THORChain has successfully launched V3.19, its official restart release, with mainnet adoption targeted for the first week of June 2026. The network is now live with Monero (XMR) confirmed as the first asset in the DEX queue, marking a significant milestone in THORChain's recovery from the $10.7 million vault exploit that occurred on May 15. According to latest reports, this privacy-coin integration gives THORChain a narrative advantage no other major cross-chain protocol currently possesses, with the community calling it a renaissance moment for the platform. RUNE is currently trading near $0.38–$0.41, down sharply from pre-exploit levels and -35% over the past 30 days, with a market cap of roughly $133 million making it the 222nd-largest digital asset.
THORChain has moved into the final phase of its recovery from the May 15 vault exploit that drained approximately $10.7 million from one of the network's five vaults. According to reports from crypto.news, validators are now reviewing version 3.19.0, which combines security patches with the ADR-028 loss-recovery plan. The upgrade introduces a mechanism that can quarantine compromised vaults, stopping affected vaults from processing transactions while keeping their activity visible to the network. Node operators have completed the upgrade process, with the network now validating the ADR-028 data migration and implementing temporary keyshare checks through the keyverify protocol. Validators have unhalted signing and initiated a churn process to replace the active validator set and transfer assets into newly generated vaults.
The recovery process follows an 11-stage staged restart that begins with validator approval of version 3.19.0. As reported by crypto.news, after validators complete the upgrade, the network validates the ADR-028 data migration and implements temporary keyshare checks through the keyverify protocol. Validators then unhalt signing and initiate a churn process to replace the active validator set and transfer assets into newly generated vaults. Secured and Trade assets will return first, followed by liquidity-provider actions, while trading will resume at the end of the process. These measures aim to prevent further unauthorized transactions and ensure the integrity of the network during the recovery phase. The rollout addresses a $10 million gap through a governance-approved migration and separately resolved a $700K accounting issue.
Monero's prominent position in the DEX queue stems from the lack of trustless, non-custodial options for XMR users, especially since major centralized exchanges have delisted it. According to latest reports, if THORChain enables native XMR swaps, it could dominate permissionless Monero liquidity, allowing it to set a starting fee of 50 basis points due to its pricing power. For RUNE holders, increased Monero volume translates to greater demand for RUNE since every swap settles through it. The broader roadmap includes other assets such as Zcash and Polygon, with Monero serving as the opening act for THORChain's recovery strategy. However, the protocol's prior issues with privacy-asset integrations raise concerns about its ability to safely manage high-privacy L1S.
The May 15 exploit involved a newly added node that exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the GG20 Threshold Signature Scheme (TSS) implementation, draining approximately $10.7 million from one of THORChain's five vaults. As reported by crypto.news, Soda Labs confirmed it was a zero-day vulnerability that required human cryptographers to verify, as AI models couldn't replicate the attack. The network employs a Threshold Signature Scheme where multiple nodes must sign transactions, preventing any single node from moving funds independently. A controversial decision was made to temporarily close-source the TSS library during Soda Labs' audit, allowing for faster recovery at the cost of transparency, sparking debate within the community. The library is expected to return to open-source status in upcoming releases.
THORChain's native token, RUNE, experienced a 21% drop in the days following the breach but has since stabilized around $0.44. The token is currently trading near $0.38–$0.41, down sharply from pre-exploit levels and -35% over the past 30 days. RUNE faces rejection risk at the $0.382–$0.385 resistance zone, with potential downside targets of $0.370 first, then $0.360–$0.365 if bears defend this zone. The network's architecture and security mechanisms, including its solvency checker and emergency governance protocols, played a critical role in containing the damage. The structured restart plan demonstrates THORChain's commitment to maintaining network integrity while implementing comprehensive security measures to prevent future attacks.
