The Defiant and Cointelegraph reported on 1 November 2026 that the FBI explicitly named THORNode operators in an appeal, according to The Defiant, which first reported the story at 20:38 UTC that day. The reports are labeled unverified: they come from established outlets but were not confirmed at the source. The Defiant's report states that the FBI explicitly named THORNode operators in its appeal [1]. [1]

The Defiant also reports that the protocol's controls allow broad trading halts, which it says also interrupt other users [2]. Cointelegraph reports that Binance reopened withdrawals following what it calls the world's biggest ever hack [3]. Cointelegraph also reports that the THORChain co-founder argues the protocol should not halt to comply with FBI demands [4]. [2] [3] [4]

A separate post on r/CryptoCurrency, a community source labeled as a rumor, makes larger claims. It says that on October 29, 2026, hackers drained $6.3 billion from Binance in just 20 minutes [5]. It also claims the FBI published a list of addresses two days later [6]. No confirmation or dispute from other sources is included for these claims. [5] [6]

The same post claims the FBI asked RPC node operators, THORNode operators, DeFi services and cross-chain bridges to block any funds "derived from" those addresses [7]. It frames this as an attempt to build a blacklist around Bitcoin, which it says has no blacklist at the protocol level and is completely neutral about who transacts [8]. [7] [8]

What remains unconfirmed is substantial. The Defiant and Cointelegraph reports are labeled unverified and were not confirmed at the source [1][2][3][4]. The Reddit post's figures, including the $6.3 billion and 20-minute figures and the October 29 date, are a rumor from a single lightly trusted source, with no confirmation or dispute from other sources included [5][6][7][8]. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]