When investors want answers, Multichain CEO reappears on Telegram
Zhaojun He, the founder and CEO of cross-chain bridge protocol Multichain, has appeared on Telegram for the first time since his undisclosed and ongoing detention by Chinese police last year.
According to user reports on January 16th, Zhaojun's Telegram profile now appears as “recently seen”, up from the previous “last seen a long time ago” user activity. The current message is only visible to individuals who have been active on social media in the past three days. The CEO's account has not posted any new messages.
“It could still be the police station on his telegram so it doesn't get deleted automatically,” one user said, “but it could also mean zj [Zhaojun] He has to get to the phone again.”
In the year On May 21, 2023, Zhaojun, who had centralized access to the protocol's assets and servers, was arrested by Chinese police on undisclosed charges. Users' assets stored on Multichain are linked to anonymous addresses without their consent and removed.
In a recent message, Phantom Protocol co-founder Andre Cronje seems to have confirmed earlier rumors about the whereabouts of Zijun, one of the victims of the Multichain incident. “Local police in China traced the stolen funds to Multichain as part of a larger fraud investigation. The stolen funds were linked through Multichain, not the way Multichain was involved,” Cronje wrote.
“This is the crux of the problem. As the looted funds are held by Multichain,” most node operators have been arrested and forced to hand over their access and keys. Using this service, the police seized the property and are currently in attendance. Be held as part of an ongoing investigation.”
Cronje explained that Phantom is working with law firms in Singapore, where Multichain has joined, to recover misappropriated assets. But legal efforts in mainland China have stalled due to Phantom's inability to “act on behalf of all affected users”.
“Unfortunately, these things often take years to resolve if they are based around any regulatory, legal or criminal investigation,” the Phantom co-founder concluded.
Since early last year, Chinese authorities have cracked down on Web3 and blockchain companies operating in mainland China, where cryptocurrencies are officially illegal. If caught, Web3's founders face asset forfeiture and a trial if the defendant is found guilty. This move has reduced money laundering operations and crypto scams. It still poses collateral damage to foreign investors who use China's blockchain protocols for non-criminal purposes.
Related: Multichain saga lays off users, Binance lays off 1,000 employees
