THORChain developer Pluto announces his departure following the reversal of a vote aimed at blocking transactions linked to North Korean hackers. A validator has also threatened to exit unless the protocol can effectively halt the influx of illicit funds.
In a recent announcement, Pluto stated he will “no longer be contributing to THORChain,” while confirming his continued availability to Nine Realms for a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Although Pluto did not elaborate on his reasons for leaving, validator TCB shared concerns, indicating they would also exit the protocol if THORChain fails to “rapidly adopt a solution to stop NK [North Korean hacker] flows.”
Previously, TCB was one of three validators who voted to suspend Ethereum (ETH) trading on the protocol to prevent funds from the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group from moving through.
On February 27, THORChain developer Oleg Petrov announced that the veto vote was reversed “within minutes.”
Just days earlier, Pluto had informed stakeholders that the team was actively pursuing screening services to block illicit fund flows through the protocol.
Recent data reveals that the Bybit hacker has been utilizing THORChain to launder stolen funds from one of the largest hacks in cryptocurrency history. A post on February 28 highlighted that the Bybit hacker laundered 270,000 ETH (valued at $605 million), representing 54% of the total stolen funds through the cross-chain swap protocol.
Reports indicate that the flow of these stolen assets has significantly increased THORChain’s trading activity, reaching $2.91 billion in volume and generating $3 million in fee revenue within just five days. Currently, the daily trading volume stands at $650 million, a significant rise from the pre-hack average of $80 million.
THORChain Founder Addresses Controversy
THORChain founder John-Paul Thorbjornsen has responded to the situation regarding the reversed vote and developer departures. He stated that he had recommended all nodes continue trading.
Thorbjornsen emphasized that none of the addresses linked to hackers listed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or the FBI have interacted with THORChain, asserting that he has not been contacted by any authority on this matter.
“I will support my nodes to run a static deny list on OFAC/FBI lists if they feel comfortable, but I will not support a non-authority third party dynamically updating the list at the protocol level,” Thorbjornsen stated.
He further clarified that THORChain does not facilitate money laundering, urging traders to track Ethereum to Bitcoin (BTC) swaps and report any concerning deposits to centralized exchanges.
