Binance Halts Deposits for Bridged Tokens

The crypto exchange Binance halted deposits for ten bridged tokens on May 25 after days of stalled transactions sparked uncertainty regarding the Multichain (MULTI) protocol.

Polkastarter (POLS), AlpacaToken (ALPACA), Travala.com (AVA), Spell (SPELL), Fantom (FTM), Alchemy (ACH), Beefy (BIFI), SuperVerse (SUPER), Harvest Finance (FARM), and DeXe (DEXE) are among the token pairs that are impacted.

Users of bridged tokens on the BNB Smart Chain, Fantom, Ethereum, and Avalanche blockchain networks are affected.

According to Binance’s deposit page, these tokens can still be withdrawn and deposited on other networks.

Multichain’s silence regarding the ongoing problems has fueled uncertainty. As previously reported, multiple cross-chain bridges have caused delays in protocol transactions.

In a May 24 tweet, Multichain stated that some cross-chain routes were inaccessible “due to force majeure” and that the timeframe for service restoration was uncertain.

It was the last social media platform communication from the protocol. Previously, the delay was attributed to an upgrade to a backend node.

Binance was not the only company to take action during the mysterious outage. A wallet address associated with the Fantom Foundation reportedly depleted the decentralized exchange SushiSwap of 449,740 MULTI ($2.4 million).

Also on May 24, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported $3 million in multiple outflows from smart money accounts.

On Twitter, rumors circulated that the Chinese police had arrested the Multichain team, taking control of $1.5 billion in intelligent contract funds.

The venture arm of Binance is one of Multichain’s investors. In December 2021, Binance Labs led a $60 million seed funding round for the cross-chain protocol alongside other venture capital investors, including Sequoia China, IDG Capital, Primitive Ventures, DeFiance Capital, Circle Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, HashKey, and Magic Ventures.