– SpiritSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Fantom smart contract platform, will wind down operations from Sept. 1 due to exposure to troubled Chinese cross-chain protocol, Multichain.
– The Multichain hack left SpiritSwap’s entire treasury drained and without the means to finance essential aspects of its operation, including operational costs, salaries, and marketing.
– SpiritSwap is looking for a team to take over the DEX by Sept. 1. If no change of ownership occurs, the DEX will cease operations entirely.
– Founded in 2021, SpiritSwap was one of the popular DEXs on Fantom before the cryptocurrency bear market. Its total value locked (TVL) reached an all-time high of $374 million in January 2022 but now stands at $2.92 million.
– Multichain developers revealed that co-founder and CEO Zhanojung He was arrested by Chinese police in May. He allegedly held all access to Multichain private keys and servers when detained. Funds belonging to Multichain and its users have been swapped and transferred out of the protocol.
– Fantom’s TVL dropped from $364 million in early May to $72 million due to a mix of seized funds and capital flight caused by the Multichain incident.
– Fantom’s lending protocol, Geist Finance, announced its permanent shutdown due to exposure to Multichain.
– SpiritSwap has called it quits and is looking for a team to hand things over. If no team is found, operations will cease on September 1. A guide will be developed to help users withdraw SPIRIT tokens as they unlock.
Source: [coinpostman](https://coinpostman.com/news/another-fantom-project-winds-down-citing-multichain-exposure)
