At a press conference on the situation and results of police work in the third quarter, held on the afternoon of October 6th, a representative of the Hanoi City Police provided information regarding suspicions surrounding businessman Nguyen Hoa Binh (44 years old, commonly known as Shark Binh).
According to Colonel Nguyen Duc Long, Deputy Director of the Hanoi City Police, recently, many individuals and media outlets have reported information related to Shark Binh's AntEx cryptocurrency project.
The investigating agency reviewed the situation and directed its operational units to verify and gather information. As a result, the Criminal Police Department, the Economic Police Department, and others launched an investigation. Initially, the investigating agency received a report from an individual regarding the theft of approximately $2,000 USD.
The AntEx controversy is causing a stir on social media.
Recalling the AntEx deal that caused a stir on social media recently, stemming from a statement made at the Go Global 2025 conference organized by the 2030 Business Club in Ho Chi Minh City, Shark Nguyen Hoa Binh warned about the risks of investing in startups that raise capital through cryptocurrency issuance. He claimed that 99% of these projects fail, causing investors to lose money.
He advised businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), not to focus on fintech, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies.
In recent articles, Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh has consistently asserted that he is the victim, claiming that the "removal of the carpet" was carried out by the technical team and that he was not involved.
However, the recipient, identified as the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of the AntEx project, counter-accused Mr. Binh, claiming that he was the one who directed the "token dump" immediately after the project peaked to take advantage of liquidity. This account also publicly disclosed wallet addresses allegedly linked to Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh, urging the community to review the transaction history.
In 2021, Shark Binh invested $2.5 million in the AntEx project (ANTEX token) through the Next100Blockchain fund. He also served as a strategic advisor for the project.
AntEx was introduced as a DeFi ecosystem, with plans to build the VNDT "stablecoin" (a type of cryptocurrency). However, the ANTEX token has lost 99% of its value, and the project's website and social media pages are no longer operational. Mr. Binh stopped mentioning the project from the end of 2021.
Also in 2021, NextTech Group and the Next100 Blockchain Fund (worth $50 million) signed a cooperation agreement with V2B Labs Joint Stock Company (V2B). V2B will be the incubator for blockchain technology startups, while NextTech and the fund will provide investment support and strategic advice.
The entrepreneurial journey
Prior to the recent controversy, Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh was known as a businessman who participated in 5 seasons of Shark Tank Vietnam, from season 3 (2019) to season 7 (2024). During the program, he shared many experiences about entrepreneurship.
Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh was born in 1981 in Hanoi. In 2001, at the age of 19, he founded PeaceSoft, a software company that later developed into the NextTech ecosystem, operating in the fields of fintech, e-commerce, and logistics.
Initially, PeaceSoft focused on developing software for government agencies and businesses, then shifted its focus to e-commerce after recognizing the great potential of the Internet. With successful funding from IDG Ventures, PeaceSoft expanded its operations and developed Chodientu.com - one of the pioneering e-commerce platforms in Vietnam.
However, facing fierce competition from foreign rivals like Lazada and Shopee, eBay withdrew from the market, and the e-commerce marketplace gradually lost its position.
In 2003, he entered the Vietnamese technology scene when the venture capital fund IDG invested in PeaceSoft. Subsequently, PeaceSoft Group built an ecosystem of e-commerce-related services including Vietnam's first e-commerce platform chodientu.vn, e-wallets NganLuong.vn and eBay.vn, shipping services ShipChung.vn, and logistics and warehousing services BoxMe.vn…
In 2013, PeaceSoft restructured and changed its name to NextTech.
Of NextTech's 20 launched projects, several have closed down and "disappeared" from the market, such as ShipChung.vn, WeShop, chodientu.vn… (Photo: DT).
In 2014, NextTech transitioned from an E-Commerce (electronic commerce) to a D-Commerce (digital commerce) platform. NextTech subsequently launched new products such as the mPoS mobile payment solution, WeShop (buying items on eBay and Amazon), Vimo, and the P2P lending platform Vaymuon…; while simultaneously expanding into markets in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China, and the United States.
NextTech has also ventured into a range of emerging markets, including the FastGo project in the ride-hailing sector, and, amidst the boom in the cryptocurrency market, Mr. Binh has invested in projects such as AntEx - VNDT, EnrEx, and NFT Dragon Land...
Many of NextTech's 20 launched projects have closed down and "disappeared" from the market, such as ShipChung.vn, WeShop, chodientu.vn, etc.
Besides NextTech, Mr. Binh also founded many other companies that have since ceased operations, such as Taxially Vietnam, Weship Vietnam, Shippchung Vietnam, Hoa Binh Technology Solutions, O2O Vietnam, Vietnam Financial Technology Services, 12Trip, etc.
In 2019, Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh first appeared on the "hot seat" of Shark Tank Vietnam season 3, and from then on he became widely known to audiences nationwide by the nickname Shark Binh.
As of season 7 (2024), Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh is the longest-serving "shark" on the show. Some of his notable deals include $1.2 million for startup Perfect (season 1), $500,000 for Coolmate (season 2), 10 billion VND for engineer Nguyen Vinh Son (season 3), $500,000 for Banh Mi Xin Chao (season 4), and 8 billion VND for Nada Oils (season 5).
The most successful deal was Coolmate. In a presentation on The Investors Season 2, Mr. Binh boasted that after several rounds of funding, Coolmate's valuation reached 2 trillion VND, yielding a profit of several tens of times for his investment portfolio.
Shark Nguyen Hoa Binh invested $500,000 in Coolmate on Shark Tank season 2 (Photo: Shark Tank).
In another development, his name also caused a stir when, during his first season as a judge, he criticized Dat Bike. He claimed that Dat Bike's electric motorcycle business model "had no chance and society might not even need it," but in reality, the brand is still developing and raising capital...
Following a series of startup investment deals, in his latest statement, Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh surprisingly revealed that he actually invests more in stocks than in startups.
He once shared that he only invests in small amounts when he finds a good startup. While waiting, idle capital must be invested in more legitimate and safer channels. Therefore, in terms of the amount of money he invests in other investment channels, he invests more than in startups, sometimes using the profits from these quick investment channels to reinvest in startups.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/shark-binh-lam-gi-20251006170436184.htm
Comment (0)