Modern Tech, which specializes in representing the Vietnamese-based Ho Chi Chi Mihn Initial Coin Offering (ICO), may have done one of the largest exit scams in crypto-currency history after suddenly closing its offices after raising the equivalent of more than $660 million.
According to recent reports in the Vietnam News newspaper, some of the investors of the Ifan and Pincoin tokens’ issuing company gathered in front of Modern Tech’s offices to protest against the inability to withdraw their funds from the platform. However, the address indicated as the registered office of the company was found to have no relationship whatsoever with the company. Modern Tech had so far raised some 15 trillion Vietnamese dong, equivalent to some 660 million dollars.
The State Bank of Vietnam is following up on the case, where up to 32,000 people may have been victims. The company in question allegedly offered its clients a 48 per cent monthly return paid in local currency for a maximum of four months, provided that the person invested a minimum of $1,000. In addition, the pyramid scheme would give them 8% more profit on the investments of new referred clients.
The company stopped paying profits using fiat currency four months ago, doing so with Ifan tokens instead. At that time, the token was valued at just a few cents, but they began to offer it as the equivalent of $5. In January, they removed their social media accounts and that’s when users became suspicious.
Modern Tech had introduced itself to its potential clients as the representative of the Ifan and Pincoin tokens at the fundraising stage. Ifan had been advertised as the token of a social network for artists that would even allow you to buy albums from the platform, while Pincoin was offered as an investment opportunity with up to 40% monthly appreciation.
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Moreover, a few hours after the incident, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked several government bodies, including the State Bank of Vietnam, to strengthen the “management of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency activities”. The executive argued that crypto assets threaten the stability of the current financial system, as well as social order and security. He called them a risky activity for everyone involved.
If the perpetrators do not turn up, this could be the largest robbery in the history of the cryptocurrencies. In comparison, last January’s hack into the Japanese exchange Coincheck, where the NEM crypto currency was extracted, resulted in losses of $530 million. This was ranked as the largest theft of digital coins in history.
Even the closure of the Mt. Gox exchange in 2014, which at the time was the largest in the world, resulted in losses that at the time were equivalent to only $473 million.
