Who is this rune?
THORCHain is a decentralized liquidity protocol that allows users to easily exchange cryptocurrency assets across a range of networks without losing full custody of their assets in the process.
With THORChain, users can simply swap one asset for another in a permissionless setting, without needing to rely on order books to source liquidity. Instead, market prices are maintained through the ratio of assets in a pool (see automated market maker).
The native utility token of the THORChain platform is RUNE. This is used as the base currency in the THORChain ecosystem and is also used for platform governance and security as part of THORChain's Sybil resistance mechanisms — since THORChain nodes must commit a minimum of 1 million RUNE to participate in its rotating consensus process.
THORChain was funded through an initial DEX offering (IDO) which launched through the Binance DEX in July 2019. Its mainnet originally launched in January 2021, but a multi-chain upgrade is currently scheduled for 2021.
Who Are the Founders of THORChain?
According to an official representative of THORChain, the platform has no CEO, no founder and no directors. Instead, the further development of the platform is organized through Gitlab.
On top of this, those currently working on the project are largely anonymous. Again, an official representative of THORChain states that this is to "protect the project and ensure that it can decentralize."
A tweet by the project sheds some light on the theory behind maintaining a project with an anonymous team, as quoted below:
“-> Developers work for the Nodes, by shipping code that makes the system more valuable.
-> Nodes work for the Stakers, by securing assets and being online.
-> Stakers bring capital, placed on-market for the Swappers.
-> Swappers pay fees, bringing economic activity.”