THORChain Defies Bitget Pressure on Stolen Funds
THORChain (RUNE)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
thecurrencyanalytics.com reports that THORChain maintained its permissionless stance after Bitget lost $387.7 million in a September 24 hack. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen urged the protocol to block addresses linked to the attacker, but THORChain refused. Developer Boone Wheeler explained that the system lacks the capability to screen individual transactions and reserves halts for active protocol problems.
This decision highlights a split in the industry regarding whether decentralized protocols should filter suspicious wallets. In contrast, NEAR Intents activated its SHIELD layer to block $503,000 in hack-linked funds while letting $166,000 through. NEAR General Manager Alex Shevchenko described this as combining openness with safeguards, noting they waived their recovery bounty.
Critics like Joël Valenzuela warned that such interventions create a slippery slope toward censorship. Meanwhile, Bitwise Europe’s Max Shannon suggested THORChain’s refusal might attract more laundering activity due to its non-interventionist reputation. The debate centers on whether protocols should act as compliance tools or remain purely permissionless infrastructure. These differing approaches to security and ethics are now defining the current DeFi landscape.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for RUNE, measured when this story was written up on 2 October 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
RUNE is trading at $0.7780 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 61.1% and a 4-hour ratio of 55.9%, both exceeding the 24-hour average of 53.4%. This indicates that buying pressure is currently building in the short term compared to the daily trend. The Volume Delta shows positive inflows of +$23,871 over the last hour and +$89,766 over four hours. These metrics suggest that recent trades are dominated by buyers rather than sellers. Over the past 24 hours, the CVD closed at +$305,500, confirming sustained net buying activity. Spot volume reached $4,715,901 across 46,585 trades, with net buying occurring in 20 of the last 24 hours.
The latest daily buy ratio of 45.1% sits at the 6th percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 50.3% - among the weakest buying days it has had.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for RUNE, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
The current 24-hour buy ratio of 53.4% is nearly identical to the 7-day average of 53.3%, indicating a return to normal trading behavior. However, the 24-hour spot volume of $4,715,901 is only 0.33 times the weekly average, marking this as an unusually quiet day for the coin. This low volume contrasts with the preceding week, which saw a 21.9% price increase and a total Volume Delta of +$8,278,336. While buying pressure has normalized to historical averages, the significantly reduced volume suggests a lack of strong conviction compared to the previous week's activity.