Vietnam Wants to Fully Ban Cryptocurrency Mining Rigs

Vietnam’s Finance Ministry has proposed a blanket ban on cryptocurrency mining rigs because those systems can be used for developing of new virtual coins and payment methods, which are very difficult for state regulation, local media reported on Monday.

“The rigs were being used to try and create new currencies and forms of payment that were difficult to regulate,” the Finance Ministry said as quoted by VN Express newspaper.

The ministry proposed the measures because of а scam scheme in April that resulted in the loss of VND 15 trillion (USD 667 million) for 32 000 investors in two allegedly fake Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). The hoax concerned iFan and Pincoin ICOs, which were developed by Modern Tech, a Saigon-based mining company.

In 2017, Vietnam imported more than 9300 mining rigs while 6300 of these computer systems were bought till the end of April with 4300 in the capital Hanoi and the rest – in the largest city Ho Chi Minh city, widely known with its former name Saigon.

Vietnam and Crypto Scams

In April Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for a stricter crypto regulation, especially for the crowdfunding virtual model of the ICOs. Nguyen Xuan Phuc reaction was prompted by the iFan and Pincoin ICOs. Modern Tech, which is behind two projects, is under investigation.

iFan is a cryptocurrency project for a celebrity social network, claiming to be backed by top 10 Asian stars form Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. The project ICO presented its coin as the second most profitable ERC20 token with a price of USD 302 for one coin, although there is no credible source for this information

Pincoin is a project for a community-based crypto currency auction portal. It also offers own ERC20 token, PIN, with a price of USD 1 for one coin.

iFan and Pincoin are still operational and have some of the typical characteristics for scams, including big discount and profit offers of around 40%.