Thorchain’s RUNE Continues to Rally After Positive Ecosystem Developments

Thorchain's RUNE token, jumped 37% after its synthetic asset trading launch, and has extended that move since, now up 87% since launch.

Thorchain, which is built on the Cosmos blockchain, is a decentralized liquidity protocol that specializes in cross-chain connectivity, allowing traders to swap tokens between different networks.

The RUNE protocol went live with synthetic assets trading on the platform last Thursday. The launch of synthetic assets allows users to swap assets at relatively low costs and high speeds.

“Synths are great for traders and arbs since they can be transacted at a higher speed and lower costs than normal swaps,” said Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at FundStrat.

Farrell said another possible catalyst is the recent announcement that ThorFi will be coming to the Thorchain ecosystem, which will be bring lending and borrowing features to the platform.

“We are clearly moving towards a multichain world and having a cross-chain DEX (decentralized exchange) that doesn’t rely on wrapped assets or inefficient atomic swaps is a giant value add to the space,” Farrell added.

Sheraz Ahmed, managing partner at STORM Partners, said a Solana-like explosion higher can't be ruled out, but then it might be time to look out below. “Fear of missing out is real in this space - when users observe the sort of hype that builds around a project like this and the momentum it generates, it can seldom often lead to irrational growth as the charts show," he said.

“We saw the extravagant growth of Solana not long ago from approximately $2 to $250, and now it’s a downward spiral," Ahmed continued. "The crypto space is extremely emotionally driven, which causes the fluctuations we see in the market. It wouldn’t surprise me to see RUNE’s price double in the coming days from the hype they have created, but then watch out for the fall.”