RUNE Crashes Hard but Folks Keep Throwing Cash at THORChain—Why tho? 🤔

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So, here’s the tea on THORChain’s 2025 kickoff: imagine trying to keep your wobbly souffle intact while the whole kitchen’s on fire. That’s basically how this Layer 1 network felt dealing with global money chaos, some awkward on-chain drama, and the altcoin crowd’s fickle moods. Spoiler alert: RUNE, THORChain’s hometown hero token, took a nosedive, ending Q1 at $1.14—a faceplant of 74.5% from the previous quarter. Ouch.

By comparison, Bitcoin and Ethereum just limped a bit, dropping 12.6% and 45.5%. But RUNE? It staged a dramatic meltdown, its market cap tumbling from a confident $1.5 billion down to a “let’s pretend this isn’t happening” $400.9 million, the kind of vintage low not seen since mid-2022.

THORChain’s DeFi TVL Takes a Dizzying Plunge—Bye Bye Half the Dollars 💸

Messari’s crystal ball revealed a 50.5% drop in total value locked (TVL) measured in USD—from a respectable $368.6 million straight to $181.1 million by quarter’s end. January 2nd looked like a champagne day at $367.7 million, but then, well, the party was officially over as RUNE’s price wobbled.

Yet, plot twist: those who live and breathe in RUNE itself weren’t ready to bail. Native RUNE TVL went up a whopping 93.2%, basically saying, “We’re doubling down, thanks very much,” climbing from 82.2 to 158.8 million RUNE tokens. Apparently, some brave souls believe in THORChain’s multichain mojo, even if dollar signs are playing hard to get.

Swap Volumes Shrink, But There Was That One Wild Day… 🤑

Swap activity? Not so hot. Daily volume slipped 24.4% to $68.8 million, reversing the optimistic streak from last quarter and tumbling way down from January’s party peak of $218.4 million.

But hold your judgment—March 2 was a blockbuster $1.05 billion day. No, it wasn’t a flash mob of ecstatic traders; it was the aftermath of a Bybit exploit, with some crafty hackers turning stolen ETH into BTC via THORChain. So, while it gave the stats a sugar rush, it did nothing to fix the underlying slowdown in regular swapping activity.

And hey, fewer swap users showed up each day too—1,780 on average, down 14.5%. Still, the crowd was diverse enough across wallets and affiliates to suggest THORChain’s infrastructure is the reliable party host that just keeps the doors open, even if the dance floor is a bit emptier.

“The steady crowd proves THORChain isn’t just some one-hit wonder but more like that dependable friend who still throws a decent bash, despite the chaos around.”

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2025-04-28 06:52