The ruling came after a default judgment was issued against Multichain on Jan. 30, with an assessment of damages hearing held on June 3.

During the June 3 hearing, the court heard evidence from Eli Bernstein, general counsel for Fantom Foundation, and Miao Gu, a valuation expert from Secretariat International. Notably, Multichain’s representatives were absent from the proceedings.

In his judgment, Judicial Commissioner Faizal awarded Fantom $2.1 million for losses incurred.

The judicial commissioner highlighted that the breach was enabled by Multichain’s leadership, which had ultimate control over cryptocurrency assets in the Multichain Bridge.

This contradicted the User Agreement’s terms, which stated that the bridge was controlled by decentralized MPC nodes. Multichain publicly acknowledged the critical breach on social media following the exploit.

While the judgment specifically addressed Fantom’s losses, the broader goal of the Foundation’s litigation is to initiate the winding up of Multichain and appoint a third-party liquidator. The liquidator, partially funded by Fantom Foundation, will aim to recover and distribute the missing or frozen assets for all affected parties.

Nicolas Tang Fantom Foundation’s lawyer said:

“We are thrilled with the High Court decision, which represents a significant victory not just for our client but for the entire cryptocurrency community. This ruling reinforces the legitimacy and legal standing of digital assets, ensuring a fair and just environment for innovation and growth in this rapidly evolving sector.”

Fantom Foundation plans to continue its efforts until a liquidator is appointed, anticipated in the coming months. It will provide all necessary knowledge and investigative material to facilitate the liquidator’s recovery efforts, followed by an independent assessment of assets and subsequent claims, recovery, and distribution processes.

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