Four days ago, on May 31, 2023, the cross-chain protocol Multichain announced on Twitter that the team has been unable to locate the firm’s CEO. As a result, controls to several blockchain network routers have been impaired. The project’s native token, MULTI, has experienced a 1% decline in the last 24 hours and a decrease of over 50% in the past two weeks.
Multichain Protocol Struggles as CEO Disappears
This week, the cryptocurrency community has been discussing the Multichain Cross-Chain Router Protocol after the team revealed its founder has gone missing. Multichain’s bridge technology allows users to transfer assets between different blockchain networks. As of the time of writing, the decentralized finance (defi) platform holds $1.45 billion in value.
“In the past two days, the Multichain protocol has experienced multiple issues due to unforeseeable circumstances,” the team disclosed 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.”
Multichain has revealed that its router technology experienced issues, leading to disruptions in the regular cross-chain service of select chains. According to the tweet from Multichain, the absence of Zhaojun has resulted in a lack of specific controls, making it challenging to address the problem adequately. The team further specified that Kekchain, Publicmint, Dyno Chain, Red Light Chain, Dexit, Ekta, HPB, ONUS, Omax, Findora, and Planq were among the affected chains.
There have been rumors that founding Multichain team members may have been arrested in China. Moreover, people have been discussing how the issue may be a problem for a large fraction of value locked in Multichain from much larger blockchain protocols like the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum, and Polygon. The blockchain Fantom holds the largest exposure to Multichain, followed by BSC, Optimism, and Kava.
The Fantom Foundation has emphasized that the absence of Multichain’s CEOs has “no impact on Fantom’s assets and bridging.” Despite Multichain’s initial tweet, there have been no subsequent updates regarding Zhaojun’s whereabouts. Following this incident, MULTI, the project’s native token, has witnessed a significant drop in value and experienced a decrease of over 50% over the course of the past two weeks.
Will Multichain’s cross-chain protocol recover from the CEO’s mysterious disappearance? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
