THORChain Enables DeFi on Bitcoin with Breakthrough Single-Sided Staking Service

THORChain, the non-custodial decentralized exchange (DEX) that opens access to native and cross-chain liquidity, has launched its single-sided staking capabilities, allowing community members to take advantage of decentralized finance (DeFi) while maintaining full ownership of their native Bitcoin (BTC) or other assets.

For the first time, anyone can leverage multichain financial services without using wrapped tokens and without secondary asset exposure. This reduces exposure to a network of liquidity pools and eliminates the risk of impermanent loss prevalent in noncustodial crypto lending. While cross-chain bridges and wrapped tokens are commonly used to facilitate exchanges between blockchain networks, this merely denotes that collateral for the original asset is locked on a separate protocol. THORChain-enabled single-sided staking facilitates the complete noncustodial and permissionless transfer of native BTC.

Savers vaults are enabled for the following assets on their native chains to earn like-kind yield without impermanent loss: BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, DOGE, ATOM, and AVAX.

Chad Barraford, Technical Lead at THORChain, commented, “The multichain future is here, it’s just not everywhere… yet! Single-sided staking marks a seminal milestone for the THORChain community, who can now enjoy the benefits of both multichain DeFi and native BTC. By virtue of the unique settlement function of RUNE, the native THORChain asset imbued with ethical economic incentives, our core development team enables transparency like no other DEX on the market. Having built the foundation for a seamless, permissionless user experience in the cryptocurrency industry, THORChain delivers on the promise of interoperability.”

THORChain’s single-sided staking rolls out with guarded functionality for native BTC, with plans to add the full range of features to all eight native assets available on the network. Previously users would need to deposit two or more tokens of equal value into a liquidity pool, THORChain’s permissionless Saver Vaults require only a single asset to participate. Additionally, THORChain’s permissionless Saver Vaults require no minimum lock-up period, and bypass financial risks such as fund mismanagement, withdrawal halts and under collateralization.

Gavin McDermott, CEO of Nine Realms, a team of blockchain infrastructure and security experts guiding the deployment of RUNE-paired assets, added, “The THORChain network has power in its accessibility, integrity in its transparency, and trust in its consistency. These are the foundations of our community and our inspiration to deliver multichain, permissionless DeFi for the benefit of all. For years, developers have tried to solve this problem by integrating Bitcoin into Ethereum-based platforms. By bringing DeFi functionality to Bitcoin and introducing single-sided staking to RUNE, THORChain is revolutionizing earning and lending opportunities.”

Single-sided staking is a key milestone in user accessibility and will enable the mainstream adoption of DeFi services, as the benefits of capital efficiency and interoperability make THORChain’s services attractive to a diverse community of digital natives and novices alike. THORWallet DEX, the best non-custodial DeFi mobile wallet will be among the first interfaces to integrate the innovative savings vault solution, thus complementing its range of “Earn” services. Interested parties and community members may also access the guarded launch of this service on the THORChain website.