TL;DR
- The major THORChain hard fork took place on September 4, but the price of RUNE has dropped 70% in the past six months.
- RUNE has dropped 12% in the last 24 hours and continues to decline.
- THORChain continues to move forward with its upgrade, which improves system efficiency and adds support for Bitcoin Taproot addresses.
THORChain, a decentralized exchange platform based on Cosmos technology, carried out a major hard fork on September 4.
This highly anticipated upgrade was aimed at improving system efficiency and strengthening the robustness of the decentralized exchange (DEX).
Reminder: Software upgrade is scheduled tomorrow, September 4th at 4pm EDT
Countdown: https://t.co/EZW2keRu3V
No need for any user to perform any action
Validators should be online to upgrade. Interfaces, exchanges, and wallets should be prepared. Details below & on discord https://t.co/TftVqiJKpV
— THORChain (@THORChain) September 3, 2024
However, despite the significance of the update, the price of RUNE, THORChain’s native cryptocurrency, has suffered a significant drop.
Since the highs reached in March, RUNE has seen an approximate 70% decrease in value, and the coin continues to show a downward trend.
According to CoinMarketCap, THORChain (RUNE) is currently trading at $3.68.
In the last 24 hours, it has seen an increase of 1.66%, although in the last 7 days it has seen a drop of 9.90%.
Despite these short-term losses, the token has registered a 16.11% increase in the last month.
The daily chart analysis suggests that RUNE price is following a downward trajectory, with immediate support located near $3 and resistance around $5.
RUNE traders and analysts are closely watching how prices react at these critical levels.
If buyers manage to take control, there could be a chance of recovery in the coming months, although RUNE’s future performance will largely depend on market factors and how the broader cryptocurrency market evolves.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) market has also seen a slowdown after a period of expansion in the first quarter of 2024.
Although the total value locked (TVL) across all DeFi protocols exceeds $80 billion, THORChain has seen a decline in its TVL, falling from $396 million in May to just over $266 million today.
This contraction in the value locked reflects a tightening in the DeFi market and could be influencing the pressure on RUNE’s price.
Impact of the fork on THORChain
Despite the current challenges, THORChain continues to move forward with its upgrade.
The recent fork included significant improvements to system efficiency, such as upgrading the Cosmos SDK from version 45.1 to 45.16, and removing unnecessary modules to optimize performance.
Additionally, support for Bitcoin Taproot addresses was introduced, improving interoperability with the Bitcoin mainnet.
The THORChain ecosystem remains active and robust, despite the drop in prices.
Recently, on September 1, the platform facilitated the largest trade in its history, handling an $8 million transaction worth of BTC for USDC, generating $26,000 in fees.
This event demonstrates that THORChain continues to play an important role in the cryptocurrency space and maintains its relevance despite adverse market conditions.
Although the THORChain fork was intended to improve the platform and address efficiency issues, the impact on RUNE’s price has been negative.
Continued market pressure and contraction in locked value reflect challenges for the broader DeFi ecosystem.
However, technological improvements and activity on the platform could lay the groundwork for a possible recovery in the future.
