Dive Into DeFi

Dive Into DeFi: THORChain's Road to Asgardex

THORChain is a decentralized cross-chain liquidity network that provides seamless token swaps without the use of wrapped assets and pegged tokens.

I originally heard about RUNE (THORChain) in a fairly familiar way, a tweet I saw in December of 2019 went along the lines of, “Hey Twitter, shill me your favorite altcoins.” After researching a few suggestions, Rune stood out. Why? The promise of cross-chain transactions from a decentralized exchange (DEX). With rug pull-a-palooza not yet a part of our daily routine, 5 minutes of research was enough to get some of my hard-earned shekels.

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Source: Thorchain.org

Fast forward a little under a year, and I have watched Rune rise from .08 to over a dollar, back down again to .49, and it’s currently back over a dollar. More importantly, Chaosnet has launched in a successful and exciting way. In that time, the team has continued to deliver, and my confidence has only grown.


Why has that confidence grown?

Unique tokenomics (This is my favorite current buzzword and I’m sticking with it). I’m not going to discuss the reward distribution of Rune itself, as I don’t see that as the fundamental that drives my interest. That is simply icing on the cake.

Every DEX has liquidity pools, but Thorchain operates a bit differently. Rune is a required partner in LP and Thorchain’s lifeline, causing guaranteed demand if/when/as the platform scales. Simply put, Rune is fundamental to the operation of Asgardex. I see multiple benefits from this feature:

1) As liquidity grows within the network, providers will need to stake Rune with their coin of choice. The yield is currently incredibly attractive, at over 60% APY, and I have little concern that more value will enter the network as fund caps are lifted.

2) Assuming we are entering a bull market phase, general rise in market values will pull Rune up with them. This is a great side effect of how liquidity pools work; one that I am happy to participate in.

3) Node Operators who secure the network need to bond Rune to the network, further increasing demand in a competitive battlefield in which node operators have to quite literally raise their stake to stay in the game.

Since the launch of Chaosnet, small bugs have been quickly resolved, and the network has consistently grown. The introduction of native Bitcoin appears to be around the corner, and will be a ground breaking feat if completed successfully. I for one, am excited for the day that I can swap tokens directly for BTC without the use of an exchange. I welcome this innovation.

THORChain Liquidity Pools

Rune Community

If that is all not enough, the community is passionate, constantly working on new developments to make the user experience better. There is also something pretty exciting about a Thor Gif tweet during a rapid Rune price rise (Insert Rune Ranger Tweet).

This is one project that I’m happy to hold, participate in, and watch grow to the cross-chain DEX it is destined to be. I’ll see you all in Asgardex.

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