Multichain Bridge Exploit / Rug Pull event

security-exploit · PageRank 0.0000

Overview

On 6 July 2023 roughly $126 million was moved out of the cross-chain bridge Multichain's contracts to unknown addresses in what analysts described as either a hack or an insider rug pull. The team said it could not explain the withdrawals because CEO Zhaojun had been taken away by Chinese police on 21 May 2023 along with his computers, phones, hardware wallets and seed phrases, and because the protocol's servers ran under his personal cloud account. Multichain ceased operations on 14 July 2023, citing the detention of Zhaojun and his sister and a lack of operational funds. The incident became a widely cited example of hidden key-management centralisation in bridges.

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Frequently asked questions

How much was lost in the Multichain incident?

About $126 million was moved to unknown addresses on 6 July 2023.

Was it a hack or an inside job?

It was never conclusively established publicly. Chainalysis and others noted it could be either a hack or a rug pull by insiders, since the founder and his family controlled the keys and servers.

What happened to Multichain afterwards?

The protocol shut down on 14 July 2023, saying it had no alternative sources of information or operational funds after CEO Zhaojun and his sister were detained in China.