Multichain CEO Missing: Uncertainty Surrounds Project
The Multichain community was left in shock when Multichain CEO Zhaojun was taken into custody by Chinese authorities on May 21, 2023. Since then, he has been out of contact with the global Multichain team, leaving the project in a state of uncertainty.
1. On May 21, 2023, Multichain CEO Zhaojun was taken away by the Chinese police from his home and has been out of contact with the global Multichain team ever since. The team contacted the MPC node operators and learned that their operational access keys to MPC node servers had…
— Multichain (Previously Anyswap) (@MultichainOrg) July 14, 2023
CEO’s Disappearance
The team, after realizing their access keys to the MPC node servers had been revoked, discovered that these servers were running under Zhaojun’s personal cloud server account. Unfortunately, no team member has access to Zhaojun’s account, rendering them unable to log in to the servers. Zhaojun’s family informed the team that all of his electronic devices, including computers, phones, hardware wallets, and mnemonic phrases, were confiscated by the authorities. Consequently, all operational funds and investments controlled by Zhaojun have also been taken, leaving the team without resources and access to the servers.
With limited information about the case, the team has chosen to cooperate with Zhaojun’s family and comply with local laws and regulations. They have refrained from disclosing unauthorized information about the case to the public, following legal advice. On May 30, the team released a statement to the community, notifying them about Zhaojun’s disappearance and the technical challenges they were facing. The team’s priority became maintaining project operations to the best of their abilities using the remaining access to non-MPC servers that hadn’t been revoked.
Multichain Team Halts Operations
Despite the difficulties, the Multichain protocol continued to function as designed, and the team made every effort to sustain its operation and address user concerns. However, on July 7, user assets locked on the MPC addresses were abnormally transferred to unknown addresses. Zhaojun’s sister discovered suspicious login information from an IP address in Kunming on the cloud server platform, indicating unauthorized access and fund transfers.
In an effort to safeguard user assets, Zhaojun’s sister took action on July 9, transferring the remaining user assets in the router pool to EOA addresses controlled by her. However, on July 13, Zhaojun’s sister was also taken into custody by the police, leaving the status of the preserved assets uncertain. Due to the lack of alternative sources of information and operational funds, the Multichain team reluctantly decided to cease operations. They called upon the community for support and pledged to provide updates if any further notifications and developments arise.
