Hacked Multichain protocol exhibits recovery with confirmed transactions

In a recent development, the Multichain protocol, which had been a victim of a hacking incident, is now showing signs of recovery as some of its transactions have been confirmed. Prior to November 1, the protocol’s last transactions had taken place over 117 days ago, according to Multichain’s Explorer tool. The backlog of queued transactions has now decreased to only a single transaction, signaling a potential turnaround for the protocol.

Blockchain data has revealed that some of the transactions have been confirmed on the destination chain, while others are marked as confirmed in the Multichain Explorer but have not yet been confirmed on the destination chain. This mixed confirmation status indicates an ongoing process to restore the integrity of the affected transactions.

Users attempting to access the Multichain Explorer through browsers with the MetaMask wallet extension installed are currently met with a warning due to the protocol’s recent security breach. It’s important to note that browsing the Multichain Explorer without a Web3 wallet extension is possible, but users should exercise caution. Connecting to Multichain with a wallet app is not recommended, and the site itself may pose security risks.

Multichain’s resilience and recovery

The transactions in question appear to be originating from a relatively small number of addresses. This limited address involvement suggests that the transactions may either be an attempt by the attacker to move funds or part of a broader recovery effort by the Multichain team. As of 9:30 pm UTC, only one transaction remains listed as pending on Multichain’s Explorer, highlighting the progress made in resolving the backlog.

According to the Multichain block explorer, transactions began confirming around 9 am on November 1. Some of these transactions have been successfully confirmed on the destination chain, underscoring the positive developments. 

For instance, a deposit of approximately 20 Dai (DAI) was made from Ethereum to Avalanche, which was confirmed on Avalanche at 1:56 pm UTC. However, a deposit of 0.1 Bitcoin, transferred from Ethereum to Polygon at 2:44, is marked as confirmed on the Multichain block explorer but has not received confirmation on Polygon.

The resumption of transactions on Multichain did not go unnoticed, thanks to the vigilance of blockchain analytics platform Cyvers Alerts. The platform detected the renewed transaction activity in the morning and promptly disseminated this information, emphasizing the potential significance of the protocol’s recovery. Some sending accounts exhibited multiple transactions on November 1, indicating confidence in the protocol’s functionality.

Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/hacked-multichain-protocol-exhibits-recovery/