The Da Nang police in Vietnam recently cracked a nationwide virtual currency pyramid scheme, where the criminal group illegally occupied nearly 2000 billion Vietnamese dong (approximately 1880 BTC, 37000 ETH, and 2700000 USDT) through a fraudulent project called DRK. After obtaining the funds, they closed the platform and erased traces. Currently, 8 main suspects have been arrested. This case once again confirms the harsh truth of the crypto world: in an area lacking regulation and transparency, human greed combined with technology often gives rise to the most dangerous 'get-rich traps.'
This also raises a core question in the industry: in a world full of fraud and opacity, how should we judge the real value of a project? My answer is: look at whether it is solving real, verifiable problems, rather than weaving illusory wealth stories. This is also why, amidst the endless news of 'fake projects,' I still pay attention to underlying protocols like USDD that focus on 'stability, transparency, and decentralization.'
Why can this type of scam siphon off 200 billion? Because the narrative of 'getting rich quickly' always has a market.
The routines of scams like DRK are actually not new:
Fabricate a grand 'hundredfold story';
Attract early 'investors' with promises of high returns;
Shut down the system and disappear with the funds when the hype is at its peak.
But the reason such scams succeed repeatedly is fundamentally due to two loopholes:
Information loophole: projects are opaque, and users cannot verify their authenticity.
Psychological loophole: the human desire for 'quick wealth' overrides rational judgment.
This has reminded us: in the world of cryptocurrency, the most important skill may not be 'finding a hundredfold coin', but rather 'identifying scams and protecting the principal'.
From scams to the future: why 'transparency' and 'stability' are more important than 'get-rich stories'.
The opposite of projects like DRK is those that do not pursue overnight wealth but are dedicated to solving real pain points in the industry—like USDD.
No storytelling, just infrastructure.
DRK attracts users with a 'false dream of wealth', while USDD is trying to solve a real, concrete, long-standing issue:What kind of stable value medium does the cryptocurrency world need?It attempts to build a decentralized, censorship-resistant 'digital hard currency' through excessive collateral and on-chain transparency mechanisms. It may not sound 'sexy', but it is solid enough.Transparency equals trust, stability equals value.
The essence of the scam is an 'information black box', while projects like USDD have one of their value propositions as 'on-chain verifiable, mechanism transparency'. While DRK scammed users out of 200 billion, what the industry really needs may be more 'stupid projects' willing to write rules on-chain and disclose collateral ratios on their pages.Long-term thinking vs short-term harvesting.
The lifespan of DRK is 2 years (runs away after getting the money), while projects like USDD aim to become the underlying infrastructure of the DeFi world—What it pursues is not 'quick harvesting', but 'sustained demand'.
Three insights for ordinary investors.
If you can't understand it, don't touch it.
If the project's white paper is full of grand narratives about 'changing the world' but lacks a clear, verifiable mechanism—please keep your distance. Truly valuable projects often prefer to let code and data speak.Focus on 'what problem is being solved', not 'how much return is promised'.
Projects like USDD that are dedicated to solving the issue of 'stable value carriers' may not have hundredfold promises, but the demand they address is real and long-standing.Real demand is the most solid source of value.In the allocation, include 'risk-resistant' assets.
While chasing high-volatility assets, consider allocating some assets like USDD that focus on stability and transparency as a 'ballast'—it may not make you rich, but it could help you survive longer in a storm.
Summary: The industry needs narratives, but it needs foundations even more.
The DRK scam will pass, but the next 'DRK' may still be brewing.
For the industry to truly mature, it requires not just a 'wealth effect', but a 'foundation of trust'.
Public chains need more scalable technology (like NEAR).
DeFi needs more stable assets (such as the exploration of USDD).
Users need more transparent information and a safer environment.
Scams remind us of the risks, while real construction projects tell us: the direction of the industry is always forward.
As participants, we must remain vigilant and stay away from scams; we must also stay clear-headed and pay attention to those 'foundational' projects that quietly build the future amid the noise.
After all, bubbles will burst, stories will end, but the value of solving real problems will endure.
Remember:
In a bull market, people chase stories;
In a bear market, people discover—
Those foundational projects without stories,
are often the true power supporting the industry moving forward.
