THORChain's Revenue Skyrockets Amid Bybit Hack Connection

THORChain's Daily Revenue Surges Amid Connection to Bybit Hack Perpetrators

Bybit's hack, one of the most brazen and significant in history, has left a trail of intrigue and investigation. A North Korean state-sponsored hacking group, the Lazarus Group, has been identified as the culprit, although no arrests have been made. However, a crucial clue points to THORChain, a cross-chain swap protocol used by the hacker(s) to launder stolen funds.

The Lazarus Group exploited THORChain to convert their stolen ETH into BTC, generating a total trading volume of $2.91 billion. Sources suggest that the group also earned nearly $3 million in fees from these transactions. Before the heist, THORChain's daily average transaction volume was around $80 million. However, from February 22nd, this figure has jumped close to $580 million per day. On February 26th alone, the exchange processed $859.61 million in swaps, the highest the company has ever earned in one day. As of now, the firm has managed to earn close to $3.91 billion from February 22nd to February 27th.

Swapping coins is a known tactic used by the Lazarus Group to muddle the money trail and evade regulatory bodies. This time, the group decided to pick THORChain for its illicit money laundering. However, the real question is why. Why did the Lazarus group pick THORChain? Subsequently, what was the cause behind the convenient increase of the company‘s daily volume in earnings after the heist?

THORChain core developer, Pluto, issued a statement at the wake of these events. Pluto stated, "When we first started seeing illicit flows on THORChain, our team bridged the gap for wallets and integration partners, helping them integrate screening services like @elliptic."