- THORChain suffered a coordinated multi-chain exploit that drained over $10.8 million of its liquidity vaults.
- According to Coinglass data, today’s sudden price drop resulted in approximately $11.3 million in long liquidations, while short traders saw $34.6K in liquidations.
- THORChain price pullback could seek 38.2% Fib retracement support at $0.526, followed by the next support at 50% FIB at $0.5.
On Friday, May 15th Thorshin The price saw a sudden outflow after suffering a sophisticated multi-chain exploit that drained more than $10.8 million of its liquidity vaults. The attack forced auditors to halt core network operations and RUNE price also recorded a double-digit loss to break the $0.55 support.
THORChain shuts down network after $10.8 million worth of multi-chain exploit
The entire cross-chain liquidity protocol THORChain has been shut down due to a major, coordinated security attack. A hacker managed to withdraw approximately $10.8 million from the platform’s liquidity vaults, triggering an immediate emergency for network auditors, resulting in double-digit RUNE token losses.
The vulnerability was first identified in the early morning hours of Friday, May 15, 2026. On-Chain Security Researcher ZachXBT selected A series of very unusual automated outgoing liquidity transactions emerged from THORChain’s main vault addresses.
Blockchain security company Peak Shield He immediately checked the data and found that a hacker was simultaneously stealing funds in several integrated blockchain networks.
THORChain freezes operations after coordinated multi-asset exploit
The exploit involved a highly sophisticated attack on local assets and EVM-compatible tokens. The attacker managed to collect around $10.8 million in a few key destinations – one for the Bitcoin network (bc1ql4…f6f37) and one for the EVM network (0xd4…890Bd).
Current loss distribution:
Bitcoin (BTC): 36.85 original BTC worth approximately 3 million USD.
Ethereum (ETH) and BNB Chain: Approximately 3,443 ETH and 96.6 BNB.
Stablecoins and crypto assets: Over $7.2 million worth of USDT, USDC and crypto tokens were quickly exchanged by the attacker to prevent any remote freeze mechanisms.
THORChain node operators intervened quickly to avoid complete depletion of the protocol’s liquidity pools. The auditors held an emergency meeting of the entire community within one hour of finding it on the public ledger and were able to stop all outgoing signings and trading.
The freeze effectively kept remaining user funds safe in pools while completely suspending the network’s underlying cross-chain swapping capacity.
KelpDAO connection and attack vector
A full technical examination by THORChain’s core development team is still underway, but initial telemetry suggests it was related to another security incident.
Prior to this exploit, the bad actors behind the recent hack into liquid storage platform KelpDAO were actively funneling illicit funds through THORChain’s high-speed liquidity pools. During this intense money laundering activity, security analysts believe the exploit that was used may stem from a major vulnerability in THORChain’s Bifrost Bridge protocol or smart contract routing logic that evaded detection.
Market impact and what comes next
The market was affected immediately. As news of the exploit and subsequent network freeze spread, THORChain’s native token, RUNE, fell between 10% and 15%, falling sharply to around $0.51.
The security failure has also created a ripple effect across central infrastructure. Major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Kraken, announced that they are actively investigating their THORChain funding gateways and have temporarily suspended RUNE deposits and withdrawals as a precaution.
The THORChain project now faces a difficult road to recovery. Development of the protocol has been completely halted, and the code is being reviewed by developers to determine the exact attack path.
The community is eagerly awaiting two updates: the official technical post-mortem report explaining the flaw and the announcement of the possibility of negotiating a white box bounty or a plan to repay funds to affected liquidity providers. Until then, operations across the chain remain completely dark.
Cryptocurrency hacks show no slowdown as DeFi losses mount
Security vulnerabilities continue to plague the cryptocurrency sector, and they show no signs of abating. Two major DeFi projects – decentralized perpetual exchange protocol Drift and liquid restock project KelpDAO – suffered significant losses worth a combined $600 million in April alone.
The DeFi sector has traditionally been a hotspot for malicious parties, with cross-chain bridges and liquidity protocols often being their first choice. Data from Chainalysis reveals that bridge-related thefts have reached more than $2.8 billion since 2021, suggesting that there are significant underlying structural vulnerabilities that have yet to be addressed across the sector.
THORChain price is looking for bullish support at key Fibonacci floors
From early April to May 11 Rhone price It saw a high momentum rally from $0.376 to $0.638, recording a gain of almost 70%. The upside can be attributed to major network upgrades, upcoming high-profile integrations, and a massive spike in system-wide volume of Kelp DAO money laundering funds.
However, the coin’s price saw a sudden and accelerating decline after the recent record hack in its own network. The asset is currently trading at $0.526 and holds $185.39 million.
According to the Fibonacci retracement level, the current correction is looking for support at the 38.2% retracement level, which coincides with the $0.527 level. If the price fails to defend this minimum, coin sellers can pull its price down to 50% FIB at $0.494, followed by 61.8% FIB at $0.46. In theory, a pullback to the 61.8% FIB level would still be considered a healthy retracement for the asset to offset the exhausted upward momentum.
RUNE price holding above the 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) also highlights the medium-term uptrend in the market.
If buyers can hold this support, RUNE price may rebound and attempt a sustainable resistance above $0.6.
Conversely, a breakdown below the 61.8% FIB level will accelerate selling pressures in the market and strengthen the sellers’ grip on this asset.
