Crypto Bridging Protocol Multichain Halts Operations as CEO and Sister Detained in China

In a shocking turn of events, Multichain, one of the prominent bridging protocols in the cryptocurrency world, has announced the cessation of its operations. The decision comes as a result of the detention of the company’s CEO, Zhaojun, and his sister by Chinese law enforcement.

On Friday, Multichain took to its official Twitter page to reveal that it had been compelled to take this drastic action “due to lack of alternative sources of information and corresponding operational funds.” The CEO’s apprehension, which occurred on May 21, involved the confiscation of his computers, phones, hardware wallets, and mnemonic phrases, leaving the company in a state of disarray.

Subsequently, the situation worsened when Zhaojun’s sister was taken into custody by Chinese authorities on Thursday. With the team now unable to contact either of them, Multichain’s day-to-day operations have been sustained solely through existing server access that had not been revoked. Additionally, the assistance provided by Zhaojun’s sister had allowed for the transfer of remaining user assets in the router pool as a precautionary measure. However, with her current unavailability, the fate of the preserved assets remains uncertain, Multichain admitted.

Last week, the protocol’s vulnerability was exposed when it fell victim to an attack resulting in the loss of $130 million from numerous token bridges. Shedding light on the incident, Multichain shared details from Zhaojun’s sister, indicating that login information originating from an IP address in Kunming was discovered on the cloud server platform. Further investigation revealed a series of operations involving fund transfers from the MPC addresses.

As news of Multichain’s closure broke, its MULTI token experienced a substantial decline of nearly 12% within the day. At the time of writing, the token’s value dropped from approximately $2.28 to $2.01 following the announcement, signaling the market’s response to the company’s unfortunate turn of events.

Discuss this news on our Telegram Community. Subscribe to us on Google news and do follow us on Twitter @Blockmanity

Disclaimer: Blockmanity is a news portal and does not provide any financial advice. Blockmanity's role is to inform the cryptocurrency and blockchain community about what's going on in this space. Please do your own due diligence before making any investment. Blockmanity won't be responsible for any loss of funds.