THORChain, a decentralized crypto trading protocol capable of cross-chain swaps, has made significant strides in the world of decentralized exchanges (DEX). According to data from DefiLlama, THORChain now stands as the third-largest DEX in terms of trading volume over the past seven days.
Over the previous week, THORChain recorded an impressive trading volume of $1.32 billion. This places it just behind Uniswap, which registered $10.85 billion, and PancakeSwap with $2.77 billion. THORChain continues to show resilience with a strong trading volume, with $334.3 million traded in the past 24 hours alone, surpassing PancakeSwap by almost $50 million.
The soaring trading volume of THORChain is accompanied by a substantial growth in its native token, Rune. CoinGecko reports a remarkable 51% increase in Rune over the past week and an astounding growth of over 200% in the last 30 days. Currently, Rune is trading almost flat at $5.16.
THORChain: A Multichain Version of Uniswap
THORChain operates as a multichain version of Uniswap, providing users with the ability to swap native Bitcoin for Ether (ETH). The decentralized exchange powered by THORChain’s protocol is called THORSwap. One of the key factors attracting users to THORChain is the high yield it offers, boasting an average annual percentage rate (APR) of nearly 44%. Some liquidity pools on THORChain even provide higher yields, with Bitcoin and Rune pairs offering an APR of over 353%.
“Principled Bitcoiners should be familiar with THORChain. It is the only market to trade Bitcoin at scale without an intermediary… which is the entire point of Bitcoin,”
Erik Voorhees, a well-known Bitcoin advocate, has expressed his admiration for THORChain. He highlights the significance of THORChain for the Bitcoin community, as it enables the trading of Bitcoin on a large scale without the need for intermediaries. This aligns with the fundamental principles of Bitcoin.
The Journey of THORChain
The THORChain project emerged in 2018 when a team of developers launched it during the Binance Dexathon. Although many of the founding developers have chosen to remain anonymous, their innovative approach to decentralized asset settlement has gained substantial attention and support within the cryptocurrency community.
In addition to the growing trading volumes in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, spot trading volumes on centralized crypto exchanges have also experienced a significant surge. In October, the total spot trading volume rose by 87.2% to $632 billion, the highest monthly volume recorded since March 2023. This increase represents the highest month-on-month rise in spot trading volumes since January 2021.
“The return of volatility, combined with the bullish price action, has hinted at an uptick in interest in digital asset markets, with the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the horizon,” stated a report by CCData.
Derivatives trading volumes on centralized exchanges have also witnessed a significant increase, rising by 44.4% to $1.94 trillion. This marks the highest monthly derivatives volume recorded since June 2023.
