THORChain Refuses to Block Stolen Funds After Bitget Breach

Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, recently suffered a security breach resulting in the theft of $387.5 million worth of digital assets. The company has been working with security firms to track and recover the stolen funds.

In response to the breach, Bitget asked THORChain, a cross-chain protocol, to block addresses linked to the exchange's compromised wallets. However, THORChain refused, citing its permissionless design as a security mechanism to protect itself from being used for malicious activities.

THORChain argued that an emergency halt of the network is not equivalent to selectively freezing individual addresses and would disrupt legitimate transactions. GoPlus Security challenged this explanation, pointing out that THORChain's validator-controlled vaults and documented pause mechanisms allow nodes to stop activity through coordinated votes.