Legal proceedings initiated against NextTech chairman for crypto project violations

Hanoi Police has initiated legal proceedings against Nguyen Hoa Binh, chairman of NextTech Group, for “fraudulent appropriation of assets” related to a cryptocurrency project and “violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences”.

The police on Tuesday informed the media of some major cases under investigation, including one involving violations committed at NextTech Group and related companies.

According to the investigation, Binh, popularly known as “Shark Binh”, has been charged with “fraudulent appropriation of assets” related to the AntEx crypto project and “violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences” in connection with Nextland Real Estate JSC.

In total, 10 individuals, including Binh, have been subject to legal proceedings for the two charges.

The Hanoi Police’s investigative agency has seized and frozen bank accounts, securities holdings, and other assets belonging to the accused, valued at approximately VND900 billion ($34.15 million), including 597 taels of gold, foreign currency, 18 land use right certificates, and two vehicles. They also seized many documents and electronic devices related to the investigation.

Investigators determined that around May 2021, as chairman of NextTech, Binh and several associates discussed and agreed to jointly invest in developing the AntEx crypto project, stored on the Binance digital wallet.

The aim was selling AntEx tokens and attracting investors to raise capital for developing the VNDT cryptocurrency project and the VNDT e-wallet software.

In reality, the group never completed the VNDT project. They agreed to invest VND5 billion ($189,700) in AntEx, of which Binh contributed VND2 billion, and he directed the establishment of Vietnam Blockchain Technology Services JSC to manage the project.

The initial capital contributions were transferred to the company's account to maintain the operation of the Antex project, such as paying salaries to employees and technical team developing the project and buying servers to provide internet services for the project.

During the project development process, they met to discuss and announce policies for developing digital currency projects, planning to sell 100 billion "Antex digital currencies" (100 billion tokens) to the market.

Between August and November 2021, they sold 33.2 billion AntEx tokens to around 30,000 investors via cryptocurrency exchanges, collecting approximately 4.5 million USDT (USDT is a digital currency, converted to the equivalent of $4.5 million).

From November to December 2021, Binh leveraged his public reputation to announce the launch of the Next100 Blockchain Investment Fund, pledging to invest $50 million over 10 years in cryptocurrency projects - an act investigators say was meant to promote AntEx and gain investor trust.

Despite the project failing to meet its stated roadmap, Binh and NextTech shareholders withdrew money from the project’s main wallet, transferred them to personal wallets, converted them into the Vietnamese dong, and shared the proceeds.

Some of the funds were also allegedly transferred to other NextTech ecosystem companies to be used for unrelated purposes. Authorities estimate that Binh and founding shareholders misappropriated funds from about 30,000 investor wallets, which amounted to a particularly large sum.

Further investigation revealed that in 2022, Binh instructed the establishment of Nextland Real Estate JSC, where employees allegedly manipulated sales contracts by undervaluing transactions to hide revenue and reduce taxable profits, causing significant losses to the state budget.

Based on collected evidence, on October 10, 2025, the Hanoi Police's investigation agency initiated legal proceedings against Binh and nine accomplices for “fraudulent appropriation of assets” under Article 174 of the Penal Code and “violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences” under Article 221.

The police have urged individuals affected or defrauded in connection with the AntEx project to contact the Economic Crime Department for assistance and legal processing.

Shark Binh and his billion-dollar NextTech ecosystem

Nguyen Hoa Binh, born in 1981 in Hanoi, is a well-known technology entrepreneur. He started his career in 2001 by founding PeaceSoft, initially focused on enterprise software before moving into e-commerce. Within three years, PeaceSoft was valued at around $6 million, with Binh’s stake worth roughly $2 million.

A major turning point came in 2013, when PeaceSoft was restructured into NextTech Group of Technopreneurs (NextTech), where Binh served as chairman and legal representative. NextTech aimed to become a “billion-dollar technology ecosystem”.

NextTech has reportedly invested in around 20 companies across four sectors: financial technology, e-commerce, e-logistics, and education-society.

In the fintech sector, the companies that NextTech has invested in are Ngan Luong, Vimo, AlePay, mPOS, and NextPay. In the e-commerce, the names are Bot Ban Hang, CNV Loyalty, Coolmate, Ladipage, and Myspa.

In the e-logistics, the firms are Boxme, HeyU, and FastGo, while the names in the education and social fields are TopCV, Schola, and Tick.com.

Among these, Ngan Luong (NganLuong.vn) and NextPay were considered the two pillars of the ecosystem. Ngan Luong, founded in 2012, once increased its capital by many times to nearly VND370 billion ($14.04 million) before reducing it to VND52.7 billion in early 2024.

From 2017 to 2022, e-wallets Vimo and NextPay consistently reported profits, contrasting with many competitors. In 2022, NextPay recorded a profit of over VND165 billion ($6.26 million).

At its peak, Shark Binh’s NextTech ecosystem was valued by media estimates at $1 billion.

However, NextTech’s capital structure and ownership have changed significantly. In 2020, charter capital rose from VND100 billion to VND500 billion, before dropping to VND4.2 billion ($159,350) by October 2023, with Binh maintaining a 70% ownership stake.

The same trend occurred at Ngan Luong JSC, which saw its capital rise to nearly VND370 billion and then fall back to the original level of VND52.7 billion by early 2024.

Beyond technology, Bình also ventured into real estate, founding Nextland Real Estate Co., Ltd. in February 2021, with VND20 billion in charter capital.

After expanding to VND150 billion, the company’s capital dropped to VND73 billion by September 2025. The legal representative is Dao Manh Dung, who serves as chairman and CEO.

NextTech’s website no longer features blockchain products, but in 2021, the group actively promoted blockchain and digital asset ventures, including the now-infamous AntEx project.