THORChain faced significant challenges in the first quarter of 2025, with its native token RUNE's price plummeting by 74.5%, causing its market capitalization to fall from 1.50 billion USD to 400.90 million USD, marking the lowest level since mid-2022. As a result, THORChain's total value locked (TVL) denominated in USD dropped by 50.5%, from 368.60 million USD to 181.10 million USD. However, the TVL denominated in RUNE increased by 93.2%, indicating enhanced user activity and confidence in the protocol's multi-chain liquidity infrastructure. Despite this, THORChain's average daily trading volume declined by 24.4% to 68.80 million USD, and user activity decreased by 14.5%. On March 2nd, due to the Bybit hacking incident, daily trading volume surged to 1.05 billion USD, but this did not alter the overall downward trend in trading volume. Overall, THORChain continues to serve as the backend settlement layer for multi-chain exchanges, supporting a broad user base.

RUNE

<p>THORChain weathered a turbulent start to 2025, as the Layer 1 network faced mounting macroeconomic pressure, internal network challenges, and shifting altcoin sentiment. Following a volatile end to 2024, THORChain’s native token, RUNE, suffered a sharp correction in Q1 2025 and ended up closing the quarter at $1.14, down 74.5% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ).</p><p>This significantly underperformed major digital assets, with Bitcoin and Ethereum falling by 12.6% and 45.5%, respectively. RUNE’s market capitalization dropped 73.8% over the same period, as it plunged from $1.5 billion to $400.9 million, its lowest level since mid-2022.</p><h2>THORChain’s USD TVL Drops 50%</h2><p>According to Messari’s latest report, the slump in RUNE’s value heavily impacted THORChain’s DeFi footprint, as total value locked (TVL) in USD terms fell by 50.5%, from $368.6 million to $181.1 million by the end of the quarter. TVL had peaked at $367.7 million on January 2, before sliding in step with RUNE’s declining price.</p><p>Despite the steep losses in USD terms, native participation in THORChain’s ecosystem remained strong. In fact, RUNE-denominated TVL climbed 93.2% QoQ, after increasing from 82.2 million to 158.8 million RUNE.</p><p>Messari said that the figure pointed to growing user activity and confidence in the protocol’s multichain liquidity infrastructure even amid volatile pricing.</p><h2>THORChain Swap Volumes Dip</h2><p>Swap activity, however, painted a more muted picture. Average daily swap volume fell 24.4% QoQ to $68.8 million, reversing the previous quarter’s momentum and continuing a downward trend from the $218.4 million daily average seen in early January.</p><p>A notable exception occurred on March 2, when THORChain processed a record $1.05 billion in swaps in a single day. This anomalous spike followed the Bybit exploit, as attackers utilized the protocol to convert stolen ETH into BTC. While this inflated weekly throughput figures, it did not meaningfully alter the broader decline in organic activity.</p><p>On-chain data also showed a drop in user engagement, with the average number of daily swappers declining 14.5% QoQ to 1,780. However, usage remained widely distributed across wallets and affiliates, which indicated that while overall volume fell, the protocol’s infrastructure continued to support a broad base of participants.</p><p>“The sustained participation reflects the protocol’s continued role as a backend settlement layer for multichain swaps, even as broader market volatility and RUNE’s price drawdown weighed on user activity.”</p>

In the first quarter of 2025, THORChain experienced a sharp decline in the price of RUNE, with the US dollar Total Value Locked (TVL) shrinking by over 50%, but native deposits surged.