THORChain (RUNE), once hailed as a game-changer for trustless crypto swaps, has become Kim Jong Un’s favorite cryptocurrency. Not exactly the legacy its founders had in mind, huh?
Accusations tie the platform to North Korea’s laundering of stolen assets, turning its decentralized credo into a moral debate. The fallout has reignited fierce debates over blockchain’s blurred line between innovation and exploitation.
Kim Jong Un Crypto Strategy: The Bybit Hack and THORChain’s (RUNE) Role
The trouble began with the massive $1.4 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit in February 2025, the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.
North Korea’s Lazarus Group, professionals at digital larceny, cracked Bybit’s Ethereum wallets in a brazen move that netted a fortune. The score, roughly $1.2 billion, found its way through THORChain, a decentralized platform that specializes in cross-chain swaps between major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Thorchain not doing anything to stop the movement of stolen ETH through their platform isn’t going to end well.
Funny how one person can shut down ThorFi in 2 minutes, but when it comes to stopping North Korea laundering billions of dollars of Ethereum through Thorchain, it’s… pic.twitter.com/bIFYluIHKd
— Ed | AirdropGlideApp (@AirdropGlideapp) February 27, 2025
Blockchain security expert Taylor Monahan summarized the appeal for shady operators: “THORChain lets you jump from Ethereum to Bitcoin without leaving a trace. Before this, swaps like that weren’t possible without banks freezing everything.”
Decentralized, unregistered, and uncontrollable, THORChain has become the weapon of choice for laundering on the blockchain.
EXPLORE: 10 Best AI Crypto Coins to Invest in 2025
Ethical Concerns For RUNE Crypto and Community Backlash
The revelations have raised pressing ethical questions for decentralized platforms. Unlike other crypto services that froze transactions linked to the Bybit hack (such as Tether and Mantle), THORChain operators declined to intervene despite requests from agencies like the FBI.
THORChain’s validators briefly paused Ethereum swaps in response to the FBI’s notice but resumed within 30 minutes after community pushback. JP Thor (John-Paul Thorbjornsen), the project’s founder, maintained that the network should remain neutral, stating, “The protocol keeps running and swapping despite chaos. It’s doing great, actually.”
Many in the crypto space don’t agree.
“When the huge majority of your flows are stolen funds from North Korea for the biggest money heist in human history, it will become a national security issue,” warned a THORChain developer known as “TCB” in an X post.
DISCOVER: Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in April 2025
Is THORChain Truly Decentralized?
THORChain is a decentralized utopia, built on validator authority and its RUNE-staked ecosystem. But one developer shutting the network down in January shattered that illusion for many, reigniting accusations of “decentralization theater.”
The stakes go beyond credibility. Platforms like Tornado Cash and Bitzlato have already faced sanctions and crackdowns for enabling dirty money. THORChain could be next in line. A former Treasury official summed it up coldly: “If you’re profiting from Lazarus Group’s hacked funds, you’ve got an OFAC problem.”
EXPLORE: XRP Price Jumps 11% After SEC Crypto Unit Tease XRP ETF Progress
Join The 99Bitcoins News Discord Here For The Latest Market Updates
Key Takeaways
- THORChain (RUNE), once hailed as a game-changer for trustless crypto swaps, has become Kim Jong Un’s favorite cryptocurrency.
- The trouble began with the massive $1.4 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit in February 2025, the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.
- Platforms like Tornado Cash and Bitzlato have already faced sanctions and crackdowns for enabling dirty money.
The post Here’s How RUNE Became Kim Jong Un’s Favorite Crypto appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
