ThorChain (RUNE) has outperformed the crypto market this week, recording a 58% increase in its price and a 5,160% surge in volume. The protocol allows users to swap native assets between eight different blockchains without intermediaries or wrapped tokens.
ThorChain’s impressive performance comes amid a general downtrend in the crypto market, which has seen a $29 billion drop in its total capitalization.
Crypto Market Loses Steam
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total crypto market cap has seen a drawdown of $29 billion (-2.4%) this past week, falling from $1.22 trillion on August 9 to $1.19 trillion on August 16.
Many tokens have seen significant sell-offs, including GMX, Optimism, and Immutable, down 15.9%, 12.9%, and 12.2%, respectively, over the past week.
Market leader Bitcoin (BTC) held relatively steady, posting 2.2% losses over the same period.
In recent months, the crypto market has been facing increased pressure from regulatory uncertainty, environmental concerns, and cyberattacks.
Some major events that have impacted the market sentiment include:-
- The SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple (XRP)
- China’s crackdown on crypto mining and trading
- Tesla’s suspension of Bitcoin payments, and several hacks and exploits on DeFi platforms.
ThorChain (RUNE) Breaks Out
Despite the gloomy market conditions, ThorChain (RUNE) has bucked the downtrend to record 58% gains since August 9, rising from $0.9577 to $1.5148 as of August 16.
The protocol’s native token has also experienced a significant price and daily volume surge, attracting the crypto community’s attention.
On August 16, RUNE posted a 17-week high of $1.6684 after going on a consecutive nine-day green close.
The start of the move broke the $0.9577 resistance level, which formed having peaked at that price on August 1, then being rejected at that level the following day. This price performance equated to a 74% gain for the token.
The ensuing bounce topped out at $1.1093 by early July, leading to a period of consolidation before the recent surge.
Accompanying the price surge, data from Messari showed a massive 5,160% jump in volume to $98.88 million on August 15, from $1.88 million on August 4 – recording a YTD high.
It was noted that the prior YTD high in a volume of $49.26 million was achieved on January 14, when RUNE was priced much higher at $1.7623.
According to the ThorChain website, its protocol is a cross-chain aggregator enabling swaps between Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Chain (BNB), Avalanche (AVAX), Cosmos (ATOM), Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).
It does not use pegged or wrapped tokens but allows users to swap native assets directly from their wallets.
ShapeShift Founder Erik Voorhees suggested ThorChain’s recent success was due to the growing awareness that it offers permissionless swaps between blue chip tokens – in contrast to the trend towards permissioned KYC protocols per tightening regulatory requirements.
Conclusion
ThorChain (RUNE) has defied the crypto market slump with 58% weekly gains, driven by a significant price and volume surge. The protocol allows users to swap native assets between eight different blockchains without intermediaries or wrapped tokens.
ThorChain’s impressive performance comes amid a general downtrend in the crypto market, which has seen a $29 billion drop in its total capitalization.
