Sonic Labs secures court order to liquidate Multichain Foundation to recoup losses from $210 million exploit

The High Court of Singapore has granted Sonic Labs' request to liquidate Multichain Foundation, allowing the blockchain tech firm to recover lost funds from a 2023 exploit.

According to a May 9 ruling , Justice Kwek Mean Luck gave Sonic Labs approval to wind up Multichain with KPMG Singapore as joint liquidators.

Sonic Labs, formerly known as Fantom Foundation, announced its plans to request the court to dissolve Multichain in March last year, after a $210 million exploit on Multichain's in July 2023 and the subsequent shutdown of the platform. Sonic's losses in the exploit amounted to around one-third of total losses.

This came after a Singapore high court ruled in favor of Sonic's legal claims against Multichain for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentations for losses sustained in the exploit. 

At the time, Sonic Labs said the decision to pursue the liquidation came after "persistent absence" of Multichain despite multiple attempts to reach the foundation's key personnel. Multichain CEO Zhaojun He was arrested by Chinese authorities months prior to the exploit, and has not made a public appearance since.

Sonic Labs CEO Michael Kong again said in a Wednesday statement on X that the team was "compelled" to forcibly liquidate Multichain.

"If Multichain had not hid from victims, this entire process would've been unnecessary and we would've saved more than a year," Kong said .

Kong added that lost funds in Multichain's exploit should eventually be returned to users if liquidators successfully work with other parties to acquire the funds. Sonic Labs previously said that its legal case aims to provide a pathway for other Multichain users to claim lost assets.