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THORChain’s native token RUNE climbed more than 13% to roughly $0.67 on Friday from a local low of $0.59, Bitcoinist reported, as investigators tracked funds from Binance’s security breach moving through the cross-chain protocol. AMBCrypto put the 24-hour gain above 15% and called the market backdrop a $160 billion loss in total capitalization.
Binance estimated the impact of the breach at about $6.30 billion, one of the largest crypto thefts reported. Bitcoinist said the exchange’s preliminary investigation pointed to a potentially compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop that may have let attackers reach internal infrastructure and submit unauthorized withdrawals.
Also read: Binance's $6.3B hack linked to North Korea's TraderTraitor
Key facts
- Bitcoinist cited TradingView data showing RUNE at about $0.67, up more than 13% from a low of $0.59 the same day; AMBCrypto reported a move from $0.58 to $0.723.
- Funds linked to the Binance breach and September’s $388 million Bitget hack were consolidated at the same Ethereum address after passing through THORChain, per Bitcoinist.
- AMBCrypto reported $62.08 million in mainnet swap volume, $94 million processed through bridges, and fees reaching a weekly high of $11K.
- Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis linked the Binance attack to North Korean hackers, and the Bitget incident was attributed to a group called TraderTraitor, according to Bitcoinist.
- RUNE’s daily trading volume rose more than 393% during the activity spike, AMBCrypto reported.
What moved through the chain
AMBCrypto broke down the flows: $8.94 million was converted to Bitcoin, $6.17 million to Ethereum and $1.18 million into other tokens. It noted that Binance hack funds were commingled at an address that had previously received $388 million tied to the Bitget incident, which the outlet said may suggest the same actor was involved.
The reports agree on the broad picture but not on the size of the price move: Bitcoinist counted a gain of more than 13% to about $0.67, AMBCrypto more than 15% with a peak of $0.723.
Freeze requests and pushback
THORChain has been used before to move proceeds of other exploits, including the $1.4 billion Bybit attack in February 2025. When asked to block funds, Bitcoinist reported, the protocol said it lacks a technical mechanism to stop individual swaps; node operators can only pause trading on a whole blockchain or the entire network. The Bybit episode split the community: core developer Pluto left after an Ether trading halt was reversed, and validator TCB threatened to leave unless the protocol stopped processing funds tied to North Korean hackers.
AMBCrypto noted that other chains such as Arbitrum One froze funds while THORChain did not. The protocol posted on X immediately after the incident that digital money needs digital freedom, which drew criticism, including a user who mocked the post.
Polymarket users lose funds in separate hack
Separately, CNBC reported that funds were stolen from accounts on Polymarket’s international exchange after a hack of a third-party provider, DebugBear. Trading was halted and resumed at 3 p.m. ET; the company said users who had less than $10,000 taken would be restored by Oct. 30 and larger losses require a signed release. Analytics firms Betting Intelligence and Polysights told CNBC that one account withdrew at least $2.7 million across 710 other wallets. Polymarket’s U.S. platform was not affected.
Why it matters
RUNE’s advance reflects higher network usage rather than a verdict on the protocol’s safeguards, Bitcoinist cautioned. Permissionless design lets users move assets freely across chains, and the same openness makes stolen funds hard to stop, which puts pressure on how decentralized protocols handle requests to intervene. For traders, the episode shows that hack-driven activity can lift a token’s metrics even as confidence in its governance is questioned.
What to watch
AMBCrypto flagged $0.70 as resistance that has capped RUNE for a month, with $0.60 as the reclaimed floor and a bearish 4-hour structure unless $0.70 becomes support. It also cited a Chaikin Money Flow rise from -0.04 to 0.31 and expanding green MACD bars.
This article is not financial advice, and crypto markets are volatile and uncertain.
Reported by AMBCrypto.
Sources: AMBCrypto, Bitcoinist, CNBC