THORChain's Decentralization Defense Raises Red Flags After $387.5 Million Hack

Bitget's CEO Gracy Chen is criticizing THORChain for its response to a recent security breach that saw an estimated $387.5 million in stolen funds flow through its cross-chain protocol.

The hack occurred on September 24, with the stolen amount initially estimated at $351.6 million before investigators traced additional unauthorized transfers across various blockchains. Two days later, Chen formally requested that THORChain block the attacker's addresses, but the protocol declined, citing its permissionless design.

Chen pointed out a contradiction in THORChain's response, noting that the protocol had halted operations for 39 days in May 2026 after suffering a $10.7 million exploit. If THORChain can shut down to protect its own funds, Chen argued, then citing decentralization as the reason for not blocking addresses linked to the $387.5 million theft seems less like principle and more like convenience.

The debate played out while the attacker continued to move stolen funds through THORChain's infrastructure, with one notable swap involving approximately $6.3 million in ETH exchanged for around 75.2 BTC.