The core team members of the protocol are currently under investigation by local Chinese police. The investigation details were not disclosed, but legal representation has been engaged to manage the situation and support the individuals involved. During the team’s detention last week, funds in Filecoin (FIL) on the STFIL platform were transferred to an unknown external address, and the protocol underwent “abnormal, unscheduled upgrades.” The recipient of the transferred funds now holds over 2.5 million FIL, worth approximately $23.3 million.
The team is actively seeking assistance from the community to track the unknown address and discuss ways to protect stakeholders’ interests. STFIL is the second-largest protocol in the Filecoin ecosystem by total value locked, trailing only GLIF with an allocation of nearly $40 million in cryptocurrency, according to DefiLlama data. It was introduced in 2023 and pioneered Filecoin’s liquid staking protocol, offering FIL token holders the opportunity to earn returns through liquid staking.