{"id":17094,"date":"2023-07-18T13:19:16","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T17:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-23\/"},"modified":"2023-07-18T13:19:16","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T17:19:16","slug":"asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Express \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<h2 id=\"h-decentralized-web-3-cross-chain-router-allegedly-under-control-of-one-man\">Decentralized Web 3 cross-chain router allegedly under control of one-man <\/h2>\n<p>Imagine a system where all your money is controlled by one man and his family and when there is cause for concern, the propaganda machine immediately goes \u2018brrr\u2019 to put on a facade that everything is just fine despite some alarming withdrawls. Sounds more like a one party state? No, welcome to blockchain, specifically, Multichain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Multichain\" class=\"wp-image-22145\" width=\"360\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-17-230016.png 707w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-17-230016-293x300.png 293w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-17-230016.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-17-230016.png\" alt=\"Multichain\" class=\"wp-image-22145\" width=\"360\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-17-230016.png 707w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-17-230016-293x300.png 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man alleged to be Multichain co-founder and CEO Zhao Jun (CryptoRank)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On July 14, Chinese decentralized cross-chain bridge protocol Multichain announced that it would cease operations after three years. The reason? The only person allegedly holding the private keys to over $1.5 billion in users\u2019 crypto stored on Multichain was its co-founder and CEO Zhao Jun and later, his sister (name unknown). Both were arrested by Chinese police \u2014 but it\u2019s still not clear why.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Zhao Jun was reportedly arrested as early as May 21, but it appears that Multichain staff did not want you to know that\u2026 until now, when one discrepancy after another made it impossible to bury the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The whole ordeal started on or around May 24, when Multichain users reported that funds had not arrived for nearly 72 hours after being sent. Admins <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/multichain-token-plunges-30-on-backend-upgrade-delay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">immediately responded<\/a> that the delay was due to a backend node upgrade \u201ctaking longer than expected,\u201d and that \u201call affected transactions will arrive after the upgrade is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cMost routes are working as usual, as some routes (Kava, zkSync, Polygon zkEVM) are temporarily suspended. All affected transactions will arrive after the upgrade is complete. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>At that time, some users were already <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/0xfleet\/status\/1661331752210804736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">aware<\/a> of CEO Zhao Jun\u2019s arrest by Chinese police. In response, co-founder Alfred Xu decided to step in to quash the \u201crumors\u201d and save users from \u201cdisinformation,\u201d writing in the protocol\u2019s Chinese Telegram channel:\u00a0\u201cCurrently all team members are safe and sound; the main operations are proceeding as normal.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"adv-banner adbutler-ad adbutler-ad__desktop\">\n<div class=\"container\"><!-- 1456x180 [img] --><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/go2\/;ID=169476;size=728x90;setID=601214;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fmultichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=728x90;setID=601214;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fmultichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express%2F;type=img\"\/><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=728x90;setID=601214;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fmultichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express%2F;type=img\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"adv-banner adbutler-ad adbutler-ad__mobile\">\n<div class=\"container\"><!-- 600x500 [img] --><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/go2\/;ID=169476;size=300x250;setID=601213;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fmultichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=300x250;setID=601213;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fmultichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express%2F;type=img\"\/><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/adserve\/;ID=169476;size=300x250;setID=601213;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fmagazine%2Fmultichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express%2F;type=img\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Despite assurances, worries turned into a full-blown panic on May 25 when local news outlet PANewsLab reported that CEO was unreachable. This time, it was fellow co-founder DJ Qian who stepped in and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/djqianfusion\/status\/1661517019718770689\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">assured<\/a> that \u201cuser assets and staff are safe.\u201d However, Qian also confirmed Zhao Jun\u2019s disappearance. For the next month, Multichain continued to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MultichainOrg\/status\/1673678772883578880\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">promote<\/a> its cross-chain protocol.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Multichain 2\" class=\"wp-image-22159\" width=\"577\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2.jpg 792w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2-288x300.jpg 288w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2-770x803.jpg 770w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2.jpg\" alt=\"Multichain 2\" class=\"wp-image-22159\" width=\"577\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2.jpg 792w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2-288x300.jpg 288w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AE-2-770x803.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>Fast forward to July 7, users began noticing over $100 million in unauthorized withdrawals from Multichain\u2019s Fantom Ethereum bridge, along with funds from other sidechains. Around $65 million in Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) were frozen by their issuers, Tether and Circle, after the transactions led to widespread fear that Multichain was hacked. Some security experts began to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chainalysis.com\/reports\/multichain-exploit-july-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">suspect<\/a> that the hack may be an inside job.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chainalysis\" class=\"wp-image-22148\" width=\"674\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1-300x282.png 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1-770x723.png 770w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1.png\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1.png\" alt=\"Chainalysis\" class=\"wp-image-22148\" width=\"674\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1-300x282.png 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Multichain-Reactor-Graph-1024x961-1-770x723.png 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Movement of Multichain users\u2019 USDC assets by the \u2018hacker\u2019 (Chainalysis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to Multichain:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cUser assets locked on the MPC addresses were transferred to unknown addresses abnormally. Login information from an IP address in Kunming was found on the cloud server platform, along with a series of operations transferring funds from the MPC addresses.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Developers wrote that on July 9, Zhao Jun\u2019s sister transferred the remaining assets from a router pool to wallet addresses controlled by her as an \u201casset preservation action.\u201d Four days later, Zhao Jun\u2019s sister was reportedly arrested by police (again it\u2019s not clear why she was arrested). Because Zhao Jun and his sister were the only ones who had access to operational funds, users\u2019 assets, Multichain servers, and even its website (which its own team is trying to shut down) \u201csince inception,\u201d the project\u2019s own development team can no longer function.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cLater, the team established contact with Zhaojun\u2019s family and learned that all of Zhaojun\u2019s computers, phones, hardware wallets, and mnemonic phrases were confiscated by the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Unfortunately, the worst may still be yet to come for Multichain\u2019s users\u2026<\/p>\n<p>To this day, we don\u2019t actually know why Zhao Jun was arrested, what he had been charged with, or any details regarding his case (and no, I don\u2019t think Multichain will tell us either). However, under Chinese law, funds seized as part of a criminal investigation may be considered proceeds of crime, opening a pathway to possible seizure by the state. In that case, it would be an absolute tragedy, unlike Multichain\u2019s decision to leave its entire keys and access in the hands of one (or two) person.TVL on the platform is now down to $139 million.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-suggest\">\n<p>Read also<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-suggest__items\">\n<div class=\"article-suggest__item\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/ethics-101-crypto-projects-negotiate-hackers\/\" class=\"article-suggest__subtitle display4\"><br \/>\n                            <span>Features<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Should crypto projects ever negotiate with hackers? Probably<\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"article-suggest__item\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/from-director-of-the-united-states-mint-to-the-very-first-bitcoin-ira-customer\/\" class=\"article-suggest__subtitle display4\"><br \/>\n                            <span>Features<\/span><\/p>\n<p>From Director of the United States Mint to the Very First Bitcoin IRA Customer<\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-binance-s-unusual-anniversary-gift-to-employees-unemployment\">Binance\u2019s unusual anniversary gift to employees: Unemployment<\/h2>\n<p>On the sixth anniversary of the <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/binance-humilated-on-china-tv-hong-kong-100k-crypto-workers-chinese-ai-unicorn-asia-express\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">crypto exchange\u2019s<\/a> founding, Binance decided to give some its staff a gift to celebrate the occasion. However, most of the recipients wished they had never opened it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On July 14, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance\u2019s CEO, shilled the sixth year anniversary event, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/blog\/from-cz\/binance-turns-6-8188278446020229815\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">stating<\/a>, \u201cWe will always do what we think is in users\u2019 best interests. We will continue collaborating with regulators. We will also defend what we believe is right,\u201d for the path ahead. The same day, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the exchange had reduced its staff count by as much as 1,000 in recent weeks, out of a total count of 8,000 before the layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>According to employees, the layoffs were focused on the global and customer service sectors, with <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/binance-headcount-reduction-hits-1-000-employees-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">reductions<\/a> possible of up to one-third of its overall staff count due to ongoing reorganization. The WSJ labels an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation as \u201cthe most enduring\u201d challenge facing the exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In response, CZ <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cz_binance\/status\/1679951762906595330\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">wrote<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cAs we continuously strive to increase talent density, there are involuntary terminations. This happens in every company. The numbers reported by media are all way off. 4 FUD.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The blockchain executive said that despite the layoffs, Binance is \u201cstill hiring.\u201d On its website, the exchange currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/careers\/job-openings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">lists<\/a> 96 positions available at the time of publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On July 17, the WSJ released a follow-up report claiming that the exchange had ceased employee reimbursements for items such as mobile phones, fitness and working from home, citing \u201ccurrent market environment and regulatory climate,\u201d and the need to slash expenses. Binance is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/binance-coinbase-head-to-court-and-the-sec-labels-67-crypto-securities-hodlers-digest-june-4-10\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">undergoing litigation<\/a> with both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission on charges of offering unregistered securities and operating an unregistered exchange in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"507\" height=\"366\" alt=\"CZ\" class=\"wp-image-22161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ae3.jpg 507w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ae3-300x217.jpg 300w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ae3.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"507\" height=\"366\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ae3.jpg\" alt=\"CZ\" class=\"wp-image-22161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ae3.jpg 507w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ae3-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<div class=\"subscribe subscribe--inner\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"subscribe__inner\">\n<div class=\"subscribe__content\">\n<p>Subscribe<\/p>\n<p>The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a<br \/>\n        week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe__img\">\n    <img alt=\"Subscribe to Magazine by Cointelegraph Newsletter.\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/reading-copy.png\"\/><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/reading-copy.png\" alt=\"Subscribe to Magazine by Cointelegraph Newsletter.\"\/><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author category_page\">\n<div class=\"author__img\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" height=\"300\" width=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/portrait_about_us_zhiyuan_sun_720.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/portrait_about_us_zhiyuan_sun_720.jpg\" alt=\"\" height=\"300\" width=\"300\"\/><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"author__content\">\n<h2 class=\"author__name\">Zhiyuan Sun<\/h2>\n<p>Zhiyuan Sun is a journalist at Cointelegraph focusing on technology-related news. He has several years of experience writing for major financial media outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com and Seeking Alpha.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"news\">\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/multichain-saga-screws-users-binance-fires-1000-staff-asia-express\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Decentralized Web 3 cross-chain router allegedly under control of one-man Imagine a system where all your money is controlled by one man and his family and when there is cause for concern, the propaganda machine immediately goes \u2018brrr\u2019 to put on a facade that everything is just fine despite some alarming withdrawls. Sounds more like a one party state? No, welcome to blockchain, specifically, Multichain.\u00a0 A man alleged to be Multichain co-founder and CEO Zhao Jun (CryptoRank) On July 14, Chinese decentralized cross-chain bridge protocol Multichain announced that it would&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40],"tags":[89,148,2621,130],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo2.dedicatedhost247.com\/crypto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}