THORChain Emergency Halts Services Due to Ethereum Block Reorg, Accidentally Blocking North Korean Hackers from Laundering Stolen Binance Funds

Shenchao TechFlow reported on November 1 that, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, THORChain triggered its emergency pause mechanism due to an abnormal refund issue caused by an Ethereum block reorg, unexpectedly slowing the process of North Korean hackers laundering stolen Binance funds through the protocol.

Chainalysis said that earlier that day, an Ethereum block reorg caused THORChain to mistakenly issue a double refund to a user who deposited 10 ETH. The anomaly triggered the protocol's emergency pause mechanism, temporarily preventing all users, including North Korean hackers, from using the relevant cross-chain swap services.

Until THORChain resumed operations, hackers and other users were unable to complete asset swaps through most of its cross-chain bridges, temporarily disrupting the laundering process for some of the stolen Binance funds.

Source: Shenchao TechFlow