[Discussion] Thorchain

[OmegaStarScream]

I couldn't find any ongoing discussions about the project, and since it's gaining lots of traction lately, I thought about making a dedicated thread for it.

I believe this is the original thread on bitcointalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5065319.0
But it's inactive, and so is the original poster.

For those who don't know the project, in short: Thorchain is a protocol to swap/exchange crypto in a fully decentralized way.

https://swap.thorchain.org/

Some limitations:

- Not all assets or chains are currently supported (the latest addition was Solana)
- Swaps do take some time compared to a CEX/instant exchange (you can preview the time prior to swapping)

Feel free to drop your questions, or give your thoughts below.

[hugeblack]

It should also be noted that while the THORChain Protocol (back-end) is truly decentralized and therefore (NoKYC), some Interfaces may impose additional conditions or restrictions regarding transaction freezing.

[dkbit98]

Few days ago I saw Thorchain is adding support for monero soon, that is going to be a game-changer if true.
I think Throchain is also working with Unstoppable wallet, and they are using their system in the background.
Thorchain should add better for support for hardware wallets like Trezor, but it can also work without external wallets.

[OmegaStarScream]

Few days ago I saw Thorchain is adding support for monero soon, that is going to be a game-changer if true.
I think Throchain is also working with Unstoppable wallet, and they are using their system in the background.
Thorchain should add better for support for hardware wallets like Trezor, but it can also work without external wallets.

See here, they made a post about the connection between unstoppable wallet and Thorchain:

https://x.com/THORChain/status/1995940847809184243

It would be nice to have native support, but one can always connect their hardware wallet to MetaMask and use the service from there.

[OmegaStarScream]

Looks like Thorchain is 1-2 months away from the Monero's mainnet.
Zcash mainnet by the end of the month...

https://blog.thorchain.org/xmr-is-coming-monero-on-thorchain-in-1-2-months/

Wondering how much liquidity would that suck out of the privacy-focused non KYC exchanges we currently have.

[akamit]

Looks like Thorchain is 1-2 away from the Monero's mainnet.
Zcash mainnet by the end of the month...

https://blog.thorchain.org/xmr-is-coming-monero-on-thorchain-in-1-2-months/

Wondering how much liquidity would that suck out of the privacy-focused non KYC exchanges we currently have.

The liquidity question is real but what's more interesting to me is how they actually solved the observability problem. With Monero you can't see outbound transactions unless you hold the vault's private key, which on a normal Thorchain setup would mean nodes outside a given vault just have to trust the ones inside it. That's a weak security model for obvious reasons.

The fix is a single dedicated Asgard vault for XMR where all 100+ active validators are members, made possible by Monero using Frost cryptography which is more efficient than the GG20 signing Thorchain uses elsewhere. Every validator can independently verify funds are where they should be. That's actually an elegant solution and probably why this took so long to get right, all the pieces had to be in place first including memoless transactions which only became available recently.

On your liquidity question, smaller privacy focused swap services will definitely feel it once XMR goes live. Thorchain's depth will be hard to compete with.

[OmegaStarScream]

It looks like the platform is under a lot of heat lately, and so is the founder[1] (jpthor is Thorchain's founder).

For those who were not following, there has been a hack of the KelpDAO, where almost 300M $ were drained from the protocol. A bit less than the third has been somehow frozen by Arbitrum (definitely not a chain you should be using anymore).

The remaining of the funds appears to have went through Thorchain[2] simply by looking at the stats for the last couple of days. There are some articles online claiming that some of the funds did went through the protcol, but this huge increase in 24h volumes probably means that most of the funds went through it, if not all.

This is not the first time that this has happened The last Bybit hack also resulted in a lot of funds going through Thorchain (among other exchanges).

I'm wondering what this means for the developers and the founders behind the project. Is it possible that we're going to see a case similar to either Tornado's cash or Samurai's wallet founders?

[1] https://x.com/jpthor/status/2047168187943264355
[2] https://thorchain.net/dashboard

[Yamane_Keto]

I'm wondering what this means for the developers and the founders behind the project. Is it possible that we're going to see a case similar to either Tornado's cash or Samurai's wallet founders?

When Bybit hack occurred, Pluto, a prominent pseudonym for a key THORChain developer, initiated a vote to halt Ethereum trading on the protocol. However, the vote was overturned by other validators, leading to his resignation.
John Paul, known as jpthor, subsequently withdrew as well. Since the early developers have withdrawn, a similar situation to that of the Samurai wallet founders is unlikely.

Currently, there are over 90 active validator nodes, and these will determine THORChain's future.

[Charles-Tim]

Currently, there are over 90 active validator nodes, and these will determine THORChain's future.

But if it is used by some bad people continuously and with huge amount stolen, will there be nothing happen to the THORChain? I ask this question because there has been reports that $175 million from the KelpDAO has likely been laundered through the THORChain.

I know if this is a centralized exchange, it is just a matter of days or weeks that the government will take it down, but it is not centralized.

[bitmover]

I couldn't find any ongoing discussions about the project, and since it's gaining lots of traction lately, I thought about making a dedicated thread for it.

I believe this is the original thread on bitcointalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5065319.0
But it's inactive, and so is the original poster.

For those who don't know the project, in short: Thorchain is a protocol to swap/exchange crypto in a fully decentralized way.

https://swap.thorchain.org/

Some limitations:

- Not all assets or chains are currently supported (the latest addition was Solana)
- Swaps do take some time compared to a CEX/instant exchange (you can preview the time prior to swapping)

Feel free to drop your questions, or give your thoughts below.

I never used it. Thanks for the tip

I have used a lot of hyperliquid. It is similar, but I think thorchain is more decentralized.

But hyperliquid works very well without KYC and AML checks as well.

I will try Thorchain when I need to swap top coins.

It should also be noted that while the THORChain Protocol (back-end) is truly decentralized and therefore (NoKYC), some Interfaces may impose additional conditions or restrictions regarding transaction freezing.

I wonder if it is indeed truly decentralized. Don't they have a third party operator for BTC ? Btc cant handle smartcontracts like Defi, Bridges, etc.... as far as I know.

Edit: i took a further read about how this btc bridge works, more details here
https://liberlion.medium.com/thorchain-and-monero-how-will-the-cross-chain-bridge-work-and-what-are-its-challenges-667326986c62

looks solid, but I lack time now to understand everything...

[Yamane_Keto]

But if it is used by some bad people continuously and with huge amount stolen, will there be nothing happen to the THORChain?

Suspending trading requires the approval of a supermajority (more than two-thirds) of validators, which didn't happen in 2025 and therefore won't happen now. THORChain transactions are conducted on-chain, Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) may classify all THORChain transactions as high-risk and freeze them immediately if the protocol continues to be misused by hackers.

[OmegaStarScream]

-snip-
Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) may classify all THORChain transactions as high-risk and freeze them immediately if the protocol continues to be misused by hackers.

It's possible to go that route... but would it be worth it? or would it have any meaning? Because the minute you can convert your BTC, Zcash, XMR, LTC or any of these coins that do not support smart contracts to an EVM chain, you automatically end up having access to DEXes that you won't even need to deal with a CEX anymore.

BTC/XMR/LTC/DOGE --> USDT --> access to hundreds of EVM DEXes and bridges.

[OmegaStarScream]

The protocol appears to have been exploited for 10M dollars (across bitcoin, ethereum, BSC and Base blockchains) and trading has been halted for now[1]. Thorchain has still not made any statements about it.

addresses to keep an eye on[2]:

Bitcoin: https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/address/bc1qdx4vkwde0jqmlzx7g6vyh35jgexxp7nh403ua5
EVM: https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/address/0xd477b69551f49C0519F9B18c55030676138890Bd

Funds are already starting to move elsewhere.

[1] https://x.com/CoinDesk/status/2055228174322033010
[2] https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/2055226411125027171

[OmegaStarScream]

Thorchain just released a full report (including the timeline of events) regarding the exploit if anyone interested in reading it[1]. Trading is obviously still halted until all nodes upgrade, but this is what's coming next (from the linked article):

-snip-
The following steps are now underway:

Patch v3.18.1 is the immediate priority and all node operators will upgrade in the coming days.

The investigation is ongoing. A complete technical update will be published once the developer team has gathered all relevant details.

Community governance will determine the recovery path. Proposals are being discussed via ADR-028. Once a perceived consensus is reached, nodes will vote and the chosen approach will be implemented in v3.19.

[1] https://thorchain.org/blog/thorchain-exploit-report-1

[Yamane_Keto]

Thorchain just released a full report (including the timeline of events) regarding the exploit if anyone interested in reading it[1]. Trading is obviously still halted until all nodes upgrade, but this is what's coming next (from the linked article):

I'm not convinced that the GG20 vulnerability with the brand-new node address (n84q) caused the vault to be drained. This is more detail that needs to be revealed, but an update to v3.19 is the priority right now.

Whoever carried out this attack understands how a solvency checker works and how crucial timing is to its success.