Chainalysis report raises concerns that Multichain's attacker may have inside connections

Blockchain analytical firm Chainalysis suggested that Multichain's (MULTI) recent exploit could be a rug pull from insiders, according to a July 10 report on the incident. While DeFi hackers have a specific affinity for targeting cross-chain bridges, this one is quite suspicious due to the issues facing Multichain before the incident, according to Chainalysis.

Timeline of Multichain

Blockchain security and analytics firm Chainalysis has suggested that the multimillion-dollar exploit of the Multichain Protocol could be indicative of a rug pull. Multimillion Dollar Exploit Was Inside Job?

Multichain has recently experienced a wave of significant abnormal outflows over the past 12 hours, resulting in assets worth approximately $117 million being transferred to a new address: 0x1e

In the past 12 hours, a large amount of assets has unusually flowed out from Multichain. These assets, which include a variety of cryptocurrencies, have been transferred to the new address: 0x1eed63efba5f81d95bfe37d82c8e736b974f477b.

Blockchain security firm CyVers is claiming first in uncovering the Multichain mega hack that saw over $126 million pilfered from the protocol. As was previously reported, Multichain halted its network on the hack just a month after the entity's CEO disappeared.

Stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether have initiated action and blacklisted more than $67 million of stolen funds in USDC and USDT, which is around 50% of the stolen amount from the cross-chain protocol.

Blockchain data reveals that stablecoin firms Circle and Tether have frozen coins linked to the recent multi-million-dollar Multichain exploit. Earlier this week, blockchain security firm PeckShield found that Multichain, a cross-chain crypto platform, saw its Fantom (FTM) bridge hacked to the tune of $126 million worth of digital assets.

Multichain has reportedly halted its network on a suspected $130 million hack, a move that has come just a month after the initiative's CEO disappeared. The Multichain service stopped currently, and all bridge transactions will be stuck on the source chains.

Circle and Tether have blacklisted five addresses containing $67.5 million worth of assets stolen from MultiChain on July 7. USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle froze three accounts holding $65 million worth of stolen assets, including 63 million USDC, PeckShield tweeted.

It looks like hackers are not taking a break at all as just a few hours after the Multichain hack, these bad actors are on the rampage again. This time around, they have taken to Twitter to circulate a phishing link.

Circle, the official issuer of USDC, the second largest stablecoin by circulating supply, has frozen $63 million from the Multichain hack. Compiled Etherscan data on July 7 shows that the stablecoin issuer froze $27.65 million, $30.1 million, and $5.5 million in three transactions, hampering the hacker's cash-out efforts.