RUNE (THORChain) in FREE FALL: Here's why

Problems for RUNE and THORChain

RUNE, a cryptocurrency native to the THORChain protocol, has been in free fall for several days. In the last week, the coin has lost about 40 percent of its value. If we then took the high point touched in December 2024, just above $7.5, and compared it to today, we would get a very bad result: more than 70 percent negative performance. The ATHs of 2021, close to $20, are a distant memory.

TradingView chart, Binance data source

What are the motivations behind such bearish price action? The most recent one, which has caused the biggest hemorrhage, is related to economic issues.

In fact, a few days ago, THORChain paused withdrawals on bitcoin and Ether in ThorFi’s lending and savers programs. This necessity stems from the divergence between the liabilities borne by the platform (rumors speak of $200 million) and the funds actually present in the liquidity pools (107 million approximately).

Given these figures, there was concern that a mass withdrawal would send the platform into a tailspin, unable to repay in full. Withdrawals are suspended for 90 days, the time needed to plan for remediation and consolidation. Some rumors (few) speak instead of Chapter 11 (i.e., filing for bankruptcy), with a view to preserving the project’s infrastructure and concept. For now this is speculation and there is really no way of knowing how this story will end.

However, THORChain remains fully operational with its main product, which is cross-chain swaps. Users can therefore use it without any problems, although we urge caution given recent events.

The project is innovative and has strengths, but the dynamics governing liquidity pools have shown weaknesses, especially when RUNE (a key element) comes from a bearish period. The team is therefore called upon to make a major effort to save protocol, face and protect those who have deposited money.