A main ThorChain developer, Pluto, quit his role on February 28 2025 after he made a ban that targeted North Korean hackers but did not last long. The block of illicit fund transfers made validators nervous and caused one of them to consider leaving until effective prevention steps were implemented.
Pluto explains that he has left ThorChain but still helps Nine Realms transition because of his commitment to the protocol. TCB explained that they would leave the project with Pluto if THORChain fails to create effective ways to stop North Korean cybercriminals from using its platform.
THORChain Validators Fail to Block Stolen Funds
A minority of THORChain validators attempted to bring Ethereum trading to a stop because some stolen funds associated with Lazarus Group required another protective measure. According to TCB records, only three validators signed this initiative before the decision was overturned.
THORChain developer Oleg Petrov declared on February 27 that the team canceled the transaction limits minutes after implementing them. The reversal of THORChain decisions worried people and experts because this exchange platform has handled multiple cybercurrency thefts.
The hacker of Bybit’s stolen funds cleansed 270000 ETH worth $605 million through THORChain as stated by LookOnChain. This represents 54% of one of history’s greatest crypto theft amounts.
ThorChain founder John-Paul Thorbjornsen told social media users he told validators to keep trading. He insisted that OFAC and FBI target addresses were different from the ones operating in ThorChain. Thorbjornsen said he will back his nodes when they run static OFAC/FBI blacklisting tools yet rejects full automatic control by outside parties.
Thorbjornsen denied claims that THORChain allows money laundering while stating that all transactions can be tracked. After swapping into THORChain users normally move their funds into centralized exchanges where they convert to regular currency. Inform CEX about the received deposits he stated.
The event reveals continuing struggles between crypto financial activities and the public debt recovery teams over the rights to protect neutral platforms from illegal use. THORChain’s operations are under more investigation because its main developer resigned and network operators disagree about a problem.
