Part of the inter-network routes of the Multichain protocol suddenly stopped working. About $1.5 billion of funds were blocked from users of the internetwork protocol.

Initially it was assumed that the Multichain team was working on a protocol update, however on Thursday, May 24, the explanation was changed
to the ambiguous “force majeure”. The Multichain team said that the time for the restoration of the service is unknown, but there is an intention to subsequently compensate the affected users.

The Block, citing correspondence on Twitter and Discord, reports that the project management may have been detained by Chinese law enforcement. Multiple sources reportthat the co-founder and CEO of Multichain, Zhao Jun, is unavailable for communication, and his Twitter account is blocked.

The Multichain protocol was formerly called Anyswap and was known as the DEX cross-chain platform. In early 2021, the Anyswap team removed the DEX functionality to focus on bridging services, changing the name to Multichain. Multichain currently provides connectivity infrastructure to 92 major public blockchains, including Ethereum, Fantom, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, Moonriver, Arbitrum, Polygon.

Earlier, Chinese officials urged international regulators to tighten their oversight of the cryptocurrency industry around the world in order to protect users from the risks of fraud and loss of money.