THORChain Trading Goes Live Again After Major Security Overhaul

Is THORChain Safe to Use Again After the Exploit?

THORChain Restarts After 39-Day Halt, RUNE Trades Again as Monero Swaps Near Launch. It Confirms Full Trading Restart After $10.7M Exploit and Vault Overhaul. 

The protocol confirmed trading is live again. After more than a month offline, signing, churning, secured assets, LP actions, and swaps are all up and running.

This is the latest ThorChain news today that RUNE holders and crypto traders have been waiting for.

What Happened in May and Why the Network Went Dark?

On May 15, an attacker drained $10.7 million from one of  the chain’s vaults.

The THORChain crypto hack targeted one of the protocol's six Asgard vaults through a weakness in its GG20 Threshold Signature Scheme — a system that splits a private key across multiple node operators. Think of it like a safe that needs five keys to open. One of those keyholders was compromised.

THORChain's automated solvency systems flagged the breach within minutes. The protocol halted trading right away. Only one vault was hit. The other five stayed safe.

Rather than mint new RUNE tokens to cover the $10.7 million loss, the protocol absorbed the hit through its own liquidity reserves. That decision helped stop RUNE's price from falling further during the shutdown.

How THORChain Fixed the Problem Before Coming Back

The team didn't rush the restart. That's the key point here.

THORChain completed an 11-stage reactivation process, including third-party security audits, node infrastructure overhauls, and software upgrades.

Every single vault was checked. Every node operator's keyshare was verified through a new tool called KeyVerify. Legacy vaults that couldn't be verified were retired and migrated to a new, clean vault set.

Two security patches — versions 3.18.1 and 3.19.1 — were deployed. The new version also isolates any compromised vault without shutting the whole network down. That's a major upgrade over the old setup.

Here's what's fully working right now:

• Cross-chain swaps between Bitcoin, Ethereum, and supported assets

• Liquidity provider deposits and withdrawals

• Node signing and churning

• Trade assets and secured assets

What Comes Next — Monero, Zcash, and Deeper Liquidity

The restart isn't the end of the story. THORChain's pipeline is full.

Native Monero swaps are already working end to end in testing, with a live launch on the horizon. Zcash follows close behind. Dynamic fees and deeper liquidity are also on the way.

These aren't small additions. Monero is one of the largest privacy coins by volume. Adding native Monero swaps — without KYC, from your own wallet — puts THORChain in a unique position. No major DEX currently offers this.

RUNE traded at around $0.419 on June 23, up 2% over seven days, with $16.29 million in daily trading volume — a 137% jump from the day before. The price reaction was calm, not explosive. But volume returning is a healthy sign.

The next milestone to watch is the live Monero swap launch. This could bring a new wave of users back to the DEX — especially privacy coin traders who've had few on-chain options.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.