country's government or central bank deciding on a whim to thrust biometric verification requirements on you.
That's a powerful ability that most of the world hasn't awoken to yet.
You will either be forced into a system that requires biometric data to access bank accounts or you can opt-out into an open-source monetary system that requires you to download software and create a private-public key pair. Which way, anon?
If you're reading this and you secure your bitcoin with a private key you control you are ahead of the curve.
Melody Wright and I discussed the growing disconnect between Federal Reserve policy and actual mortgage rates. Wright pointed out that despite Fed rate cuts, the 10-year Treasury refuses to sustainably break below 4%, noting "we haven't gotten there" even after a year of expectations. She emphasized that the bond market, not the Fed, ultimately controls mortgage rates, and cautioned that even if rates drop, it won't rejuvenate housing.
"Since December and we have not gotten there. We might get there. But will we stay there? I'm not sure."- Melody Wright
Wright revealed that credit access has severely tightened, with the Fed reporting 42% of refinance applications were rejected in February - the highest in their data series. She explained how student loan reporting has damaged credit scores across millennials and Gen X, effectively locking many out of the market regardless of rate levels. This suggests the Fed's traditional tools have lost their effectiveness in today's structurally broken housing market.
Check out the full podcast here for more on FHA program changes, institutional investor distress and multi-generational housing trends.
Canadian Police Seize $56M From Bitcoin Exchange - via X
Poland Lists First Bitcoin ETF on Warsaw Exchange - via X
Top 1% Now Control More Wealth Than Middle Class - via X
Coinbase CEO Pushes for Economic Freedom in DC - via X
Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund Trading Starts Tomorrow - via X
Laos Turns to Bitcoin Mining for Hydropower Surplus - via X
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Final thought...
I think my oldest is going to be a restaurateur.
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