RUNE Falls 20% Amid Scrutiny Over THORChain’s Binance Hack Flows

THORChain’s native token, RUNE, fell about 20% over 24 hours and briefly traded below $0.50 amid concern over the protocol’s role in converting funds linked to the Binance hack and its exposure to security and regulatory pressure.

On-chain flows tied to the breach included about 185.1 million TRX and 3.83 million USDT across roughly 2,697 deposits. THORChain swaps netted about $48.3 million, while roughly $42.7 million was received; about $5.7 million was lost to fees and slippage.

The FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) jointly urged THORNode operators, remote procedure call (RPC) node operators and decentralized finance service providers to block flows linked to North Korean hackers.

THORChain co-founder Chad Barraford said node operators had no information beyond what was publicly available and had made no clear pledge to block addresses. Co-founder JP Thor opposed freezing funds, arguing that the network should preserve its decentralized, permissionless model.

During an earlier Bitget hack episode, a surge in THORChain swaps lifted transaction volume and fees, which the market treated as positive for protocol revenue.