UPDATED: Apr 9, 2024 5:59am EDT
The core team members of Filecoin-based liquid staking protocol STFIL are currently under investigation by Chinese police for unknown reasons, the team claimed in a post shared on X.
“We understand that lawyers have been engaged to understand the current situation and provide legal assistance to those in custody,” STFIL said wrote.
The team further stated that the platform’s Filecoin tokens were moved to an external address last week while key technical team members were in lockdown. This address currently holds 2.5 million FIL tokens ($22 million). The funds were moved during an unplanned protocol update, which the team described as “abnormal.”
“After learning the above information, the team is actively seeking assistance,” STFIL wrote. “We hope the community can help track down this unknown address and discuss ways to protect the interests of stakeholders.”
STFIL is a liquid staking protocol on Filecoin that allows users to earn staking rewards on their FIL tokens while still using them in DeFi by giving them liquid staking tokens (LSTs) in exchange for their deposits. The total locked value is $40 milliona drop of almost 60% since the beginning of April.
Last August, Chinese authorities charged a local mining company Filecoin and its executives for allegedly orchestrating an $83.3 million pyramid scheme. In 2021, local police seized $62 million from a Filecoin miner.
STFIL did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for further comment.
About the author
Danny Park is an East Asian reporter at The Block who writes about topics such as Web3 developments and crypto regulations in the region. He was formerly a reporter at Forkast.News, where he actively covered the demise of Terra-Luna and FTX. Based in Seoul, Danny has previously written and produced video content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong and China. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and business marketing from the University of Hong Kong.
