Crypto exchange Binance suspended deposits for 10 bridged tokens on May 25 following days of stuck transactions that sparked uncertainty surrounding the Multichain protocol.
Affected token pairs include Polkastarter (POLS), Alpaca Finance (ALPACA), Travala.com (AVA), Spell (SPELL), Fantom (FTM), Alchemy (ACH), Beefy (BIFI), SuperVerse (SUPER), Harvest Finance (FARM) and DeXe (DEXE). The move impacts users of bridged tokens on the BNB Smart Chain, Fantom, Ethereum and Avalanche blockchain networks.
We’ll be temporarily suspending deposits for the following bridged tokens-network while we await clarity from the Multichain team.
POLS-BSCACH-BSCBIFI-FTMSUPER-BSCAVA-ETHSPELL-AVAXCALPACA-FTMFTM-ETHFARM-BSCDEXE-BSC
Deposits of the above assets on other networks are…
— Binance (@binance) May 25, 2023
According to Binance’s deposit page, withdrawals of these tokens and deposits on other networks are still available.
Multichain’s (MULTI) silence about the ongoing issues has been fueling uncertainty. As reported by Cointelegraph, transactions on the protocol have been delayed across multiple cross-chain bridges.
In a tweet from May 24, Multichain said that some cross-chain routes were unavailable “due to force majeure,” noting that the time for service restoration was unclear. It was the last communication from the protocol on the social media platform. Previously, the delay was attributed to a backend node upgrade.
Binance was not the only company to take steps amid the unexplained downtime. A wallet address linked to the Fantom Foundation reportedly removed 449,740 MULTI ($2.4 million) from liquidity on the decentralized exchange SushiSwap. Also, on May 24, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported MULTI outflows related to smart money accounts worth $3 million.
Following rumours of the @MultichainOrg team being allegedly arrested in Shanghai, some large holders of $MULTI have began moving funds.
Team wallets moving ~$3M of $MULTI to https://t.co/5ecSG3rKek have also spooked some investors, with $MULTI price falling 26.5% in 24h. pic.twitter.com/p2sQpu9Ass
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) May 24, 2023
On Twitter, rumors circulated that Multichain’s team had been arrested by the Chinese police, with $1.5 billion of smart contract funds under authorities’ control. Cointelegraph reached out to Multichain but did not receive an immediate response.
Binance’s venture arm is one of Multichain’s investors. In December 2021, the cross-chain protocol raised $60 million in a seed funding round led by Binance Labs, along with other venture capital investors such as Sequoia China, IDG Capital, Primitive Ventures, DeFiance Capital, Circle Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, HashKey and Magic Ventures.
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