Multichain
HackedInfrastructure · born 2020 · ✝ 2023
A top cross-chain bridge whose CEO held the keys — then vanished.
Multichain (formerly Anyswap) was a leading cross-chain router connecting dozens of blockchains. In July 2023 over $126M drained from its bridge contracts in unexplained transactions, days after reports that CEO Zhaojun He had been detained by Chinese authorities.
- Peak
- ~$126M+ drained ($1.5B+ TVL at peak)
- Cause
- Hacked
- Year of death
- 2023
☠️ Cause of death
Operational control — including signing keys — was concentrated with the arrested CEO. With no team able to access the multi-party computation infrastructure, the protocol froze, users' bridged assets were stranded, and Multichain shut down.
📓 Lessons left behind
- —A 'decentralized' bridge run by one person is a custodian.
- —Key control concentrated in a founder is a single point of failure.
- —If the team can disappear, so can the funds.
🌱 The idea that survived
Trust-minimized bridging
Canonical L2 bridges and ZK light-client designs gained share as opaque MPC bridges like Multichain proved that operator risk is the real risk.