RUNE rallies as the rest of the market crashes; is THORChain the reason?

• RUNE’s explosive bullish performance defies the recent wave of sell pressure in the market.
• THORChain’s streaming swaps could be the common denominator contributing to RUNE’s demand.

If you own some crypto, chances are that you have felt a pinch after the market’s bearish performance this week. However, having some RUNE in your portfolio would have eased the pain.

Is your portfolio green? Check out the RUNE Profit Calculator

The THORChain-native cryptocurrency somehow managed to steer clear of the selling pressure that prevailed in the last seven days. It instead pulled off an impressive rally that kicked off in the second week of this month.

For perspective, it traded as low as $0.92 on 7 August which marked the start of its latest bullish wave. One RUNE unit cost $1.60 at the time of writing which represents a 72% gain from the aforementioned lows.

But before you buy at its current price range, it would be wise to note that the cryptocurrency was overbought at the time of writing. A bearish retracement could thus be a possibility in the days to come.

Source: TradingView

Can RUNE sustain the demand that has supported its rally so far? Well, there were already some signs which indicated that the bullish momentum was running low on gas.

For example, investor sentiment cooled off slightly in the last few days. This was evident from the declining weighted sentiment which suggested that bearish expectations were on the rise.

Source: Santiment

Similarly, RUNE’s open interest in USD per exchange just registered a double top. This was followed by a bit of downside.

What’s driving RUNE’s bullish price action?

After a bit of research, we found that the streaming swaps could be the single biggest reason for the excitement in RUNE’s price action. Streaming swaps reportedly make it possible for swappers to secure a better swapping price by using sub-swaps.

Streaming swaps introduce more flexibility for swappers. This is because they make it possible for swappers to optimize their transactions based on time and the price of swaps. THORchain is already making efforts to expand its offerings.

Read about RUNE’s price prediction for 2023/2024

In addition to streaming swaps, THORchain has been expanding across multiple major networks including Cosmos and Avalanche. This has allowed it to capture more utility, thus boosting investor confidence.

Its pursuit for more expansion is extending into the DeFi world. The network recently announced that RUNE perps are now available on the Hyperliquid DEX.

$RUNE perps are now available on @HyperliquidX ⚡️ https://t.co/epJVLrDCjI

— THORChain (@THORChain) August 18, 2023

Streaming swaps offer THORchain a unique opportunity to leverage the demand for cheaper swaps in a highly competitive environment. This feature could trigger more demand for THORswap and the RUNE token as market demand continues to unfold, hence RUNE is one to watch.