THORChain has officially restored full cross-chain trading operations after more than a month of network-wide downtime. The specialized Layer-1 protocol completed its rigorous 11-stage staged reactivation sequence, bringing its decentralized cross-chain exchange back online following extensive third-party security audits, node infrastructure overhauls, and software upgrades.
The protocol announced the restart on X, verifying that validators, core developers, and community contributors successfully rebuilt and hardened core cryptographic signing structures during the forced outage.
The team said security was the main focus throughout the recovery process. It also confirmed that key functions, including signing, churning, secured asset handling, liquidity provider actions and swaps, are now operating normally.
The Monero renaissance
THORChain’s post-recovery roadmap highlights strong momentum on privacy-focused assets, with native Monero ($XMR) swaps now fully working end-to-end in testing and a mainnet launch expected very soon. This integration will let users swap Monero directly and non-custodially with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other supported assets on the DEX, a major step for privacy coins that have historically faced limited decentralized liquidity options.
Zcash ($ZEC) support is lined up right behind it, continuing THORChain’s push to expand its native UTXO-chain coverage and give users more seamless, private cross-chain trading routes without wrapped tokens or centralized intermediaries.
Recovery following May exploit
THORChain shut down operations after a May 15 attack that drained about $10.7 million from one of its Asgard vaults, exposing weaknesses in a recently added node operator and the network’s signing system.
The protocol said its monitoring system quickly detected unusual balances and triggered a freeze to stop further losses. Although the breach affected only one of six vaults, validators later voted to halt the network entirely as a precaution. User funds and liquidity positions were not impacted, according to the project.
In the weeks that followed, developers worked on security fixes and infrastructure upgrades before restoring operations. The latest version, 3.19.0, introduced new multi-party computation security patches and a system designed to isolate compromised vaults without taking the entire network offline.
THORChain also said it has opened a bounty program for the attacker. Any remaining losses are expected to be covered through protocol-owned liquidity, without issuing new RUNE tokens.
Ecosystem activity continues
The extended market blackout has taken a notable toll on the protocol’s near-term decentralized finance (DeFi) indicators. Data from DeFiLlama highlights a highly conservative environment as capital cautiously tests the restarted infrastructure.
Data from DeFiLlama shows total value locked at about $27.86 million, well below levels seen during the DeFi boom when the protocol held more than $500 million. The decline has been gradual since early 2025.
In terms of trading activity, daily decentralized exchange volume is around $2.09 million. Bridged assets account for roughly $26.78 million of the protocol’s locked value. The network’s native token, RUNE, is trading near $0.42, giving it a market value of just over $141 million.
Despite the suppressed valuations, core ecosystem participants have highly praised the network’s deliberate, security-first recovery approach. By prioritizing deep-level cryptographic patches and avoiding a rushed patch deployment, THORChain aims to redefine its structural integrity as it attempts to reclaim its position as a dominant trustless bridging rail.
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