THE HANOI TIMES — On October 14, the Hanoi Department of Public Security announced the prosecution of Nguyen Hoa Binh, 44, along with nine others, for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme through the AntEx cryptocurrency project.
Authorities have frozen and seized assets valued at approximately VND900 billion (US$34 million), including 600 taels (1,058 ounces) of gold, substantial amounts of US dollars, 18 land-use certificates, two vehicles, and various documents, records, and electronic devices.
Nguyen Hoa Binh, popularly known as Shark Binh, during interrogation by Hanoi police. Photo: Hanoi Department of Public Security
Investigators revealed that in 2021, Binh and his associates invested VND5 billion ($190,000) in the AntEx digital currency project, with Binh personally contributing VND2 billion ($75,900).
Subsequently, Binh established Vietnam Blockchain Technology Service JSC. Through its Next100Blockchain Fund, he publicly announced a $2.5 million investment in AntEx and assumed the role of strategic advisor.
Positioned as a decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem aimed at developing the VNDT stablecoin, AntEx garnered significant interest from local investors, despite Vietnam’s lack of a legal framework for digital assets.
Initial capital was transferred to the company’s account to cover staff salaries, technical team expenses, and server costs. The group later announced plans to issue 100 billion AntEx tokens to the market.
Between August and November 2021, they sold 33.2 billion tokens to approximately 30,000 investors through various exchanges, generating 4.5 million USDT (equivalent to $4.5 million or VND117 billion).
Investigators found that from November to December 2021, Binh leveraged his reputation to post online announcements about launching the Next100Blockchain Fund. He pledged to invest $50 million in cryptocurrency projects over a decade, aiming to bolster AntEx and maintain investor confidence.
However, shortly thereafter, the AntEx token plummeted by 99% in value. The project’s website and communication channels were systematically shut down. In March 2023, AntEx rebranded as Rabbit (RAB), but the new token also experienced a 95% decline from its peak, effectively collapsing the project.
Despite the project’s failure, Binh and NextTech shareholders withdrew funds from the AntEx master wallet, transferring them to personal wallets, converting them into cash, and distributing the proceeds among themselves. They also diverted investor funds into other NextTech ecosystem companies for unauthorized purposes.
Police determined that Binh and his associates had withdrawn funds from 30,000 investor wallets, misappropriating a substantial amount. To date, the defendants have returned approximately VND3.45 billion ($131,000) to mitigate losses.
During the ongoing investigation, police uncovered that in 2022, Binh ordered the establishment of Nextland Real Estate Business Joint Stock Company. He appointed Doan Van Tuan and Nguyen Ha Thuy as company directors and legal representatives, and assigned several individuals to manage dual accounting books to track financial activities.
Binh instructed employees to underreport profits and conceal revenue by reducing contract values with customers. Actual sales and revenue were recorded only in internal accounts, resulting in significant losses to the state budget.
Nguyen Hoa Binh, widely recognized as Shark Binh, is a prominent Hanoi businessman. He began his career in 2001 by founding PeaceSoft, a software solutions company. In 2005, he transitioned into e-commerce, a nascent field in Vietnam at the time.
As e-commerce competition intensified with the rise of Lazada and Shopee, PeaceSoft’s projects gradually lost market share.
In 2013, Binh restructured his company, renaming it Future Technology Investment and Development Co Ltd, later known as NextTech Group. The group focused on four core areas: fintech, e-commerce, e-logistics, and education–social services, investing in approximately 20 companies to build a large, interconnected ecosystem.
NextTech has launched over 20 projects, including the NganLuong payment gateway, logistics venture HeyU, ride-hailing service FastGo, and job-finding platform TopCV.
Nguyen Hoa Binh, a pioneer technopreneur
With over 30 international and national technological awards, Nguyen Hoa Binh is a popular name in the technology startup community. Binh has built his NextTech into a leading company in e-commerce, fintech, e-logistics, edtech and other technological areas.
