THORChain touts permissionless rebalancing
THORChain promoted permissionless multi‑chain rebalancing — native swaps like BTC→SOL without centralized custody, bridges, or external solvers — positioning itself as a tool for cross‑chain portfolio adjustments (x.com). That promises lower friction for dynamic asset allocation across chains and potential arbitrage lanes for trading desks.
Solana support went live on THORChain in a progressive rollout announced Feb. 26–27, 2026, with the protocol warning that SOL pools are still being bootstrapped and early swaps may face higher slippage. (cryptotimes.io (cryptotimes.io)) Gem Wallet added native SOL swaps via THORChain on Feb. 26, 2026, enabling in‑wallet native SOL↔BTC/ETH and other cross‑chain trades without wrapped tokens, according to the wallet’s announcement. (gemwallet.com (gemwallet.com)) THORChain’s State of the Network reported $882 million in swap volume for February 2026, down from $1.07 billion in January, signaling thinner liquidity during the rollout period. (blog.thorchain.org (blog.thorchain.org)) SwapKit’s routing layer now powers major wallets and THORChain’s official frontend, with SwapKit and swap.thorchain.org leading affiliate volumes at $540 million and $534 million in Q4 2025 respectively, indicating significant third‑party flow through THORChain rails. (blog.thorchain.org (blog.thorchain.org)) Protocol upgrade v3.16.0 was released at block ~25215740 on March 5, 2026 and bundled 94 merged changes aimed at stability and performance, per the THORNode GitLab release. (gitlab.com (gitlab.com)) Reporting around v3.16.0 highlights Router V6 and new chain integrations (including early Sui support) as part of the upgrade’s cross‑chain coverage and security hardening. (outposts.io (outposts.io); cryptowisser.com (cryptowisser.com)) THORChain’s swap flow uses a RUNE‑paired pool model—every asset is paired with RUNE so swaps are executed as asset→RUNE→asset through decentralized vaults and threshold‑signed outbound transactions, per the protocol documentation. (docs.thorchain.org (docs.thorchain.org)) Media and on‑chain sleuths traced large illicit flows through THORChain in 2025, including a reported $42.5M BTC→ETH swap and claims linking roughly 188 BTC to a Coinbase‑related breach, incidents that attracted regulatory and exchange scrutiny. (theblock.co (theblock.co); beincrypto.com (beincrypto.com))
