Multichain CEO Resurfaces on Telegram Amid Unclear Arrest Saga and Asset Seizures
Summary:
Multichain CEO Zhaojun He shows recent activity on Telegram after a year of unexplained detention by Chinese authorities. Users noted the sudden activity but reported no new messages from the account. In 2023, Zhaojun was detained under unclear charges, leading to users' assets being bridged to unknown addresses without their permission. Andre Cronje, co-founder of victimized Fantom protocol, said that local Chinese police traced stolen funds back to Multichain during a scam investigation and subsequently seized the funds.
The CEO of Multichain, a cross-chain bridging protocol, Zhaojun He, has shown recent activity on Telegram for the first time since his mysterious detainment by Chinese authorities in the previous year. As reported by users on Jan. 16, Zhaojun's Telegram account displayed "last seen recently," suggesting recent activity, a stark contrast to the earlier "last seen a long time ago." This status can only be seen for users who have been active on the platform within the preceding three days. It should be noted, however, that no new messages were posted from the CEO's account."The police could still be accessing his Telegram to prevent it from being automatically deleted," one user speculated. "However, it could also mean that zj [Zhaojun] can access his phone again." On May 21, 2023, Zhaojun, who retained exclusive access to Multichain's assets and servers, was arrested by Chinese authorities under unclear charges. Subsequently, user assets held on Multichain were inexplicably transferred to unidentified addresses without consent.Andre Cronje, co-founder of the Fantom protocol that was a significant user and victim of the Multichain incident, appears to substantiate previous whispers about Zhaojun's location. According to Cronje, local police, during a large-scale scam investigation, traced stolen funds back to Multichain, the platform being used to bridge the funds, but not implicated in the scam. After the arrest of several node operators and the forced surrender of their access and keys, the police used this access to seize the funds as a part of the ongoing investigation.Now, Fantom is collaborating with Singaporean law firms to retrieve the misappropriated assets, as Multichain is incorporated in Singapore. However, the lack of capacity to represent all the affected users has caused legal efforts in Mainland China to be at a standstill. Certain things inevitably take years to resolve when they involve regulatory, legal or criminal investigation issues, concludes Cronje.Since last year, Chinese regulators have been intensively cracking down on Web3 and blockchain firms operating in Mainland China, where cryptocurrencies are banned. Founders of such firms risk having their assets seized and being presumed guilty in trials unless proven otherwise. This strict enforcement, while diminishing money laundering and cryptocurrency frauds, has unintentionally hurt innocent foreign investors using Chinese blockchain protocols.
Published At
1/16/2024 10:45:00 PM
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