Hassan Maishera
On Thursday, the Thorchain team announced via X that it has launched the protocol upgrade v3.16.0. The upgrade introduces Sui support, including its native gas asset, expanding THORChain’s multi-chain connectivity and laying the groundwork for native cross-chain swaps involving Sui.
It also introduces Cardano support, including its native gas asset and address handling. This expands THORChain’s multi-chain foundation and prepares the network for future native interoperability with Cardano.
The protocol upgrade introduces Polygon integration using the existing EVM client framework, extending native cross-chain support to Polygon and improving access to EVM ecosystem liquidity.
It also adds native Zcash support, including chain-specific UTXO handling and RPC logic. This expands THORChain’s cross-chain reach and enables ZEC participation in native swaps.
Furthermore, it adds ZEC support to the enshrined oracle, enabling native price tracking for Zcash within protocol logic. Also includes minor configuration and documentation fixes.
It updates Polygon handling to use eth_getBlockReceipts, improving transaction scanning efficiency and reducing RPC overhead. This helps make Polygon observation more reliable and performant.
Thorchain also introduces Chainnet as a new independent network type using real external chains and fresh addresses. It launches from a clean genesis with dedicated infrastructure, enabling a new environment for testing or deployment with real-chain connectivity.
The upgrade enables memoless ERC20 deposits, batching for gas efficiency, and advanced integrations like transferOutAndCallV2, while simplifying the contract interface and improving upgrade flexibility for future iterations.
THORChain is a decentralized cross-chain exchange where traders can swap cross-chain assets via liquidity pools across Binance Chain, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. RUNE is up 2% today and is currently trading at $0.4426.
