THORChain Launders Pyongyang Twice as Iran Buries a Fractured Line of Succession

The overnight story is that North Korea ran its two largest crypto thefts through the same laundering protocol, THORChain, in full public view both times, per this morning's cyber column. Two heists, one operator-less protocol, zero interventions. HK and Singapore banks screening wallet exposure under AML rules built for custodial exchanges are screening the wrong chokepoint entirely. THORChain's continued availability after a second nation-state heist is the story regulators have not addressed, not the theft itself. Meanwhile Khamenei's funeral drew mourners chanting retaliation, but the sharper read from the New York Times is the absences, not the crowd, pointing to open fracture inside Tehran's leadership. That fracture matters directly for the Strait of Hormuz fee plan Iran and Oman are negotiating with shippers: a divided Tehran is a less reliable counterparty, and the deal this column has tracked for a week gets harder to close. A compliance officer at a trade finance desk pricing war risk premiums on Gulf routes now has one more reason to assume no number arrives by Monday. Watch whether Iran's negotiators speak with one voice this week, because right now nobody is sure who they represent.