Fantom Took Precautionary Measures to Contain Multichain Implosion: Details

Fantom Foundation is acting in a proactive manner following the latest update from the embattled Multichain protocol. According to Fantom Foundation, it has requested the top stablecoin issuers, including Circle (USDC), Tether Holdings Ltd. (USDT) and TrueUSD (TUSD), to freeze the stablecoins associated with the Multichain bridge as the primary assets that were affected in the latest bouts of exploit by the firm.

We are deeply disappointed to hear about the latest Multichain news. It is a difficult situation for everyone impacted.

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— Fantom Foundation (@FantomFDN) July 15, 2023

Multichain’s new revelation

Fantom Foundation acted on the news that the Multichain protocol shared on Friday, in which it acknowledged that Chinese authorities had arrested top figures in its leadership. The protocol confirmed that its Chief Executive Officer Zhaojun was arrested on May 31 and has lost contact.

Zhaojun’s sister, who had been playing a pivotal role in the preservation of some of the protocol’s assets, was also taken in by the police on July 7, after which contact was also lost. These two arrests had incapacitated the protocol, and with the lack of access to operational funds, the remaining Multichain team had decided to cease operations.

In the long update, the team confirmed that they have no access to deactivate the Domain Account, and as such the Multichain.org platform is still active. Users were advised to refrain from sending funds to the addresses linked to the protocol.

Fantom and way forward

Fantom Foundation said it was disappointed with the news shared by the Multichain protocol, and after the request to freeze the top three stablecoins affected, the firm said it can confirm a total of $62 million has been locked.

Fantom promises to identify other assets that might have been affected in the process so as to lock them up also. Prior to this time, Fantom revealed its plans to pursue an alternative bridge infrastructure by seeding the duo of Axelar Network and LayerZero.