RUNE jumps 15% as THORChain restores most swaps after Ethereum refund bug
THORChain restarts most swaps and RUNE climbs 15%
THORChain, a cross-chain swap protocol that lets users trade tokens between different blockchains, has restored trading on most of its networks after a weekend outage. Its RUNE token rose about 15% over the past 24 hours following the news.
According to CoinMarketCap, RUNE was trading at around $0.64 on Wednesday, up approximately 15% over the previous day.
Key numbers
- Trading and transaction signing are marked "OK" on 10 of THORChain's 13 listed external networks, per the network status page.
- BNB Smart Chain, Cosmos Hub and Solana still show warnings for both functions.
- Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Tron and Zcash were among the networks where trading was re-enabled.
- Avalanche, Base and XRP were already operating when Cointelegraph reported the halt on Monday.
An Ethereum reorg exposed a refund bug
The disruption began on Saturday when a one-block Ethereum reorganization — a brief reordering of transactions on the blockchain — removed a 10 Ether deposit that THORChain had already credited, according to the protocol's account.
Because the swap failed to meet its price limit, THORChain issued a refund against funds its vault had never actually received. The sender's real deposit was also refunded, so an extra 10 ETH was paid out. This triggered an automatic pause of the network.
Node operators then paused trading across multiple networks while developers investigated.
The outage slowed laundering of stolen Binance funds
According to blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the halt also disrupted attempts to move funds stolen in the $6.3 billion Binance hack. Chainalysis said the pause had inadvertently delayed laundering by North Korean hackers.
What is confirmed
- THORChain restored trading on most of its networks after a weekend halt, per its network status page.
- Three chains — BNB Smart Chain, Cosmos Hub and Solana — remain paused.
- The halt stemmed from a one-block Ethereum reorganization that led to an extra 10 ETH refund, according to the protocol's account.
- Chainalysis reported the pause delayed laundering of funds from the $6.3 billion Binance hack.
What is still unclear
The sources do not say when the three remaining networks — BNB Smart Chain, Cosmos Hub and Solana — will resume trading, nor whether THORChain has recovered or reimbursed the extra 10 ETH paid out.
Why this matters
The partial restart restores access to several cross-chain swap routes, and the return of trading coincided with a roughly 15% rise in RUNE's price. The episode also shows how a technical pause on one protocol can affect unrelated activity, such as the movement of stolen funds highlighted by Chainalysis.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.