RUNE, the native token of decentralized liquidity protocol THORChain, is up 35% this week.
THORChain is defying the recent bearish phase in cryptocurrencies, where Bitcoin, the most capitalized of all, has fallen by more than 10% in the last 7 days. In contrast, the price of RUNE, THORChain’s native token, has risen by 35% in the same period.
RUNE is currently leading the crypto market, recording the biggest gains this week.
Source: CoinMarketCap
According to data from the CoinMarketCap platform, RUNE has maintained steady growth since mid-June, driven by increased adoption of the protocol since the launch of streaming swaps (streaming exchange), a service that optimizes token swapping to improve efficiency and flexibility in trading in DeFi.
Over the past 7 days, the price of the RUNE token jumped from $1,34 to $1,82 at the time of writing, regaining 6-month highs.
Meanwhile, THORChain’s market cap has reached $622 million, placing RUNE as the 57th cryptocurrency on the market. In terms of trading volume, crypto traders are trading close to $180 million worth of this token, which is a 3% drop from the trading volume recorded with RUNE the previous day.
What drives the price of RUNE?
The launch of services such as streaming swaps THORChain is driving the construction of a new financial infrastructure as an alternative to traditional systems, offering users access to a more inclusive financial services environment.
Analysts point out that the streaming swaps, which allow for low-cost multi-chain token swaps on THORChain, are attracting whales in the crypto industry. The Defiant highlighted that in the middle of this month, THORChain conducted its largest single token swap yet. An Ethereum whale swapped 3.150 ETH for 2.482.348 RUNE, worth approximately $3,6 million USD.
Source: CoinMarketCap
In addition to RUNE’s price surge, THORChain is also setting new records, reaching a daily trading volume of $100 million on the platform, the highest since its launch in 2021.
In this regard, The Defiant highlighted that this growth may be further boosted by the regulatory uncertainty that dominates the cryptocurrency market and by a greater exit of investors from centralized exchanges, due to the lawsuits that platforms such as Binance and Coinbase face from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
THORChain “serves a similar role to exchange platforms,” The Defiant noted, “but, at least in theory, has a smaller regulatory attack surface because it is decentralized.”
The growth seen in the value of RUNE and THORChain shows how the avalanche of innovation brought by decentralized finance and blockchain technology can completely transform traditional finance.
What is THORChain?
THORChain is a open source decentralized protocol, based on Cosmos, which facilitates permissionless exchange of native tokens across different blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos, and BNB Chain. THORChain also offers access to decentralized lending and perpetual contracts.
The RUNE token is used as a governance token within THORChain and as a utility token to pay incentives to liquidity providers and node operators. RUNE is also used as a settlement token within liquidity pools to facilitate swaps.
Despite the recent surge in the price of RUNE, this token remains trading 91% below its all-time high price of $21,2 per unit, seen in May 2021. Also, in June of that year, the protocol suffered two exploits that resulted in the loss of $13 million. However, THORChain developers are working on new improvements to strengthen the security of the protocol and to maintain its stability, as well as to offer new services and innovations that make swaps even easier and improve the user experience.
Continue reading: Europe's first Bitcoin spot ETF starts trading on Euronext stock exchange
IMPORTANT: The content of this article is for informational purposes only and, in no case, what is written here should be taken as investment advice or recommendations. Bit2Me News reminds you that before making any investment you should educate yourself and know where you invest your money, as well as the pros and cons of the system. We separate ourselves from the actions and consequences that ignorance may entail. If you decide to invest in this or another asset class, you are solely responsible for the consequences that your decisions and actions may have.
Main image from Pixabay
