$LINK pool staged by community for trading

A user executed two large swaps totaling $3.9M ($2M + $1.9M) converting USDC to Bitcoin through Ledger's interface, powered by THORChain's SwapKit. **Key Details:** - Native Bitcoin swaps with no centralized exchange required - Full self-custody maintained throughout transactions - Wallets like Rabby, Phantom, Magic Eden, and MetaMask can integrate THORChain to earn affiliate fees **Context:** THORChain processed $534M in Q4 2025, saving users $1.8M in fees compared to typical DEX costs. The protocol enables native asset swaps (BTC, ETH, stablecoins) at competitive pricing without KYC or custody risks.

THORChain has published its State of the Network report for January 2026, providing insights into the protocol's performance and metrics for the month. The report covers key operational data across THORChain's cross-chain liquidity infrastructure, which enables swaps and yield generation across Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Cosmos ecosystem assets. **Key areas likely covered:** - Trading volumes and liquidity metrics - Protocol revenue and node operator performance - Cross-chain activity across supported blockchains - Network security and validator statistics Read the full analysis: [State of the Network - January 2026](https://blog.thorchain.org/state-of-the-network-january-2026-2/)

**January 2026 Performance Highlights** - Protocol generated **$1.1M in revenue** despite subdued market conditions - Reached **1M cumulative wallets** milestone - Network security maintained with **$53M in bonded assets** **Record-Breaking Transaction** Streaming swaps facilitated a **$30M BTC-ETH trade**, marking the largest single swap ever executed in decentralized finance. The transaction demonstrates THORChain's capacity to handle institutional-scale operations. The protocol continues operating as designed, processing large-value cross-chain swaps without centralized intermediaries.

A community member has challenged CoinGecko's Bitcoin DEX rankings, pointing out apparent inconsistencies in how platforms are classified. The rankings currently show: - **ChangeNOW** listed at #1 with 99.8% market share, despite being a custodial aggregator - **Magic Eden** included, though it trades Runes NFTs rather than Bitcoin swaps - **THORChain** absent from the list, despite processing $118 billion in native BTC swaps through 100+ independent node operators The question raises concerns about what qualifies as a "decentralised" exchange in CoinGecko's methodology. If platforms with custody or validators can be classified as DEXs, the absence of THORChain - which operates with native Bitcoin swaps and no wrapped assets - appears inconsistent. The issue highlights ongoing challenges in the industry around defining and categorizing decentralised infrastructure.

THORChain released its Q4 2025 ecosystem report showing significant activity across its decentralized liquidity protocol. **Key Metrics:** - $4.02B in swap volume - 108,000 unique swappers - 1.22M total trades - $5.02M collected in swap fees - Beta launch of swap.thorchain.org **2026 Roadmap Highlights:** - Solana integration - ZCash support - Rapid Swaps feature The numbers represent a slight decrease from Q3's $4.5B volume and 1.8M swaps, though the platform maintained strong user engagement with over 100,000 active swappers. [Read the full report](https://blog.thorchain.org/thorchain-q4-2025-ecosystem-report-2026-roadmap/)