THORChain Co-Founder Will Ask Its Treasury About Refunding Fees From Stolen Crypto
By Unchained
AI summary of the source article
THORChain co-founder Chad Barraford stated on the Unchained podcast that he will discuss with the protocol's Treasury whether to return a portion of developer fund earnings derived from the $387.5 million Bitget hack. Attackers routed stolen funds through THORChain into bitcoin, generating $573,226 in liquidity fees. Security expert Taylor Monahan argued the protocol heavily profits from illicit flows, though Barraford noted the developer fund receives only about 5% of fees. THORChain previously rejected Bitget's request to freeze attacker wallets, citing its non-censorship design and consensus mechanics. Barraford also stated individual node operators could choose whether to return their own rewards.
Why it matters
The situation underscores the ongoing clash between decentralized finance protocols' non-censorship principles and increasing pressure to avoid profiting from large-scale cryptocurrency thefts.
Key facts
- Attackers routed funds from a $387.5 million Bitget theft through THORChain into bitcoin, generating $573,226 in liquidity fees through Oct. 2.
- THORChain rejected Bitget's request to block the attacker's wallets, stating the protocol does not censor by design.
- Chad Barraford agreed to consult the protocol's Treasury about returning some percentage of the developer fund's roughly 5% share of fees to Bitget.