3 Min Read 
What is THORChain?
THORChain is a decentralized liquidity protocol that facilitates cross-chain liquidity pools, without the need for pegged or wrapped tokens. This creates a permissionless environment (DeFi) for swaps between otherwise incompatible blockchains. Typically, if someone wants to trade BTC for ETH, they would need to deposit their coins on a centralized exchange (and then try to withdraw them!) to complete a cross-chain swap. Decentralized exchanges are becoming the standard in crypto, and THORChain is the industry leader for multi-chain DEXs.
What is RUNE?
THORChain’s RUNE token is used primarily to secure the decentralized exchange. The network nodes and validators must stake their RUNE to compete for the privilege of validating the blockchain. The more they stake, the more likely they are to be selected as a validator. And with a minimum bond of 2x the value of external assets in RUNE, each node is more incentivized to keep the network going, rather than to act maliciously, which would bring on penalties that create more financial loss than gain for any bad actors.
RUNE is also used to pay all fees and rewards to honest validators and the liquidity providers (LPs) in the THORChain network. Each 1 RUNE held is also worth 1 vote for participating in THORChain’s community governance protocol. But what makes RUNE particularly special is that the LPs must pair their deposited assets in a 1:1 ratio with RUNE. For example, a liquidity provision to the BTC:RUNE pool would require equal value of BTC and RUNE to be paired.
When trading BTC for ETH via the Thorchain protocol, BTC is swapped behind the scenes for some RUNE, and that gets used to trade into ETH. The swap does not require RUNE to be held, and the price of RUNE will correlate to a degree with the rises and falls of the entire crypto market. In this way, holding RUNE acts almost like an ETF, or a basket of currencies (supported in the THORChain ecosystem), creating a compelling way to gain diversified exposure to the broader crypto market.
How to Add RUNE to Edge
See the basic wallet creation guide for how to add new assets in Edge. For adding Rune in particular, follow these steps:
- Locate the Wallets List screen by tapping on Wallets in the bottom-left corner.
- Tap on the + icon
- Search for RUNE to find it quickly
- Turn the asset on, and select Next
- Optionally change the associated fiat currency and rename the wallet if desired.
- Tap on Create Wallets
Your new RUNE wallet will now appear in your Wallets list.
THORChain and the future
At Edge, we are strongly committed to privacy and security, and integrating support for THORChain’s new Layer-1 blockchain is an exciting step for decentralized finance. We hope that building and growing together will help DeFi become the best it can be. The THORChain team has shown consistent dedication to making improvements and rolling out new features, with recent innovations like Savers Vaults, Streaming Swaps, and a new system for borrowing and lending.
Now, it’s easier than ever to participate in the decentralized THORChain protocols from the convenience and security of your Edge app! If you have any other questions about this new RUNE mainnet integration, please reach out to our support team at support@edge.app.
