As part of an ongoing investigation into the AntEx cryptocurrency project, Hanoi police have detained Nguyen Hoa Binh, also known as Shark Binh, the head of NextTech Group and a prominent investor from Shark Tank Vietnam.
This shows that crypto regulations across the world are not just heating up to accommodate more crypto-friendly regulations, but governments and police are ramping up efforts to monitor crypto scams and hacks more closely.
The history behind the case
The news was recently confirmed by the city’s Criminal Investigation Department today. The officials there informed that they are going forward with legal proceedings and even issued a detention order after multiple complaints from the investors against him.
The Criminal Police, Economic Police, and Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Division are all the police departments involved in this investigation, which is focused on AntEx.
A local investor reported losing over $2,000 in AntEx on October 6, which sparked a more thorough investigation into possible fraud and other infractions.
As they confirm the extent of investor losses and the responsibilities of individuals involved, police have urged anybody with information to come forward.
The IT and startup community in Vietnam was taken aback by the arrest. Hailed as a tech visionary, Binh started small in 2001 and grew NextTech Group into a multi-sector conglomerate that includes financial, e-commerce, logistics, and blockchain.
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What happens next?
Things might not look very bright for the investor, as during his time on Shark Tank, he has earned a reputation for saying phrases like, “Please, don’t be high on your own numbers” and “Without your ‘dragon vein,’ you’re grounded.”
But according to documents, by the end of 2023, its capital had fallen precipitously to about $163,000, and a number of its subsidiaries, including the payment platform Ngan Luong, reported large cuts.
AntEx positioned itself as a token-based financial services provider inside the DeFi ecosystem. According to reports, Binh was an investor and advisor, but he said he had been duped after the project’s website went down and its token value plummeted. In response, the AntEx team said that Binh had been more involved than he admitted.
Binh warned about the dangers of unregulated cryptocurrency projects in a number of posts before his arrest, claiming that the majority are manipulable and have little real-world use.
Vietnam and Crypto
Vietnam has also been very busy with several crypto-related activities. Deputy Finance Minister Nguyen Duc Chi said at a briefing that the Vietnam Finance Ministry has not received any company offers to participate in the nation’s digital asset trading pilot.
When asked how many applications had come in and when the first licenses may be issued, he provided the update.
Also, Vietnam’s state-affiliated Military Bank and Dunamu, the company behind South Korea’s Upbit, sealed an agreement to establish the nation’s first domestic digital asset market.
All these activities, along with tight regulations, show the country is not stepping back on digital asset innovation and also strict rules and results on crypto scams. How things turn out for Binh is still to be seen.
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