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THORChain Wiki

RUNE Token

RUNE is the native asset used for settlement, liquidity pairing, economic security, and protocol accounting.

Curated·Last verified 2026-07-09· 3 sources
CuratedChecked 2026-07-09·
THORChain Docs
retrieval details
Source retrieved 2026-07-05Official documentation root used for curated protocol background; it still describes GG20 at review time, but current safety and migration state require dated incident and release sources.
+2 sources
RUNE and TCY tokenomics
retrieval details
Source retrieved 2026-07-05Official RUNE and TCY tokenomics overview, including TCY supply, revenue share, and no-governance-rights caveat; current amounts and distributions still require live evidence.
THORChain Dev Docs
retrieval details
Source retrieved 2026-07-05Official developer documentation root used for API and integration concepts; pair with live endpoints for current state.

Use this page for

  • RUNE roles in settlement, liquidity pairing, node bonding, and protocol accounting.
  • Source-backed tokenomics framing that should remain dated when figures are quoted.

Verify elsewhere before claiming

  • Current price, circulating balances, reserve balances, emissions, or market conclusions.
  • Current minimum bond, slash parameters, Mimir overrides, or investment suitability.

What is RUNE?

Settlement Asset

Every external-asset swap routes through RUNE liquidity, for example BTC to RUNE to ETH.

Security Bond

Node operators bond RUNE to secure vaults and participate in signing. Minimums and slash settings are current-only constants/Mimir facts.

Liquidity Pair

Pools pair RUNE with external assets, creating a unified liquidity layer rather than isolated asset pairs.

Governance Context

Operational governance is primarily node/Mimir driven. ADRs and TIPs document protocol changes; avoid treating all RUNE holders as direct voters.

What Do You Want To Do With RUNE?

Route action questions before reading tokenomics. RUNE can appear in swaps, liquidity, RUNEPool, and node bonding, but each path has a different current-state check.

route + interface

Swap or acquire RUNE

Use For
Check whether a concrete route can quote, then inspect the interface or wallet you plan to use.
claim split

Stake or earn with RUNE

Use For
Separate RUNEPool/POL accounting, LP positions, node bonding, and TCY staking before calling anything yield.
node ops

Bond RUNE for a node

Use For
Use node-operator sources and live controls before relying on bond, unbond, rebond, rotation, or slash settings.
source boundary

Make a RUNE claim

Use For
Classify the claim as settlement role, live metric, security constant, dated tokenomics, or value claim.

Do not treat this page as exchange, wallet, staking, yield, or node-operation instructions. It is a source router for deciding which live or dated evidence to inspect next.

Which RUNE Number Do You Need?

Pick the number by the claim you are making. RUNE appears in settlement, security, liquidity, and tokenomics, but each number needs a different evidence path.

current-only

Live network metrics

Use For
Pooled RUNE, reserve context, active nodes, bond/liquidity posture, earnings, APY, and source-health labels.
Do Not Use For
Start with Stats decision panel
THORNode

Security constants

Use For
Minimum bond, slash settings, Mimir overrides, signing state, node set, and operational controls.
Do Not Use For
Start with Network diagnostics
dated source

Supply framing

Use For
Reduced supply framing, reserve/circulating context, burn/reduction notes, and TCY recovery context.
Do Not Use For
Do not treat dated tokenomics records as live supply, market cap, exchange float, or valuation evidence.
Start with Token Economics
non-claim

Price or value claim

Use For
Compare live exchange prices, order-book depth, and independent valuation research before drawing a conclusion.
Do Not Use For
Do not claim fair value, price targets, investment suitability, guaranteed yield, or recovery value.
Start with Source map

RUNE Claim Checks

Start by classifying the claim. This page supports protocol-role explanations; live balances, current economics, tokenomics figures, and value claims need different source paths.

mechanism

Settlement role

Use For
RUNE as the common settlement pair, liquidity-pool side, security bond, and accounting asset.
Verify
Use the settlement deep dive before turning this overview into a protocol-model explanation.
Do Not Claim
Do not claim price, fair value, or investment upside from the settlement role alone.
Read settlement deep dive
live data

Current network number

Use For
Pooled RUNE, reserve context, active nodes, bond/liquidity posture, earnings, and source health.
Verify
Use the Stats decision panel and keep source freshness or degraded-state labels attached.
Do Not Claim
Do not quote stale, degraded, or unavailable live snapshots as clean current facts.
Check live RUNE metrics
dated source

Tokenomics figure

Use For
Supply framing, reserve/circulating context, burn/reduction notes, and TCY recovery context.
Verify
Use the source-labeled Token Economics section before quoting dated supply framing.
Do Not Claim
Do not treat dated tokenomics records as live supply, market cap, or valuation evidence.
Review dated tokenomics
non-claim

Value or investment claim

Use For
Check market analysis from independent research or exchange data before making RUNE value claims.
Verify
Cite the external market-analysis source directly rather than this overview.
Do Not Claim
Do not claim fair value, price targets, investment suitability, guaranteed yield, or recovery guarantees.
Check source boundary

Continue From Here

Move from the source-boundary router into settlement mechanics, live network numbers, or official source maps before making current RUNE claims.

claim path

Token Economics

As reviewed on 2026-07-14, the newer official tokenomics page gives approximate figures near 425M total, 350M circulating, and 75M reserve with ongoing burns. The economic-model page still shows the original 500M maximum and genesis distribution; keep that as historical cap context rather than combining it with the newer approximate snapshot. Recheck live/source data before quoting exact balances.

Official sourceChecked 2026-07-14·Review due 2026-11-17·
Source: RUNE and TCY tokenomics
source retrieval details
Source retrieved 2026-07-05Official RUNE and TCY tokenomics overview, including TCY supply, revenue share, and no-governance-rights caveat; current amounts and distributions still require live evidence.
+1 source
THORChain economic model
retrieval details
Source retrieved 2026-07-14Official Incentive Pendulum, emission, and reserve-flow design; its original 500M maximum-supply framing must not be presented as the newer tokenomics page's current approximate supply.
Original Cap Context500M economic-model figureHistorical
Tokenomics Page Total~425M and burningSource-backed
Tokenomics Page Circulating~350MSource-backed
Tokenomics Page Reserve~75MSource-backed
Network IncomeFees, emissions, burns, TCY shareDynamic
Bond RequirementCheck constants + MimirCurrent-only
Slash PenaltyCheck constants + MimirCurrent-only

These figures are dated snapshots — check the FreshnessMeta above for exactly when they were last verified. The split between reserve and circulating supply matters because it shapes how bonds, LP positions, and emissions interact: reserve RUNE backs node security while circulating RUNE includes the portion available for swaps and liquidity. For how RUNE actually flows through the system, see the RUNE Settlement deep dive; for current protocol economics including POL and emissions, see Economics. Do not treat any figure here as live or investment-grade data.