Authorities in Vietnam have launched an investigation into Pi cryptocurrency, on suspicion that it could be a ponzi scheme or another MLM program hiding under the cover of cryptocurrency. This was announced by the country’s Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention.

Le Xuan Minh, the department’s head, during a meeting in Hanoi, said that the project appears to be unnecessarily unwieldy. He said that its operational model is not just complex but rewards participants with an ROI that is not in line with genuine businesses.

A high-return crypto investment

“There is no other business activity that can generate such high levels of income online.”

The report by VN Express said that promoters of the cryptocurrency Pi have been coercing people using presentations that are similar to multi-level marketing, prompting the police in several localities to commence investigations into the activities of the Pi cryptocurrency community.

Minh said that such activities as those promoted by the Pi cryptocurrency harbor a lot of risks. He added that the authorities have been warning the public to avoid putting their funds into such ventures. The crypto currency was launched in 2019 but has since boomed in Vietnam, where its promoters regularly hold offline meetups.

Popular despite being illegal

Some blockchain experts have expressed reservations about the cryptocurrency, saying that it lacks transparency. They say that it could be a source of data harvesting for the owners and may be a front for nefarious activities.

Pi cryptocurrency is popular in Vietnam, even though digital currencies are generally illegal in the country. People face fines of up to 100 million VND ($4,240) if they use, trade, or issue crypto in the country.