THORChain Pause Halts Swaps After Ethereum Reorganization

THORChain halted swaps across most of its supported networks after an Ethereum reorganization triggered a double refund, while U.S. agencies urged operators to block transactions involving addresses identified in connection with the Binance theft.

The incident occurred Oct. 31, when a one-block reorganization on Ethereum led to two refunds involving a 10 Ether (ETH) deposit. THORChain’s emergency pause interrupted cross-chain swaps. “THORChain just inadvertently delayed the laundering of a significant amount of funds stolen from Binance,” Chainalysis said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the theft occurred on or about Oct. 29 and involved more than $6 billion in virtual assets. The FBI attributed the theft to North Korea’s TraderTraitor operation and said the actors were converting stolen assets primarily into Ether. The FBI, U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation urged THORNode operators and other virtual asset providers to block transactions involving addresses used to launder the assets.

THORChain has no mechanism to block an individual swap, sender or recipient. Node operators can pause a chain or the entire network, affecting users broadly rather than freezing only the hackers’ assets.