Crypto token MULTI crashes as Multichain confirms CEO missing

12:21 PM • Jun 01, 2023

Troubled cross-chain protocol Multichain reported on Wednesday that its chief Zhaojun is missing, adding to rumors that its top executives have been arrested in China.

According to Multichain, Zhaojun had sole access to servers that have experienced technical problems over the past week which led to delays across multiple cross-chain bridges. The instability of the protocol and concerns that locked assets may be compromised has sparked a major sell-off of the project’s token, MULTI. Multichain had $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL).

As previously reported by Protos, Multichain was formerly known as Anyswap. The protocol was hacked in 2021, leading to a rebrand. If it were to be compromised again, bridged tokens would become worthless, leaving dependent blockchains like Fantom vulnerable.

In response to the news, Binance suspended deposits for 10 bridged tokens on May 25.
Fantom Foundation removed $2.4 million in MULTI from liquidity via SushiSwap.
Several large holders of MULTI, rumoured to belong to employees, moved $3 million in the token to Gate.io, further spooking investors.

“In the past two days, the Multichain protocol has experienced multiple issues due to unforeseeable circumstances,” Multichain posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

“The team has done everything possible to maintain the protocol running, but we are currently unable to contact CEO Zhaojun and obtain the necessary server access for maintenance.”

14-day chart for MULTI shows a steep drop following issues that began May 24.

According to rumors on Twitter that made the rounds last week, Chinese police arrested the project’s leaders and confiscated $1.5 billion in smart contract funds. Protos has reached out to Multichain but has so far been unable to confirm these reports.

The team has been forced to suspend services over 10 relatively unknown chains because the problem with their networks are “beyond the team’s current permissions and ability.”

MULTI is trading for $4 at press time, down 43% from $7 before Multichain’s issues began.

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