Why THORSwap Has Entered ‘Maintenance Mode’

The decentralized exchange said it would temporarily transition to maintenance mode to address the movement of illicit funds on the platform.

THORSwap, a cross-chain decentralized exchange, moved to block criminal activity after acknowledging that potentially illicit funds had been moved through its interface.

In an X post on Friday, the THORSwap team said that the platform would transition into “maintenance mode” after consulting with advisors, legal counsel and law enforcement about the illicit activity on THORChain.

Fellow THORChads,

A pressing and persistent concern has recently come to light: the potential movement of illicit funds through THORChain and, specifically, THORSwap. Such activities have no place on the THORSwap platform, and THORSwap stands firmly against any and all criminal…

— THORSwap ⚡ #BetterThanCEX (@THORSwap) October 6, 2023

The team did not share details of what the transition would entail, but said it would remain in this mode until a more permanent solution could be implemented to ensure security.

“There are no specifics or further details to share at this time, but rest assured that contributors are doing everything in our power to get things back up and running as soon as possible. We’ll keep you updated along the way,” said the team.

The move comes a day after transaction volume on THORChain surged to a record high of $355 million, while the cumulative transaction volume on the network over the past five days exceeded $1 billion.

Some market participants have asserted that, in the last four months, over half the funds converted from Ethereum (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) on the platform have been stolen funds.

welcome to the new normal, THORChads $RUNE pic.twitter.com/8ieSSvdQpZ

— Pleb (@Plebs_eth) October 5, 2023

Earlier this week, the FTX exploiter moved funds after several months, some of which ended up being moved through the THORChain router.

“If hackers would just consider the sustainability and longevity of the network and self-limit their percentage usage of Thorchain, this would never happen,” said Delphi Labs General Counsel Gabriel Shapiro on X.

“Classic tragedy of the commons.”