Panic Spreads from Multichain Cross-Chain Bridge with $1.5B TVL to Fantom
The crisis surrounding blockchain cross-chain bridge Multichain continues to unfold. Several Twitter accounts previously claimed that Chinese authorities arrested Multichain team members, with law enforcement now controlling a wallet containing over $1.6 billion. While it remains unclear whether arrests occurred or why, the situation has forced other companies to take action. Binance has intervened to address the issue, suspending withdrawals of several tokens from the cross-chain bridge and stating that Binance will 'wait for clarification from the Multichain team.'
The crisis surrounding blockchain cross-chain bridge Multichain continues to unfold. Several Twitter accounts previously claimed that Chinese authorities arrested Multichain team members, with law enforcement now controlling a wallet containing over $1.6 billion. While it remains unclear whether arrests occurred or why, the situation has forced other companies to take action. Binance has intervened to address the issue, suspending withdrawals of several tokens from the cross-chain bridge and stating that Binance will 'wait for clarification from the Multichain team.'
Now, Fantom, the smart contract-enabled blockchain powered by its native FTM token, has become the focus of attention. According to data from research firm Thanefield Capital, 35% of its assets are issued by Multichain, including 80% of its total stablecoin market cap. The Fantom team has not responded much on social media regarding the Multichain incident, except for a brief tweet yesterday stating that the bridge is 'operating normally.'
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence noted on Twitter that wallets belonging to some of the largest MULTI token holders, including HashKey Group, transferred approximately $3 million over the past 24 hours.