Introduction

What is Thorchain?

Thorchain, which is built on the Cosmos blockchain, is a decentralized liquidity protocol that specializes in cross-chain connectivity. Thorchian allows traders to swap tokens between different networks. The native token of the Thorchain blockchian is RUNE all liquidity pools on Thorchain are RUNE - (L1 asset) pools. To be a validator on the Thorchain network a validator needs to post a bond of millions of dollars worth of RUNE. The value of the RUNE bonded by validators remains higher than the value of the assets held on the network to ensure aligned incentives with the liquidity providers.

Methodology

• We will look at the swaps from L1 Assets over time to RUNE

• We will look at the following metrics:

  • Total/Daily L1 Depositors

  • Total/Daily L1 Deposit Volume

  • L1 Deposit volume by asset

  • Average Deposit by Depositors

Thorchain L1 Deposit Metrics

Observations

Currently the majority of assets that are swapped to RUNE are Native L1s. Since the release of synths they have been gaining major popularity when swapping for RUNE. There was a hue spike in users swapping L1 Assets to RUNE going from less than 200 to over 600 daily. Given that only a small percent of swaper are using synth and they are currently making up a larger percent of volume, it seems that most of the syth users are arbitrageurs/bots.

Observations

In terms of RUNE Purchase volume BNB.BUSD dwarfs all other the Thorchain Pools. ETH, BTC, and BNB also make up a significant portion of RUNE Purchase volume. In terms of number of users BNB.BUSD is only slightly in the lead.

Thorchain L1 Depositor Metrics

Observations

The average wallet that deposits L1 assets into rune has only swapped to Rune with one asset, has made a handful of transactions and has swapped thousands of USD worth of L1 Assets.

Conclusion

BNB.BUSD seems to be the most popular asset to swap into RUNE, but it seems that many of the users that are making this trade are executing an arbitrage using this swap and not keeping the RUNE that they have swapped for. Other than BNB.BUSD, ETH,BNB, and BTC have been the most L1 assets to swap to RUNE by both swappers and volume. Since the launch of the synths many of the transactions that would have been from Native L1 to RUNE have been replaced.