THORCHain is a decentralized liquidity protocol that enables users to swap bitcoin assets across many networks without relinquishing control of their holdings.
Users of THORChain can simply exchange one asset for another in a permissionless environment, without relying on order books to source liquidity. Instead, market values are maintained by the asset pool's asset ratio (see automated market maker).
RUNE is the native utility coin of the THORChain network. It is also utilized for platform governance and security as part of THORChain's Sybil resistance features, as THORChain nodes must commit at least 1 million RUNE to participate in its rotating consensus process.
THORChain was funded with an initial DEX offering (IDO) on the Binance DEX in July 2019. Its mainnet was initially released in January 2021, however a multi-chain update is slated for 2021.
According to an official THORChain spokesperson, the platform lacks a CEO, a founder, and directors. Instead, Gitlab is used to organize the platform's further development.
In addition, the majority of persons now working on the project are anonymous. Again, an official THORChain spokesperson explains that this is to "defend the project and guarantee its decentralization."
THORChain employs a novel approach to assist in mitigating the issue of "permanent losses," or the typically transient losses that a liquidity provider may incur when contributing to liquidity pools. It accomplishes this by utilizing a slip-based fee to ensure that liquidity remains where it is required.
In addition, THORChain incorporates a variety of unique technologies, such as on-way state pegs, a state machine, the Bifrost Signer Module, and a TSS protocol, to support cross-chain token swaps in a smooth manner. All of this is hidden from view, making the platform accessible to even novice traders.
The platform is not geared for profit. There are no provisions for the team, and all fees produced by the protocol are paid straight to consumers. Rather, the squad is rewarded for holding RUNE, just like everyone else.
The RUNE token is now accessible on many blockchains, such as Ethereum and Binance Chain (as a BEP-2 token) (as an ERC-20 token).
There are 158.4 million RUNE in circulation as of February 2021, out of a total supply of 500 million.
As mentioned previously, THORChain's initial launch was preceded by an IEO on the Binance DEX. In conjunction with the IEO, 20 million RUNE were sold. In previous investment rounds, a total of 130 million RUNE has been sold.
According to the official Binance DEX proposal, 10% of the total supply (50 million tokens) was given to the team and frozen until the launch of the mainnet, thereafter unlocking at a rate of 20% per month.
THORChain's emission curve currently begins at 30 percent APR. After ten years, we anticipate an APR of approximately 2 percent.
THORChain is constructed with the Cosmos SDK and is powered by the Tendermint consensus algorithm. Through a revolutionary BFT proof-of-stake (PoS) method in which a large number of validators collaborate to propose and finalize blocks of transactions, the network is protected from assaults.
In addition, THORChain's smart contracts have been examined by a number of third-party security firms, including Certik, who discovered no vulnerabilities.
The introduction of the Enhanced Dai Savings Rate has managed to partially counteract the decline in the token's market value that had been observed.