RUNE Crashes as THORChain Suffers Second Exploit in a Week

One of the popular cross-chain exchanges, THORChain (RUNE), has suffered another attack, with hackers camping off with as much as $8 million

Written by: Aiswarya Gopan • Friday, July 23, 2021 • 2 min read

• Last updated: Friday, July 23, 2021

RUNE Crashes as THORChain Suffers Second Exploit in a Week

One of the popular cross-chain exchanges, THORChain (RUNE), has suffered another attack, with hackers camping off with as much as $8 million, as per a report on Coindesk. At the time of writing, RUNE/USD is trading at around $3.87, down by over 17% since the past 24 hours.

The hacker was able to trick the Bifrost Protocol into receiving a deposit of fake assets through the deployment of a custom contract. Following this the THORChain network processed a refund of real assets back to the hacker, leading to the successful exploit via the ETH Router.

This is the second attack on the blockchain protocol in a week – last week, hackers camped off with 4,000 ETH before network administrators noticed the attack and brought it to a halt, preventing further losses. The vulnerability exploited in the previous hack has since been fixed and administrators have urged node operators to update their software to remedy the situation.

The THORChain is a popular protocol that lets users swap native crypto assets like BTC and ETG between different blockchain networks without the need for wrapping them as tokens for use on other blockchains. Built on Cosmos – also known as the “Internet of blockchains”, It leverages a ‘chaosnet’ which works as a cross-chain DEX without the need for a centralized exchange that controls users’ funds.

Key Levels to Watch

Taking a look at the 4-hour chart of RUNE/USD, we get an unsurprising look at the strong bearish bias as revealed by the averages and the MACD indicator. However, the momentum indicator signals some buying interest as well, in line with the positive market sentiment prevalent among cryptocurrencies overall at the moment.

The price is sitting well below the pivot point at $8.31 but holding above the support level at $2.81. Further selling pressure can cause the THORChain’s price to break down under this level.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More

Aiswarya Gopan

Financial Writer & Editor - Asia & Europe Desk

Aiswarya Gopan is a financial journalist, editor, and content strategist with more than 19 years of experience across financial markets, fintech, blockchain, and technology. She has worked with leading cryptocurrency exchanges, including BingX and KuCoin, driving content strategy, market research, and editorial initiatives covering digital assets, DeFi, Web3, and global financial markets. Drawing on a background in cybersecurity, technology journalism, and market research, Aiswarya specializes in translating complex financial and blockchain developments into clear, timely insights. At FX Leaders, she covers cryptocurrency, stocks, forex, and macroeconomic developments across the Asian and European trading sessions.