RUNE Sinks as THORChain Trading Halted After ~$10M THORChain Exploit
THORChain suspended all trading after a suspected multi-chain THORChain exploit drained liquidity, with losses estimated around $10 million. Security researchers including ZachXBT and PeckShield traced activity to two main theft addresses: one on BTC and another across EVM-compatible networks (ETH, BNBChain, and Base).
PeckShield estimates the exploited funds include 36.75 BTC (about $3M) plus roughly $7M in assets from BNBChain, ETH and Base. THORChain has not confirmed the exact loss figure or published technical details, but it moved immediately into a defensive posture and paused operations across multiple networks.
The market reaction is already sharp for RUNE. The token is down about 10% on the day, trading near $0.5229, as traders price in heightened uncertainty. The suspected withdrawals reportedly coincided with high THORChain activity, when the protocol processed about $394 million in daily volume around the time funds tied to the earlier KelpDAO breach allegedly moved.
The incident also follows prior disruption: THORChain paused ThorFi lending in January 2025 amid insolvency-related allegations and later outlined restructuring plans. Until the THORChain exploit is fully explained and any recovery path is clarified, volatility risk for RUNE remains elevated.
Bearish
The suspected THORChain exploit has already triggered an operational pause and is linked to multi-chain theft across BTC and EVM networks. For RUNE specifically, the immediate -10% move suggests traders are treating the event as a credibility and risk-premium shock for liquidity and cross-chain routing.
Short-term, a trading halt plus unresolved technical details typically keeps funding and liquidity conditions unstable, increasing sell pressure and volatility until an official post-mortem clarifies the vector and any recovery plan. Long-term, recovery outcomes could matter, but until loss confirmation and governance steps are provided, uncertainty remains high.
Given the event’s proximity to earlier bridge-related incidents (e.g., KelpDAO) and the history of cross-chain attack exposure, the most likely near-term effect is continued bearish sentiment for RUNE.