ZachXBT warns THORChain losses may top $10M after halt

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said THORChain was likely hit by a multi-chain exploit across Bitcoin, Ethereum, BSC and Base. 

Early posts placed the loss above $7.4 million, but ZachXBT later said his updated accounting showed at least $10 million stolen.

He also challenged a third-party post that shared the alert without proper sourcing. ZachXBT wrote, “Can tell because they did not check the numbers themselves / chains listed.” The line showed that the loss estimate remained active and still needed full confirmation from on-chain tracking.

THORChain pauses trading

THORChain later paused trading and executed a global emergency halt across the network, according to the community alerts shared after the exploit claims. The move limited activity while teams assessed the reported loss and reviewed affected routes.

THORChain’s own security documentation says a global HaltTrading setting stops trading and observations across connected chains, while the THORChain blockchain and native RUNE transactions can continue. The same documentation describes it as an emergency control used by nodes.

Notably, RUNE moved lower after the exploit reports spread. The token fell by about 15% in minutes, dropping from above $0.58 to nearly $0.50 after ZachXBT’s alert. 

Crypto.news market data showed RUNE at $0.58 at press time, with 24-hour volume of $32.46 million and a market cap of about $204.88 million before the latest drop fully reflected across trackers. The token was still down more than 70% over one year.

THORChain already faced exploit-linked scrutiny

The new alert comes after THORChain appeared in earlier fund movement tied to major DeFi attacks. Crypto.news reported in April that funds from the roughly $290 million Kelp DAO exploit were routed through THORChain and Umbra as attackers moved about $175 million in ETH across new wallets.

That earlier case added pressure on cross-chain systems because recovery becomes harder when stolen assets move across several chains. Crypto.news also reported that ZachXBT recently criticized Circle over its handling of funds linked to the $285 million Drift Protocol hack, adding to wider debate over how fast crypto firms should act during major exploits.