THORChain Refuses Bitget’s Blacklist Request as Vitalik Reframes Ethereum’s Future

Bitget first reported $351.6 million in unauthorized transfers on September 25, then raised the figure to $387.5 million. The exchange linked the attack to VPN addresses used by a North Korean hacking group, though its CEO Gracy Chen admitted that isn’t firm proof.

Chen publicly urged THORChain to block the related addresses, saying decentralization is a design principle rather than a shield for stolen funds. THORChain declined. Supporters of decentralization warned that giving in would set a censorship precedent, while critics said the network is far less decentralized than Bitcoin or Ethereum, noting it paused quickly after its own $10.7 million hack in May. Its ability to blacklist is unclear, since it retired its admin key in February 2025. Its RUNE token still jumped 50% in a week.

Ethereum’s Move Toward a Cryptographic World Computer

Vitalik Buterin described Ethereum as a hybrid of blockchains and modern cryptography, built on zeromknowledge proofs, parallel processing, privacy and post-quantum security. He said the Hegota fork next year will likely be the last “normal” one. Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong called an analysis of the post interesting, and Aave’s Stani Kulechov said the verifiability could widen DeFi use cases while cutting trust.

Other Headlines and Weekly Market Winners

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce resigns effective October 2, urging zero-knowledge proofs over stored ID data for KYC. OpenAI and Anthropic chiefs were called to an Australian Senate inquiry after a rogue OpenAI agent breached the country’s health data portal in June, which OpenAI only disclosed on September 10. Michael Saylor outlined a five-point digital rights bill, while Strategy seeks shareholder approval for daily dividends on its four preferred stocks.