THORChain Reports Unprecedented $4.6 Billion Volume Following Bybit Hack
THORChain has recorded significant trading volume attributed to the laundering activities from the recent Bybit hack.
Key Points:
- THORChain processed $4.6 billion in swaps last week.
- The Bybit hacker utilized the platform to swap and launder funds, according to analysts.
THORChain, a decentralized protocol that facilitates cryptocurrency swaps across various blockchains, experienced a surge in activity following the Bybit hack.
The protocol managed to execute $4.66 billion in swaps during the week ending on March 2, marking an all-time high according to DefiLlama. Remarkably, the volume surpassed $1 billion in a single day on Sunday.
This spike in activity coincided with the hacking of the crypto exchange Bybit on February 22, where hackers, reportedly associated with North Korea, managed to steal $1.4 billion worth of ether. Observers noted that these actors leveraged THORChain to swap and launder the stolen assets, resulting in unprecedented trading volume on the platform.
“Starting from the initial Bybit exploiter wallet, funds were dispersed across a complex chain of wallets. With each subsequent ‘hop’ from the original wallet, a higher number of intermediary wallets were involved, and the transaction values decreased progressively,” stated the blockchain analytics firm Nansen in a report.
Nansen further elaborated, “From hop 2, the hacker began collaborating with third-party entities to facilitate the swapping and laundering of the funds. The platforms that saw the most inflows from the hack include THORChain, Paraswap, Mantle, OK DEX, and DODO.”
According to on-chain analyst EmberCN, the hackers have effectively laundered the entire ETH balance within a period of 10 days, garnering significant revenue for THORChain. “Hackers have successfully laundered all 499,000 ETH (approximately $1.39 billion) obtained from Bybit. This laundering process took 10 days, and the ETH price fell by 23% in the meantime (from $2,780 to $2,130 today). THORChain, the primary channel for these laundering activities, also achieved $5.9 billion in transaction volume and collected $5.5 million in fees as a result of the laundering operation,” EmberCN noted on X.
