How to Buy THORChain (RUNE): Native RUNE Only

Today, how to buy THORChain comes down to one rule: buy native RUNE, the coin that lives on THORChain’s own network at addresses starting thor1. The old ERC-20 and BEP-2 RUNE tokens were retired years ago, and leftover contracts on DEXs are traps. As of October 2026 you can buy RUNE on Kraken, Binance (outside the US), Bybit, KuCoin and Crypto.com. Coinbase, Robinhood and Binance.US don’t list it. You can also swap BTC or ETH directly into RUNE through THORChain front-ends. Before buying, also understand THORFi’s 2025 default and the May 2026 vault exploit.

• Native RUNE uses thor1… addresses. Token contracts called “RUNE” on Ethereum or BNB Chain aren’t redeemable for it.
• US buyers have fewer choices: Kraken is the main US-facing exchange with RUNE markets (as of October 2026).
• THORChain swaps are native. You send real BTC and receive real RUNE, with no wrapped tokens, using memos the interface writes for you.
• THORFi lending and savers were paused in January 2025. The defaulted balances became TCY, a token that receives 10% of protocol income paid in RUNE.
• A 15 May 2026 exploit drained about $10.7 million from one vault and halted the network for 39 days, until 23 June.

Native RUNE vs the retired ERC-20 and BEP-2 versions

Before its multi-chain mainnet, RUNE circulated as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and a BEP-2 token on Binance Chain. In July 2022 THORChain activated a “killswitch.” The rate at which those versions could be upgraded to native RUNE started at 1:1 and fell linearly to zero over about 12 months. The team said the external tokens had unnecessary privileged access to THORChain’s state, which was a security risk. Exchanges upgraded customer balances automatically. Self-custody holders had to upgrade in a supporting wallet before the window closed.

What this means for you:

• The old ERC-20 contract still exists on Ethereum, and price sites sometimes list it as “THORChain (ERC20).” It doesn’t give you native RUNE and can’t be upgraded any more.
• If a DEX on Ethereum or BNB Chain offers “RUNE,” you’re not buying THORChain’s coin. Don’t.
• Price trackers that show two “THORChain” listings are showing the native coin and the legacy ERC-20. Use the native one for prices and supply.
• Native RUNE has no token contract. It’s the base asset of THORChain, which is built with the Cosmos SDK. CoinGecko shows a maximum supply of about 354 million.

Our THORChain explainer covers how its liquidity pools and validator-run vaults work.

How to buy THORChain (RUNE) on an exchange

Checked against each venue’s asset page, announcements or CoinGecko’s market data in October 2026:

Exchanges sometimes pause RUNE deposits and withdrawals during THORChain upgrades or halts. CoinEx did this in January 2026, and many venues paused during the May–June 2026 halt. Korean exchange Coinone placed RUNE on a delisting watchlist after the exploit. Check the exchange’s RUNE status page before you deposit, and when withdrawing, make sure the network is “THORChain” (native), with a thor1 destination address.

Swapping into RUNE directly from BTC or ETH

This route is unusual, and it’s specific to THORChain. You can turn native BTC, ETH, DOGE, LTC, BCH, ATOM, XRP and other supported assets into RUNE without an exchange account. Front-ends such as THORSwap, Vultisig and Ctrl (formerly XDEFI) build the transaction for you. Here’s what happens:

1. You choose, for example, BTC → RUNE and enter your thor1 receiving address.
2. The interface asks you to send BTC to a THORChain vault address with a memo that encodes the swap instructions. The wallet adds the memo automatically. Never type one by hand or reuse an old vault address, because vault addresses rotate.
3. THORChain validators watch the bitcoin chain, run the swap through the BTC/RUNE pool, and send native RUNE to your thor1 address.

Costs include the source chain’s network fee, a liquidity fee that rises with trade size relative to pool depth, and an outbound fee. The interface shows an estimate before you confirm. Swaps between two non-RUNE assets route through RUNE, so RUNE itself is the easiest output. This is different from bridging: you get the real coin, not a wrapped IOU. For background on that difference, see our guide to bridging bitcoin. For the trade-offs of skipping an exchange, our CEX vs DEX comparison lays them out.

For larger amounts, THORChain interfaces offer streaming swaps. The protocol splits your trade into smaller sub-swaps over a number of blocks, which can cut the slippage fee a single large swap would pay against the pool. The trade-off is time: a streaming swap can take minutes rather than seconds to complete, and the price can move while it runs. The interface shows the expected duration and output before you confirm.

Two cautions. THORChain halts trading when something looks wrong, as it did for 39 days in 2026, so check that the network is live before sending funds. And phishing copies of swap front-ends exist, so reach them only through links on THORChain’s official channels.

Wallets that hold thor1 addresses

Most popular EVM-only wallets can’t receive native RUNE. THORChain’s ecosystem page lists wallets that can:

Whichever wallet you pick, the same address also receives TCY and other THORChain-native assets, so you don’t need a separate wallet for them. To check that an address is right: native RUNE addresses start with thor1. If you have a 0x… or bnb… address, you’re on the wrong chain.

THORFi’s default, TCY and other 2025 fallout

THORChain had added lending and “savers” products under the THORFi label, and those liabilities grew to about $200 million. On 23–24 January 2025, the network paused THORFi and converted the outstanding claims to dollar amounts. Affected users could then claim TCY (“THORChain Yield”) at 1 TCY per $1 of defaulted balance. According to THORChain’s docs:

• TCY stakers receive 10% of protocol income, paid in RUNE.
• Claims have to be made manually through a THORChain interface. Claimed TCY is staked automatically.
• Total TCY supply is about 210 million. Its price on THORChain pools reflects how the market values those future payouts, not the original claim value.

For a RUNE buyer, TCY means 10% of system income goes to former THORFi creditors instead of to liquidity providers and validators. Two other 2025–2026 events also matter:

• The Bybit hack (February 2025). Attackers attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group swapped large amounts of stolen ETH into BTC through THORChain. Some node operators argued the protocol should block those flows and others called that censorship. The episode increased regulatory scrutiny of the protocol.
• The May 2026 exploit. A flaw in the GG20 threshold-signature scheme let an attacker drain about $10.7 million from one of six vaults. Validators halted the network on 15 May and resumed full trading on 23 June after verifying every vault. THORChain said it would cover the losses without minting new RUNE.

For general funding methods such as bank transfers and cards, see our how to buy crypto hub.

FAQ

Where to buy RUNE in the US?

Kraken is the main US-facing exchange with RUNE/USD as of October 2026, subject to state availability. Crypto.com also lists RUNE, so check your state in its app. Coinbase and Binance.US don’t list RUNE, and Robinhood shows it as watch-only. A non-custodial route also exists: swap native BTC or ETH into RUNE through a THORChain front-end.

What is native RUNE, and how is it different from ERC-20 RUNE?

Native RUNE is the base coin of THORChain’s own blockchain, held at thor1 addresses. ERC-20 and BEP-2 RUNE were earlier representations that THORChain retired with a killswitch starting in July 2022, after which their upgrade value fell to zero over about a year. Old contracts still exist, but they’re not THORChain’s coin.

Which THORChain wallet should I use?

Use a wallet listed on THORChain’s ecosystem page that shows a thor1 address, such as Vultisig, Ctrl, Trust Wallet or Keplr. For larger sums, use a Ledger or KeepKey through an interface that supports RUNE, since Ledger Live itself doesn’t. Ignore any wallet that only gives you a 0x… address for “RUNE.”

What is the TCY token?

TCY was created after THORFi’s January 2025 default. Users with frozen lending or savers balances could claim 1 TCY per $1 owed. Staked TCY receives 10% of THORChain’s protocol income, paid in RUNE, according to the project’s docs. It trades in THORChain pools, and its price reflects expectations of future income.

Crypto is volatile and risky; this is education, not financial advice. Do your own research.