THORChain Halts Trading Following Suspected Cross-Chain Exploit
2 min read
KEY INSIGHTS:
- THORChain paused trading after a suspected $10M exploit affected four blockchain networks.
- RUNE dropped 8.41% while THORChain trading volume surged nearly 149% in 24 hours.
- ZachXBT and PeckShield flagged suspicious THORChain transfers during the ongoing pause.
THORChain has paused its trading operations after blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged a suspected exploit involving more than $10 million in assets. The reported activity affected multiple blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base.
A THORChain alerts Telegram channel confirmed that all trading and signing activity had stopped. The notice stated that the global node pause would remain active until block 26191149. The halt was expected to last about 12 hours and 42 minutes from the time of the announcement.
The suspension followed reports of suspicious transfers linked to a wallet identified by Arkham as the THORChain exploiter. The wallet held about $10.8 million in digital assets at the time the activity was flagged. Data showed the funds moved through several smaller transactions within a 30-minute period before 10:11 a.m. UTC.
At the time of publication, THORChain had not publicly confirmed the exploit. However, both ZachXBT and blockchain security firm PeckShield reported suspicious activity tied to the protocol. THORChain alerts also showed that trading and signing functions remained paused during the investigation.
THORChain Exploit Adds to DeFi Security Concerns
The suspected THORChain exploit emerged during a period of high losses across decentralized finance markets. According to data from DefiLlama, hackers stole more than $634 million during April alone. That marked the largest monthly total since February 2025.
February 2025 recorded the largest crypto theft on record after hackers stole approximately $1.4 billion from Bybit. Reports later showed that about $1.2 billion of the stolen assets moved through THORChain. The attackers reportedly swapped Ether for Bitcoin during those transfers.
Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou previously stated that THORChain processed a huge share of the stolen funds linked to the Bybit incident.
THORChain has also appeared in earlier investigations involving stolen assets. In April, the attacker connected to the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit swapped 75,700 Ether through the protocol. The transaction reportedly generated about $910,000 in revenue for THORChain.
RUNE Price Drops as Trading Volume Surges
THORChain’s native token, RUNE, declined following the reported exploit activity. At the time of writing, the token had declined by 8.41% over 24 hours, trading at $0.5315 during the observed period.
RUNE price movement over the past 24 hours/ Source: CoinMarketCap
In addition, RUNE’s market capitalization declined to about $186.45 million. However, the trading activity increased. The 24-hour trading volume rose by 148.96% to nearly $25.9 million. The volume-to-market-cap ratio climbed to 13.77%, reflecting elevated market activity during the decline.
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