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Thorchain Co-Founder: Neutral Networks Can't Pick Who Can Transact
Thorchain co-founder Chad Barraford defended the protocol's refusal to freeze hacker-linked wallets after Bitget CEO Gracy Chen asked it to. He criticized the crypto industry for shifting blame from compromised exchanges to protocols hackers use to move stolen funds.
Published:
Updated:
What happened
Thorchain co-founder Chad Barraford defended the protocol's refusal to freeze hacker-linked wallets after Bitget CEO Gracy Chen asked it to. He criticized the crypto industry for shifting blame from compromised exchanges to protocols hackers use to move stolen funds.
Confirmed
Global impact / market context
If neutral networks cannot choose who transacts, then exchanges and law enforcement cannot easily block stolen crypto from moving. This may discourage some exchanges from listing related assets, while attracting users who value censorship resistance, changing how trading venues handle compliance.
Analyst inference
Crypto exchanges face pressure to stop stolen funds, but decentralized protocols like Thorchain lack a central operator to enforce freezes. This conflict tests how much responsibility neutral networks carry, and may shape investor views on regulatory risk for similar protocols.
Analyst inference
What to watch
- Bitget CEO Gracy Chen requested that Thorchain freeze wallets linked to hackers, and Thorchain co-founder Chad Barraford publicly refused, saying neutral networks cannot pick who can transact. Confirmed
- Watch whether Bitget or other exchanges propose new rules or policies for decentralized protocols that refuse wallet-freezing requests, which would change compliance expectations across the industry. Proposed
- Track whether investors treat Thorchain's stance as higher regulatory risk, affecting its token price, trading volume, or listings, or as a positive signal for censorship-resistant networks. Analyst inference