What is THORChain?

THORChain is a cross-chain liquidity platform that allows users to swap assets from different blockchains, for example a swap of ETH to BTC. This is done utilizing THORChains native token RUNE. Each THORChain pool is made up of RUNE and another coin, and users swap from their asset to RUNE, and then from RUNE to the desired asset. For example, BTC -> RUNE, RUNE -> ETH.

THORChain Emissions

Rewards for both THORChain nodes and liquidity providers come in the form of RUNE emissions from the Reserve. Nodes and liquidity providers are paid a reward each block, with the amount of RUNE recieved determined by the number of RUNE in the reserve and the Emission Curve. The Emission Curve is designed to start at around a 30% APR and target a 2% APR after 10 years. At this point the majority of the revenue to nodes and liquidity providers should come from swap and other fees.

Questions of Interest

What is the volume of THORChain emissions over the past six months?
What is the swap volume and swap fees generated on THORChain over the past six months?
How has the volume of emissions and swap fees compared over the past six months?
By what percentage does swap volume need to increase on THORChain for swap fee revenue to equal emissions volume?

Key Insights

The daily volume of THORChain emissions has decreased significantly over the past six months, from a high of around $435,000 RUNE worth of emissions on April 5th to a current daily emission volume of around $60,000.
Swap fee revenue ranged from around $4,000 to $20,000 on most days over the past month.
The volume of THORChain emissions has far outweighed that of swap fee revenue over the past six months. A total of $23M worth of RUNE rewards have been distributed while only about $6.3M in swap fee revenue has been collected.
For swap fee revenue to equal emissions, THORChain swap volume would need to grow by an estimated 363%.
However, as emissions have seen a larger decline than swap volume over the past six months, and should continue to decline, the percentage swap volume increase needed for swap fees to equal emissions should in turn decrease over time.

Methodology

Data for the charts in this dashboard come from the following tables:

flipside_prod_db.thorchain.swaps
flipside_prod_db.thorchain.prices
flipside_prod_db.thorchain.block_rewards

All data is from the past 180 days

THORChain Emissions Analysis

THORChain Swap Analysis

Predictive Analysis

The daily volume of THORChain emissions has decreased significantly over the past six months, from a high of around $435,000 RUNE worth of emissions on April 5th to a current daily emission volume of around $60,000. A whopping total of just under $23M worth of RUNE rewards have been distributed to nodes and liquidity providers over the past six months. This decrease in emissions is expected as the Emission Curve is set to gradually decrease reward APY over time, and as THORChain’s RUNE reserve is depleted.

The daily number of swaps on THORChain has generally decreased over the past six months, with swap volume reaching a peak on April 6th with about $137M in volume. The majority of days over the past month have seen a swap volume of between $10M to $40M. As the number of swaps has decreased, so has the revenue from swap fees. Swap fees ranged from around $4,000 to $20,000 on most days over the past month. THORChain’s average daily swap volume of ~$40M equated to a daily average of $35,000 in swap fees, a fee of less than .1% per transaction.

The volume of THORChain emissions has far outweighed that of swap fee revenue over the past six months. A total of $23M worth of RUNE rewards have been distributed while only about $6.3M in swap fee revenue has been collected. Swap fee revenue was greater than emissions on only four days over the past six months. The total volume of emissions has increased relatively linearly over the past six months, while swap fee revenue growth has begun to taper off.

For swap fee revenue to equal emissions, THORChain swap volume would need to grow by an estimated 363%. However, as emissions have seen a larger decline than swap volume over the past six months, and should continue to decline, the percentage swap volume increase needed for swap fees to equal emissions should in turn decrease over time.

Contact Info

Discord: darkdoom42#1222