Two former police officers were also behind the $1.5 million crypto theft, according to local sources. The movie-like story awaits the district court’s decision.
$1.5 worth of crypto theft in Vietnam
According to local sources, the whole story started in 2018. A Vietnamese acquaintance named Le Duc Nguyen recommended Ho Ngoc Tai to sell him about 1,000 BTC. This amount of BTC was worth $4.2 million at the time.
Then the investment plan did not go as expected. Tai has winged that he is the victim of a crypto scam. He could not accept the loss and formed a team to buy back the BTCs he sold in May 2020. This team forced Nguyen to return the 1,000 BTC he had bought. However, Nguyen did not have that much funds in his wallet. The team was eventually able to recover only $1.5 million worth of cryptocurrencies. The kidnapped victim was later abandoned 15 kilometers from the city center.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court is reportedly suing 16 Vietnamese who may be behind the $1.5 million robbery and kidnapping. Interestingly, two of the defendants were former police officers. Vietnam is one of the global leaders in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. Despite its growing popularity, the government has not imposed a legal framework on the asset class.
Vietnam ranks second in the leaderboard in the crypto market
The Asian country is often at the forefront of studies focused on cryptocurrency adoption. Chainalysis estimates that in September 2022, Vietnam was the world leader in this field with 1,000 points. The report also showed that 21% of locals have used cryptocurrencies at some point in their lifetime. This group was also inclined to invest.
The “Vietnam Crypto Market Report 2022” released in March this year showed that the asset class continues to be quite popular within the country’s borders. According to the research, 17% of Vietnamese (around 16.6 million people) are long-term crypto investors. About a third of them have previously invested in Bitcoin.
3/ And the number one country on our 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index is…🥁🥇Vietnam!
👉Philippines is 2nd
👉Ukraine is 3rd
👉India is 4th
👉US is 5thCheck out the blog to use our interactive map to see where your country ranks. https://t.co/MURsD64qCy pic.twitter.com/fmiFeHGGwa
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) September 14, 2022
The report shows that Vietnam ranks second after Thailand in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for crypto adoption. On the other hand, pressure from US regulators since March is forcing multiple cryptocurrency exchanges to make tough decisions.
Blockchain platforms are flooding lawsuits from the US SEC
cryptocoin.com As we reported, the SEC has launched lawsuits against several fraudulent website operators today. In addition, Binance plans to withdraw from the Canadian region due to new regulations. The world’s largest exchange had become the focus of regulators with the CFTC lawsuit at the end of March.
