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Vietnam: Crypto Mining Firm CEO Allegedly Flees With $35 Mln in Investor, Company Funds

Vietnam: crypto mining firm ceo allegedly flees with $35 mln in investor, company funds

Vietnam: Crypto Mining Firm CEO Allegedly Flees With $35 Mln in Investor, Company Funds

Vietnam: crypto mining firm ceo allegedly flees with $35 mln in investor, company funds

The CEO of Vietnamese cryptocurrency mining firm Sky Mining has reportedly disappeared with investor and company funds worth an alleged $35 million, local media outlet VNExpress reported July 29.

According to VNExpress, Sky Mining CEO Le Minh Tam disappeared a week ago, appearing to organize a cleanout of company assets.

VNExpress notes that Sky Mining CEO Tam — although he has not been found in person —

apologized for “everything” to investors in a Facebook post on Wednesday, explaining that the company’s profitability had fallen with the market’s volatility.

Tam told investors to go to the company office in order to regain their capital, after which he would declare bankruptcy. However, investors found that Sky Mining’s Ho Chi Minh City headquarters building is closed and all of the signage has been removed, VNExpress writes.

The firm’s 600 miners housed in a separate facility in a neighboring district were also discovered to have been taken away by people “claiming to be maintenance workers.”

Le Minh Hieu, deputy chairman of Sky Mining, has already formed a “board” dedicated to assisting investors who lost money, as well as assessing the extent of the losses and remaining asset value.

Hieu noted that he was not able to give details about the company’s assets, as Tam was directly in charge of the mining rigs, but investors estimate the loss to be around $35 million, VNExpress reports.

Hieu told VNExpress that he believes Tam left for the U.S., adding,

“[The board] has reported this to the police and showed evidence that we are not guilty. We are victims too.”

Of those affected, twenty investors have also filed a complaint with local police, the publication adds.

The debacle comes three months after the collapse of a major ponzi scheme engulfed Vietnamese consumers who invested in two pseudo-Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). A reported 32,000 people lost money after company officials absconded, allegedly stealing as much as $660 million.

Last week, authorities in Vietnam banned local companies from engaging in activities related to cryptocurrencies. Earlier in July, the country’s central bank also voiced support for a ban on imports associated with cryptocurrency mining.

Published at Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:01:00 +0000

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South Korea Tightens Grip, But Won’t Ban Bitcoin Trading

It was only a matter of time until authorities pulled the reins in on one of the biggest crypto trading nations in the world. South Korea, which is responsible for as much as 25% of total crypto trading volume, said on Thursday it will impose additional measures to regulate speculation in crypto within the country.


South Korea Will Ban Anonymous Crypto Trading

As previously reported that more regulations are expected, South Korean regulators have confirmed additional measures to curb illegal activities at cryptocurrency exchanges. According to Reuters, the government noted that trading prices of most digital currencies were much higher on South Korean exchanges than they were on exchanges in other countries.

A government spokesperson made the following statement:

The government had warned several times that virtual coins cannot play a role as actual currency and could result in high losses due to excessive volatility.

The first steps will include a ban on opening anonymous crypto trading accounts. Most exchanges require photographic proof of identity anyway, so this regulation is nothing to be concerned about.

Secondly, however, is a more alarming plan to introduce new legislation which will allow regulators to close virtual coin exchanges if required. This measure had been recommended by the justice ministry, according to the statement.

Previously, South Korea had announced a plan to tax capital gains from cryptocurrency trading to tackle what it perceives as the risk of excessive speculation.

Banks Backing Off

As expected, earlier this week, two major banks in South Korea announced that they are closing reward programs, which allow clients to purchase bitcoins with credit card bonus points.

Commercial banks in the country are increasingly preventing the opening of new virtual accounts, which are necessary to trade on South Korean crypto exchanges.

South Korea Bans Bitcoin Futures As Authorities Consider Crypto Income Tax

In addition to Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank closing rewards programs next month, Woori Bank and Korea Development Bank also announced that they would be closing all virtual accounts provided to exchanges.

It is no surprise that banks in South Korea and elsewhere are pulling back from crypto; the concept essentially goes against their business model. Unfortunately, in this embryonic industry, traders still need to rely on exchanges, many of which, such as Coinbase, have adopted banking-style models of fees and commissions. Only when crypto trading is truly decentralized and peer-to-peer will the masses start to benefit more than the banks and exchanges.

Will the Korean clampdown affect the markets? Add your thoughts to the comments below.


Images courtesy of Pixabay, PublicDomainPictures, and Bitcoinist archives.

The post South Korea Tightens Grip, But Won’t Ban Bitcoin Trading appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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