A one-block Ethereum glitch freezes THORChain swaps on 10 networks, and Chainalysis says it is stalling the Binance launderers

A software edge case has shut one of the routes used to move funds stolen from Binance. On Saturday, October 31, at 11:34 UTC, a one-block reorganization on Ethereum erased a 10 ETH deposit that THORChain had already credited. When the swap missed its price limit, THORChain refunded money its vault never received while the sender's original deposit also came back, paying out an extra 10 ETH and tripping an automatic pause, Cointelegraph reported.

As of 1:20pm Eastern on Sunday, swaps were halted on 10 of the 13 chains THORChain connects, including Tron, Ethereum and Bitcoin, The Block reported, while Avalanche, Base and XRP Ledger kept trading. THORChain said nodes will re-enable each chain once it is deemed safe.

"THORChain just inadvertently delayed the laundering of a significant amount of funds stolen from Binance," Chainalysis said on Sunday, according to Cointelegraph. The FBI had asked THORChain node operators and other services on Saturday to block addresses linked to the theft. Technical co-founder Chad Barraford said node operators have no non-public information and did not say whether they would block them, The Block reported.

THORChain later said the user had voluntarily returned the 10 ETH and the vault was solvent again, PANews reported. Several chains remained paused while the core team works on fixes.