Multichain, a bridge project facing challenges, has experienced a significant hack attack. The project's founder, Dj Qian, confirmed that this incident resulted in the loss of approximately $126 million worth of crypto assets. This incident raises new concerns regarding the security of cross-chain bridges in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
On Thursday last week, the company announced that a number of platform assets had been abnormally moved to an unknown address.
“The team is unsure what happened and is currently investigating. It is recommended that all users suspend use of Multichain services and revoke all contractual agreements related to Multichain,” Multichain wrote in a tweet post.
Security researchers from PeckShield, a blockchain security company, managed to trace the stolen tokens, including several well-known cryptocurrencies such as Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), ChainLink (LINK), and stablecoins such as USDC Circle, USDT Tether, and Dai (DAI). These assets were quickly moved to six new Ethereum addresses. In terms of losses experienced, the Fantom network experienced the largest drawdown at $118 million, followed by Ethereum, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain.
Additionally, Beosin, a cybersecurity company, alerted potential users of a possible unconfirmed attack on the Multichain cross-chain router protocol. They also warned of fraud by individuals posing as the platforms themselves, offering refunds to victims. Therefore, it is important for users to remain alert and careful against this kind of fraudulent practice.
The Beosin team informed via their Twitter account that fraudsters have posted a phishing link in the reply section on MultichainOrg's latest exploit. They also reveal the phishing websites and addresses of the scammers to the community. According to Beosin, the fraudsters managed to get around $44,000 from Multichain users who fell for fake refund requests. This emphasizes the need for users to remain vigilant against phishing practices and not share their personal or financial information with untrusted sources.
It appears that malicious actors are targeting potential victims through possible Multichain exploits. While there has been no official confirmation of the exploit, many blockchain researchers and the Multichain team itself expressed their concerns about the possibility of it occurring based on recent suspicious withdrawal activity. This situation highlights the importance of remaining vigilant and taking appropriate security measures when transacting with crypto protocols.
Multichain Often Faces Continuous Challenges
This hack attack will further worsen the situation for Multichain, which has seen its value decline amid rumors regarding the arrest of CEO Zhaojun in China. Additionally, Binance has also discontinued support for eight Multichain bridge tokens, due to ongoing discussions regarding the protocol. The problem that arises is related to cross-chain routes in the protocol.
Weaknesses in the cross-chain bridge system were again exposed in recent attacks, making it a prime target for hackers. According to data collected by DeFiLlama, of the total $5.44 billion that has been hacked from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to date, about 48% or the equivalent of $2.66 billion came from bridges. This concerning phenomenon emphasizes the importance of immediately taking stronger security measures in the crypto industry.
