In a recent report by Vietnamese crypto local outlet Tapchibitcoin.io, it was revealed that the police in the Bac Ninh province are investigating an offline event involving the Pi Network, with approximately 1,500 participants.
On June 30, Lieutenant General Le Xuan Minh, Deputy Head of the Cybersecurity and High-tech Crime Prevention Division (A05, Ministry of Public Security), stated in a meeting that the authorities are collaborating with local police to investigate activities related to the Pi Network.
Lieutenant General Le Xuan Minh emphasized the complexity of virtual currency models like Pi, stating that they have been difficult to regulate. “No business activity can generate such high profits in the online environment,” he highlighted. According to him, there have been signs of the pyramid and binary business models in recent times, where individuals pay the person above them in the structure.
“Regarding the Pi cryptocurrency activity, A05 is coordinating with local police in the investigation. We will provide more details once we have resolved and processed the related cases,” he stated.
Additionally, A05 advised the public to exercise caution when being lured into participating in high-profit abnormal virtual currency models or multi-level marketing schemes. Lieutenant General Le Xuan Minh warned, “Such activities carry numerous risks.”
Pi Network was introduced in early 2019 and gained popularity in Vietnam in 2021. This cryptocurrency has faced several warnings regarding its lack of transparency as a blockchain project, with suspicions of potential scams and data collection.
According to a blockchain expert in Ho Chi Minh City, many people still believe in Pi because they perceive no loss on their part, despite having to trade their phone resources, risk potential loss of personal data, and endure advertisement viewing. Additionally, some hope that Pi could reach a value of thousands of US dollars, similar to Bitcoin, and do not want to miss out on the opportunity.
Currently, Pi token does not have a set value. However, in recent times, some individuals have reportedly engaged in “consensus” transactions, where they negotiate the price among themselves. Certain stores accept payment in Pi. To bypass regulations, Pi players share the term “exchange” instead of “payment.”
In March, a hotel in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan province was instructed to stop accepting payment in Pi. Last week, over 1,500 individuals attended an offline event in Bac Ninh to discuss the value of Pi. One participant revealed, “Some items were exchanged based on consensus, but the values were very small. People were valuing Pi at hundreds of thousands of dollars, but nobody traded anything above a few tens of dollars. Meanwhile, participants had to spend nearly one million dong on participation fees and uniforms.”
Currently, cryptocurrency transactions are not permitted and violate the law in Vietnam.
Source: https://azcoinnews.com/vietnam-launches-comprehensive-investigation-into-pi-network.html
