THORChain Refuses Bitget's Request to Freeze Stolen Funds

The recent hack on Bitget exchange has led to a request from the platform's CEO, Gracy Chen, to THORChain developers to freeze the stolen funds. However, the THORChain team has announced that they will not use an emergency network halt to selectively freeze funds linked to the Bitget exchange hack.

A THORChain network halt is an emergency security mechanism designed to protect the protocol, but it does not involve blocking specific addresses or individual swaps. The team stated that THORChain operates permissionlessly and by its architecture does not censor, drawing a parallel with decentralized networks like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB Chain.

The hack on Bitget resulted in an estimated $351.6 million stolen from the liquidity pools, which was later increased to $387.5 million. The attacker compromised a critical backend component and altered transaction data to bypass authorization processes. THORChain's architecture includes mechanisms for halts, but experts argue that these tools allow freezing stolen funds without disrupting the entire network.