A budding cryptocurrency firm located in Vietnam is accused of raising funds from an initial coin offering and disappearing with the money. Modern Tech, based in Ho Chi Minh City, set out to launch two cryptocurrency platforms: iFan for making payments between celebrities and fans, and Pincoin for general transactions backed by a rewards system. The company raised $660.79 million from around 32,000 investors before throwing on its invisibility cloak.
An initial coin offering is a means to raise funds to launch a cryptocurrency platform. Investors shell out money in return for tokens (think stocks) that appreciate in value over time. Once the cryptocurrency platform is fully funded and goes live, these tokens can convert into virtual currency. The tokens served up by Modern Tech promised to “skyrocket” once the platforms went live.
On the iFan front, the value of this specific cryptocurrency was expected to rise “on a daily basis” as the company signed on Vietnamese singers. Meanwhile, the value of Pincoin would rise as investors brought other individuals into the network, providing an 8 percent commission for each new Pincoin member. Ultimately, investors were promised a profit rate of 48 percent a month, and a full recoup all investments within four months. After that, investors could seemingly shower in money.
At first, Modern Tech began paying commissions with real money. Investors watched as both cryptocurrency platforms increased in value on a daily basis, as promised. But eventually the company replaced cash payments with tokens that couldn’t be withdrawn for real world money. That suddenly raised a red flag for all investors.
Victims turned to social media and forums to report their investment loss in Pincoin and iFan while on Sunday many parked in front of Modern Tech’s headquarters with signs to denounce the company and demand a refund. Victims are also currently signing an official complaint demanding a return of their investments.
According to a report from Vietnam, the team behind the Pincoin and iFan initial coin offerings consist of seven Vietnamese nationals that lured investors by holding conferences in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other remote areas.
Using initial coin offerings to raise cash for cryptocurrency platforms and disappearing with the money isn’t anything new. The method is called an “exit scam” and previously used by Confido, LoopX, Prodeum, Starscape Capital, Knoxcoin, and many others. The problem is that initial coin offerings, along with all cryptocurrency platforms, aren’t regulated, so there are no federal laws protecting investors.
In North America, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) admitted that it was investigating companies and individuals for possibly violating securities laws through initial coin offerings. The SEC says virtual currencies should be listed as securities and registered with regulators given all promoters of initial coin offerings and cryptocurrencies won’t “act responsibly” and abide by federal laws.
“The SEC is undertaking significant efforts to educate the public that unregistered securities investments offered by unregistered promoters, with no securities lawyers or accountants on the scene, are, in a word, dangerous,” stated SEC chairman Jay Clayton.
Speech-to-text apps have flooded the App Store, making it easier than ever to type on our Macs with just our voice. I have previously covered one such app called TypeWhisper. However, there has been a dearth of good text-to-speech models, and most of the good ones are locked behind a subscription.
Ollama, an open-source app that lets you run local AI models on your computer, wants to change that. It works on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and your prompts are never stored or used for training.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).