RUNE Soars 26% on THORChain Upgrade, Bulls Target $0.65 Support
THORChain's latest upgrade has sent its native token RUNE soaring by over 26% in just 24 hours, making it the top gainer among all cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of over $200 million. The surge is largely attributed to the network's expanded addressable market, which now includes swapping Monero and Zcash for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins. This upgrade was announced on August 26th, and since then, RUNE has seen significant buying volume, with its daily trading volume increasing by a factor of three to over $20 million.
The upgrade comes after a major security breach in May, where an attacker exploited THORChain for over $10 million. Despite this setback, the network's swap volumes remain strong, with Ethereum and Bitcoin dominating the market. According to data from DefiLlama, the chain averaged $7 million in daily BTC swaps and $10 million in daily ETH swaps.
The surge in buying volume has also led to a spike in short liquidations, with CoinGlass data showing that RUNE short positions worth 10 times those of longs were wiped out. This suggests that bulls are taking control of the market, but it remains unclear if they can flip $0.65 into support.
Despite the excitement surrounding THORChain's upgrade, analysts caution that the rally may be short-lived and driven by sentiment rather than fundamental changes in the market structure. The 200-day EMA shows a bullish trend on a long-term daily scale, but RUNE is still trading below the $0.65 zone, which was its last lower high during the bearish trend.
As of now, bulls have tested the $0.65 supply zone but met instant rejection, leaving it unclear if they can breach this resistance level. However, with a stronger crypto market and altcoins gaining ground, RUNE may be positioning for more gains in the future.