Summary:
- RUNE jumped over 10% on Friday following the mainnet debut of THORChain.
- THORChain is now live on seven networks.
- The launch comes amid harsh market conditions and dipped crypto token prices.
- It’s been four years since THORChain emerged as a decentralized exchange with cross-chain liquidity swap functionality.
- The protocol has also suffered a number of hacks that previously affected its native token price.
THORchain’s mainnet went live this week after a four-year anticipation period and the network’s native coin RUNE reacted positively to the development with a 10% surge in market price on Friday.
At press time, the coin exchanges hand at around $2.20 according to data from CoinMarketCap and TradingView.
THORChain functions as a DEX, a decentralized exchange like Uniswap that support on-chain transactions. However, THORChain boasts a unique feature that supposedly sets it apart from other DEX’s: cross-chain liquidity swaps with no smart contracts.
This allows its users to transfer digital assets and cryptocurrencies between multiple blockchains. At launch, THORChain’s mainnet supports asset swaps on seven networks including – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Binance, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and RUNE.
Speaking with The Block, THORCain technical lead Chad Barraford opined that a vast majority of crypto trades occur on centralized exchanges like Binance and FTX. Barraford cited crypto’s peer-to-peer structure as the main reason for this phenomenon.
The technical lead suggested that THORChain’s long-term goal is to trigger a change in this pattern and position P2P decentralized finance as the preferred option among traders.
RUNE’s Mainnet Launch Could Offer Better Security And Mitigate Hacks
THORChain faced its fair share of exploits during its four years of development. In July 2021, the protocol suffered an $8 million hack that threatened to crater the project. RUNE’s price dipped significantly at the time as well.
A mainnet launch could go a long way in solving the network’s security issues and boosting investor trust. THORChain currently has around $300 million in total value locked.