Member-only story
THORChain (RUNE) — Unwrapping the DEX?
The way we swap crypto-assets is becoming more abstracted each day, but for some, wrapped coins and synthetics are not secure enough. THORChain may have a solution.
This year we’ve witnessed billions of dollars flow through decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Some of the most successful exchanges, like Uniswap ($UNI), often clock in over $1B in trading volume in a day.
However, the issue with popular protocols like Uniswap and Sushiswap ($SUSHI) is their lack of support for swaps between different blockchains. The former is entirely built on Ethereum, meaning users must use derivatives such as “wrapped” tokens rather than the underlying assets.
THORChain allows swapping of native assets, which could be an enormous upgrade for bridging Bitcoin to decentralized finance (DeFi).
Erik Voorhees, the founder of the now-decentralized ShapeShift platform, considers THORChain “…such a leap forward that most haven’t processed it yet. There is nothing else remotely like it available.”
Let’s explore what makes THORChain so unique and essential to the industry.
