Sales volume “Pi with Pi”.

“They only use Pi to trick customers into buying and they have to give real money to pay,” said Pi Exchange Group’s Thanh Son (HCMC) when contacted to buy a post-iPhone.

Like other Pi owners, after the virtual currency went viral on July 13, Son took the coins to Pi communities in hopes of buying goods or selling them for cash. “When I saw the iPhone for sale, I thought, ‘I only have to spend ten pies to trade it for a phone,'” he said.

But when they met, he “moved away” from actual business policy. You get 90% cash, 10% p. The store valued the used iPhone 11 Pro Max at around 14 million. VND asks the buyer to pay 12.5 million. VND and 1.5pi.

“For 12.5 million dongs, I can buy a completely used iPhone without losing Pi,” Son said, hinting that this could be a ploy by the store to lure customers from the community, who co-own Pi. After the Sale being declined, he kept trying to contact several electronics retailers, but Most had the same response: “Some places charge a small fee, but I refuse because the Pi’s price is so low.”

Although it is illegal to buy and sell goods in virtual currency in Vietnam, since mid-July the practice of shops accepting payment from Pi has developed in several groups. At this level, called the closed network, Pi owners can only trade within the Pi community. Therefore, it is necessary to find sellers who have the desired product and accept payment in virtual currency. There are currently no statistics on shops accepting PINs, but the online group offers advice for buyers and sellers of groceries, electronics, medical services, cars… They use the term “exchange” instead. Violation of the “Payment Law”.

In addition to some people claiming to have traded Pi, many other Pi miners have admitted that they risk losing money or losing Pi because they trust “traders”. A common situation is that some people posing as a seller sell it at a high price under the pretense of “creating a product ecosystem for Pi”, or the Pi number is only assigned for this purpose. To illustrate, a computer store advertises “Pay in Pi”, but it is actually Pi and the actual list price of the product.

Some people had to spend VND 10 million to get the deposit back on a billion dollar car. According to the seller, this car is “for the P company”, which is why many people accidentally buy cars. In reality, however, they should wait until they can sell the pin for real money and buy a car with that money.

“When the main network is opened, the PI network is listed. At this point you own the PI and convert it to fiat money. Then you take the money to the dealer and take the car home,” he said. The other half will be explained later. On his personal page, the man claims to have transferred more than 100 shares to P holders in many states across the country.

But buying this stack only benefits the seller. “In this case, Pi is just an excuse to sell more products. If Pi doesn’t hit the ground in the future, consumers who can’t buy a car may lose their security deposit,” the expert said.

At this point, the Pi Network developers have not “detailed” a specific timeframe for encryption. In an announcement late last year, the team said it would launch a public mainnet, but in two phases. The first stage is the exchange of goods between Pi owners, the second stage is the exchange of Pi into other currencies.

To exchange Pi, both the buyer and seller must have KYC and virtual currency in their wallets. Many Pi owners in Vietnam have been mining Pi for three years but said they couldn’t do anything because there was no KYC. According to the project announcement from late June, 1.5 million people have been KYCed by more than 35 million users.

Today, many Vietnamese say they buy goods from Pi based on the “negotiated price” agreed between buyers and sellers. However, paying in virtual currency is illegal in Vietnam. Those who offer, provide or use an illegal payment method but until required by law will be fined between VND50,000,000 and VND100,000,000.

Lu Kui