Singapore Court Orders Multichain Foundation To Shut Down

By Mark Hunter

7 hours agoFri May 16 2025 07:52:42

Reading Time: 2 minutes

• The Singapore High Court has approved Sonic Labs’ petition to liquidate Multichain Foundation
• KPMG Singapore has been appointed as the official liquidator to oversee asset recovery
• The decision follows a $210 million exploit in July 2023 that affected multiple blockchain networks

The Singapore High Court has granted Sonic Labs’ request to wind up the Multichain Foundation following a major security breach in July 2023. The breach resulted in the loss of over $210 million across various blockchain platforms, leading to the platform coming under huge pressure to continue. The court has appointed KPMG Singapore as the liquidator to manage the recovery and distribution of the lost assets.

No Recovery From Exploit

Multichain, formerly known as Anyswap, operated as a cross-chain bridge protocol facilitating asset transfers across networks like Fantom, Ethereum, and BNB Chain. In July 2023, a significant security breach led to the loss of approximately $210 million, severely impacting users and decentralized applications relying on the protocol.

Sonic Labs, previously the Fantom Foundation, reported a loss of about $122 million following the incident. The situation was further complicated by the detention of Multichain’s CEO , Zhaojun, by Chinese authorities, leaving the project without leadership and access to operational funds.

Legal Proceedings and Liquidation

Following the exploit, Sonic Labs initiated legal action against Multichain, citing breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation; in January 2024, the Singapore High Court granted a default judgment in favor of Sonic Labs. Despite the ruling, Multichain remained uncooperative, prompting Sonic Labs to file a petition in March 2024 to liquidate the foundation. On May 9, this year, the court approved this petition, appointing KPMG Singapore as the liquidator to oversee the recovery of assets and compensation of affected users.

Michael Kong, CEO of Sonic Labs, expressed frustration over Multichain’s lack of cooperation, stating, “Unfortunately since Multichain and its former employees have been completely uncooperative, we were compelled to file a lawsuit against Multichain and to forcibly wind-up the company.” Kong emphasized that the legal action was necessary to initiate the recovery process for the victims of the exploit.