TCU THORChain Updates (Mar 2024)

In this series, TCU aims to give regular condensed “state of THORChain” updates. Enjoy!

1. Standby Reserve 60m RUNE Burnt

In Feb, ADR 012 (https://gitlab.com/thorchain/thornode/-/blob/develop/docs/architecture/adr-012-scale-lending.md?ref_type=heads) was approved by nodes, which included the proposal to burn the Standby Reserve which held 60m RUNE. The burn was executed in the v1.128 update adopted on 7-Mar, and consequently, the lending cap (i.e. 33% of total RUNE burnt) was automatically raised as well.

Note that this was the Standby Reserve that was burnt, not the Active Reserves (currently at >80m RUNE) which is primarily used for Block Rewards emissions, among others.

2. Paused Trading on BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2)

On 7-Mar, P2P connection issues caused the network to struggle to send BEP2 outbounds. BEP2 trading was paused for <24hrs to resolve this.

3. Gaia Chain (Cosmos Hub / ATOM) Hardfork

On 7-Mar, trading on Gaia Chain was paused for <24hrs to enable nodes to update for their announced hardfork.

4. DOGE Chain Instability

Starting on 8-Mar, the auto solvency checker for Doge was constantly being triggered. This was caused by both the nodes having sync issues, and an edge case accounting issue. This will be fully resolved in upcoming v1.131, slated for Apr-2024.

5. Increase Confirmation Counting Multiplier

On 8-Mar, an adjustment was proposed for the inbound confirmation counting parameter, to reduce waiting time and ensure a smoother swap experience especially for larger swaps. After three days without dissent, this was implemented.

6. Ethereum Chain Paused

On 12-Mar, after Ethereum’s Dencun fork, there were some scanning issues on THORChain necessitating a chain pause. Less than 12 hours later, trading was re-enabled after a majority of nodes adopted the v1.128.2 patch.

7. Updating Outbound Delay Parameters

On 14-Mar, a proposal to update the Outbond Delay parameters was issued, passed without node dissent, and implemented accordingly.

8. Gaia Chain (Cosmos Hub / ATOM) Hardfork

On 20-Mar, another Gaia Chain hardfork necessitated another trading halt. Due to the high memory requirements for the migration, nodes were advised to wait for snapshot and Bifrost patch. Trading was re-enabled on 26-Mar.

9. Global Trading Pause

On 20-Mar, a whitehat reported a security vulnerability via Immunefi, which necessitated pausing of THORChain native transactions (MsgSend, MsgDeposit, swaps to/from RUNE, Synths, THORNames, loans, etc.). Global trading was also paused as without Synths transactions, low efficiency L1 arbings will bring poor price execution, especially for Streaming Swaps.
Two hours later, v1.130 was pushed, and less than twelve hours since the pause, all nodes fully updated, and trading was smoothly re-enabled.

10. Ragnarok of BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2) from THORChain

Check initial announcement here: https://crypto-university.medium.com/tcu-thorchain-updates-jan-2024-b9b14181bf47

On 21-Mar, BEP2 Pools Ragnarok started after v1.129 fully adopted, and Ragnarok Mimir set by majority of nodes. The whole Ragnarok process was completed by 25-Mar. Note again that this will be on a best-effort basis, and BEP2 Synths are not refunded.

Feel free to hop into the TC University Discord to chat about this, or any other THORChain questions that you may have.

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