Rumor has it that the CEO of Multichain cannot be contacted because he has been arrested by Chinese authorities.
On May 31st, a cross-chain protocol Multichain announced that its CEO, Zhaojun, has gone mysteriously incommunicado, sparking rumors of his arrest in China.
According to a lengthy tweet from Multichain, the team exerted all efforts to keep the protocol operational. However, the absence of their CEO, essential for server access and maintenance, has hampered their efforts.
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It is worth noting that the protocol had been battling technical glitches in the past week, causing transaction delays across numerous cross-chain bridges without any concrete reasons provided.
In light of the situation, the protocol experienced difficulties with the Router5 node, which facilitates inter-chain connections. Unable to reach the CEO for necessary permissions to troubleshoot, the team decided to halt services for more than ten chains, including but not limited to, Kekchain, Public Mint, DynoChain, and Redlight Chain. In the announcement, the team noted:
In order to protect the interests of our users, we have decided to suspend the corresponding cross-chain service for the affected chain on the UI.
On Twitter, some crypto enthusiasts claimed that Chinese authorities might have arrested Multichain's leadership and seized $1.5 billion in smart contract funds. However, Multichain hasn't commented on these allegations, leaving these speculations unverified.
In the crypto community, many have pointed out that Multichain's dependence on one person for server access and problem resolution is a step away from the ideal of decentralization.
In response to these unresolved issues, Binance halted deposits for ten bridged tokens on the BNB Smart Chain, Fantom, Ethereum, and Avalanche blockchain networks on May 25th.
The sudden disappearance of Multichain's CEO and the ensuing service suspension for several chains highlight the unforeseen vulnerabilities within the decentralized protocols. As the situation remains unresolved and speculation circulates, the impact of this event on the wider crypto community, the protocol's future, and the affected chains remain to be seen.
