In an announcement on April 13, the Switzerland-based non-custodial crypto company stated that it was now fully integrated with THORChain, enabling users to trade native Bitcoin with Litecoin and Ethereum for the first time.
The move is a big deal because it is the first time a decentralized exchange has enabled crypto asset swaps across different blockchains without the need for bridging technology or custodian-controlled wrapped tokens.
THORchain launched its long-awaited MCCN, ‘multi-chain chaos net’ platform on Tuesday, April 13, amid a great deal of hype from the crypto community, including ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees.
Less than a day before the launch, Voorhees stated that it would be a huge deal for crypto.
“Native cross-chain decentralized exchange. Never been done before. Arguably the biggest event in crypto this week, though it may not be obvious for a year or two.”
THORchain uses its own native token RUNE as collateral and an intermediary, so those wanting to trade BTC for ETH, for example, will have the trade go via RUNE, yet the end-user will not notice.
The revolutionary platform has been in development for three years, and yesterday’s launch could bring big improvements to the rapidly evolving DEX space.
Voorhees continued to extol its virtues:
“We saw the power of this technology and wanted to bring it to our users immediately. This is a continuation of our commitment to offer users an easy, self-custody platform for their decentralized trading needs.”
ShapeShift DEX users, including those making trades via the new THORChain integration, can also earn FOX Tokens with every trade, which enables eligibility for other rewards on the platform.
ShapeShift’s FOX token exploded on the news, pumping 45% to reach an intraday high of $1.30. The exchange-based token has made 180% over the past month and hit an all-time high of $1.60 on April 6.
THORchain’s RUNE token has also been on fire, surging 19% on the day to hit an all-time high of $14.60 at the time of writing, according to Coingecko.
RUNE has doubled in price over the past fortnight and pumped a monumental 1,150% since the beginning of the year.