THORChain (RUNE) Tipped For 70% Decline Amid North Korean Transactions Debacle

RUNE, the native token of the THORChain protocol, remains under significant bearish pressure following a 9.09% price decline in the last week. According to crypto analyst Ali Martinez, RUNE is likely far from a market recovery following a bearish flag pattern on its trading chart.

In technical analysis, a bearish flag is a continuation pattern formed after a significant downtrend, followed by a period of consolidation, before another leg downward. This pattern is characterized by parallel or slightly supporting ascending levels thereby giving the shape of a flag.

Based on an analysis by Martinez, a bearish flag has now appeared on the RUNE/USDT 12-hour trading chart following its recent consolidation pattern which came after the asset’s decline from mid-January to early February.

Interestingly, RUNE has now broken below the lower boundary of the bearish flag at $1.27 reducing any immediate odds of a bullish price reversal. Unless investors can force a price reclaim of this lower boundary, Martinez’s prediction states RUNE could be headed for a price target of $0.38 representing a potential 69% decline on the asset’s current price.

Lately, the RUNE market has seen a significant amount of unwanted developments. Aside from its obvious market woes, recent events in the THORChain community have cast more concerns over the asset. In the past week, one of THORChain’s developers nicknamed Pluto(9r) resigned from the decentralized exchange after a controversial decision involving transactions from North Korea.

Notably, a vote by Pluto(9r) and two other validators to halt the Ethereum Network from running on THORChain to prevent transactions by North Korean hackers was quickly overturned by other network validators resulting in the resignation of the former.

This development comes following the $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange which has so far been linked to popular North Korean Lazarus Group. According to blockchain tracker, Lookonchain, the Bybit hacker laundered $605 million (54%) of the loot using the THORChain network.

At press time, RUNE trades at $1.24 reflecting a 3.00% price fall on the last day. As earlier stated, bearish forces are largely dominant in this asset market as evidenced by the 46.67% overall decline in the past 30 days.

Interestingly, the crypto prediction site Coincodex presents an optimistic stance on the RUNE market. Their latest forecasts show a price recovery to $1.40 in 30 days and $1.66 in the next six months.