THORChain Hacked for a Second Time: $8 Million Compromised

The cross-chain DeFi protocol THORChain suffered another major hack for $8 million. Last week the protocol was drained with a further $8.3 million in a separate attack.

THORChain Got Hit Again

The decentralized cross-chain exchange THORChain experienced a “sophisticated attack” on its ETH Router. The protocol announced on Twitter that this time the perpetrators drained around $8 million worth of Ether:

“THORChain has suffered a sophisticated attack on the ETH Router, around $8m.”

However, the team added that the attackers limited their damage, “seemingly a whitehat.” They reportedly requested a 10% bounty. In the meantime, the amount of ETH will be halted until it can be “peer-reviewed with audit partners, as a priority:”

“The whitehat requested a 10% bounty – which will be awarded if they reach out, and they should be ecouraged to do so.”

The anonymous hackers warned that they found “multiple critical issues” and could have struck much greater damage, such as embezzling large amounts of Bitcoin, Binance Coin, Lycancoin, and many other cryptocurrencies.

In its turn, THORChain said that the repeated hacking assaults are a serious issue for the community and the project, admitting that “the pain is real.” Even though its treasury can cover the funds, the DeFi protocol would like to see the end of the repeating problem.

The Attack Last Week

Just seven days ago, THORChain suffered another multi-million security breach. In the beginning, the stolen amount remained unconfirmed as the initial estimations showed that it was more than 13,000 ETH – worth roughly $27 million at today’s prices. However, the protocols team later updated the information with new numbers of 4,000 ETH or about $8.3 million.

Similarly, the team promised that the treasury has the necessary funds to compensate all victims and asked for the hackers to get in touch:

“While the treasury has the funds to cover the stolen amount, we request the attacker get in contact with the team to discuss the return of funds and a bounty commensurate with the discovery.”

THORChain also came up with a “recovery plan.” The DeFi protocol would restart its network, donate funds back into the ETH pool to restore the lost funds, release the automatic-solvency checker, and work with security firms to audit.