Multichain, a prominent cross-chain router protocol, has recently faced a tumultuous series of events that have shaken its operations. In a tweet shared today, the company disclosed the disappearance of its CEO, Zhaojun, following the abnormal transfer of approximately $127 million worth of locked assets on July 7.
The ordeal began on May 21, 2023, when Zhaojun was reportedly taken into custody by Chinese authorities, severing his contact with the global Multichain team. The team discovered their operational access keys to the Multiparty Computation (MPC) node servers had been revoked. Shockingly, it was revealed that these servers, including the MPC nodes, were running under Zhaojun’s personal cloud server account, with no other team members having access to it.
As per Multichain, contact was established with Zhaojun’s family, who revealed that the authorities had all confiscated his computers, phones, hardware wallets, and mnemonic phrases. This meant that Zhaojun had full control over all operational funds and investments, leaving the Multichain team and their access to the servers in a state of limbo.
Uncertainty Surrounds Multichain
In a glimmer of hope, on June 4, Zhaojun’s family successfully logged into the cloud server platform using historical information from his home computer. However, they only allowed Multichain team engineers physical access to address technical issues with specific routers.
However, on July 7, a major setback occurred. User assets locked in MPC addresses were abnormally transferred to unknown addresses. Zhaojun’s sister discovered login information from an IP address in Kunming on the cloud server platform, indicating unauthorized activities involving fund transfers from the MPC addresses.
On July 9, Zhaojun’s sister took action to safeguard the remaining user assets and transferred the funds in the router pool to Ethereum addresses controlled by her. Tragically, on July 13, the situation worsened as the police took Zhaojun’s sister into custody, rendering her unreachable. The status of the preserved assets is now uncertain, prompting the Multichain team to inform the community of these known circumstances.
Due to the lack of alternative information sources and the necessary operational funds, the Multichain team said that it is compelled to halt operations. They promise to provide updates to the community if any further notifications or developments arise. It is essential for the community to remain vigilant and stay updated through verified sources regarding this developing situation.
