Blockchain Protocol Thorchain Losts $8 Million to Hackers

Fazzaco learned that Thorchain, a decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol, has been hit by an $8 million hack, bringing total losses to around $13 million.

In this attack, the platform was exploited for $8 million as the hacker was able to trick the network into thinking they had deposited a range of funds, when they hadn’t, and then somehow getting a refund. But the hacker made sure to leave a note explaining that the attack could have been much more damaging.

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In the input data field for one of the transactions, the hacker wrote that they could have taken further coins including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and BNB. They said there were multiple critical issues and they “wanted to teach lesson (sic) minimizing damage.” 

Thorchain acknowledged that it had suffered a “sophisticated attack” and that the hacker knowingly limited its impact. It said that the hacker requested a 10% bounty of the stolen funds and that the treasury has the money to cover the exploit. But it added that now's the “time to slow down.”

Thorchain said that it plans to keep the network halted for now as it reviews the code. Then it will restore solvency (which could include paying the bounty). Once everyone is satisfied with the security of the network, it will be restarted. It hasn't given specific dates for when each stage will happen.

Following last week's hack, Thorchain said it had been audited by multiple blockchain security companies to locate bugs in a given network.

"There were really only two options. Launch and accept the risk of issues, or not launch and stay in the 90% complete audit-review cycle for another six months. Both are difficult," Thorchain said.