THORChain, a decentralized automated market maker (AMM) network built for cross-chain trading, has frozen swaps on most of its connected chains after a refund flaw left one of its vaults 10 ETH short. The protocol says the flaw behind the stoppage is now a direct risk to its vaults.

Node data showed swaps halted on 10 chains following the disruption, which came after a chain reorg, according to a report published by COINOTAG on November 2, 2026.

What Happened

THORChain paused its swap functionality across the majority of its supported networks. The immediate cause was a flaw in the network's refund handling — the process by which funds are returned to users when a cross-chain swap cannot be completed. That defect left one of the protocol's vaults 10 ETH short of its expected balance.

The halt followed a chain reorg, an event in which newly produced blocks replace blocks that were previously treated as final, reversing transactions that had already been counted as settled. For cross-chain systems, reorgs are among the hardest conditions to manage: a swap that appears complete on one network may be undone, forcing the protocol to unwind the trade and return the user's funds. Refund logic must handle such reversals precisely, and errors in that path can create gaps between what a vault holds and what the network owes.

With swaps frozen, the network's core service — trading native assets across chains — is unavailable on the affected networks for as long as the shortfall remains outstanding, and the report did not specify a timeline for restoring swap functionality or a mechanism for covering the missing 10 ETH.

Background: How THORChain Works

THORChain allows users to exchange native assets across independent blockchains — such as Bitcoin and Ethereum — through on-chain liquidity pools rather than order books, with pricing determined by an automated market maker formula. Funds deposited into the network are held in vaults controlled collectively by node operators using threshold signature schemes, so that no single operator holds the keys to the assets.

The network's native asset, RUNE, functions as the settlement asset for swaps, and node operators bond RUNE as collateral to participate in securing the system. Because a vault's balances must match the protocol's recorded obligations to traders and liquidity providers, a shortfall strikes at the core of that solvency accounting — the context in which THORChain described the current flaw as a direct risk to its vaults.

Until the gap is closed, the immediate developments to watch are how THORChain reconciles the 10 ETH shortfall in the affected vault and when it restores swap functionality across the 10 halted chains.

This content was first published on COINOTAG: https://en.coinotag.com/thorchain-refund-bug-halts-swaps-on-10-chains