Common Questions, Clear Answers

bRUNE is a liquid staking token that lets you earn THORChain Node bonding yield without bonding RUNE to a Node yourself.

You deposit RUNE and receive bRUNE in return, then you can stake bRUNE to earn yield.

You can open it from Staking strategies.

For more details, see the [bRUNE docs](https://docs.rujira.network/core products/brune liquid bonded rune).

When you deposit RUNE, the bRUNE system bonds that RUNE across multiple THORChain Nodes on your behalf. The bonding rewards earned by those Nodes flow back to bRUNE stakers and are paid in RUNE.

You receive bRUNE. Each bRUNE is always backed by at least 1 RUNE held by the contract, plus any unclaimed bonding yield that has accrued over time.

bRUNE removes many of the common barriers to participating in THORChain bonding:

No need to coordinate with Node Operators
No minimum size commitment
One simple flow to earn a share of THORChain revenue
You can enter or exit through RUJI Trade instead of waiting through long unbonding cycles
Diversification across multiple Nodes reduces the risk of losing rewards if a single Node is penalized

Yes. You can exit at any time by selling bRUNE back into RUNE on RUJI Trade. The price you receive depends on current utilization and available liquidity in the bRUNE/RUNE market. To support withdrawals, the bRUNE contract uses part of its reserves as market liquidity between 1 and 0.75, helping ensure there is always some liquidity available for users who want to exit.

Note: If you are using auto-compounding and unstake while the contract is at its cap, you may lose rewards that have not yet been converted from RUNE into bRUNE. This only applies during periods where the contract can't buy bRUNE from the open market with a limit of 1:1, and must wait for new bRUNE capacity to become available.

bRUNE is designed to maintain liquidity so users can exit without waiting for Node churn.

Not all deposited RUNE is bonded at all times. Some remains liquid inside the system so withdrawals can be processed quickly.

The price of bRUNE can therefore be influenced by:

How much RUNE is currently bonded vs kept liquid (utilization)
Available liquidity in the bRUNE/RUNE market on RUJI Trade

Utilization is the percentage of deposited RUNE that is actively bonded to THORChain Nodes.

Current target utilization during testing: 80%
Expected long term target utilization: 90%

Higher utilization usually increases yield because more RUNE is earning bonding rewards. Lower utilization means more liquidity is available for instant exits, but yield may be lower.

Yield comes from THORChain system income earned by Node Operators who bond RUNE to secure the network.

Yield can also come from the bRUNE reserve being used to provide liquidity in the bRUNE/RUNE pair between 1 and 0.75. When bRUNE is sold below 1 and arbitrage brings it back toward the peg, that arbitrage value also goes to stakers.

bRUNE stakers receive a share of those yield sources.

Three main factors reduce the gross bonding yield before it reaches you:

Node operator commission
bRUNE protocol fee
Utilization (because not all deposited RUNE is bonded at all times)

The bRUNE protocol fee is 10% of bonding yield. This fee becomes protocol revenue for the Rujira ecosystem.

Rewards are paid in RUNE to users who stake bRUNE.

You can choose between:

• Claimable RUNE rewards
• Auto compounding, which automatically converts rewards into additional staked bRUNE. Auto compounding buys bRUNE from the open market as long as the bRUNE/RUNE ratio is 1:1 or below. If the ratio is above 1:1, it waits until there is extra space before buying.

Bonding rewards are collected when THORChain Nodes churn. To prevent large jumps in rewards, the system distributes them gradually using a revenue smear period.

This smoothing period is currently set to 7 days.

bRUNE spreads bonded RUNE across multiple THORChain Nodes rather than relying on a single Node.

This diversification reduces the impact if one Node underperforms, misses rewards, or is penalized.

During the initial testing phase, bRUNE bonds across a set of whitelisted THORChain Nodes managed by Rujira. Any Node Operator can request to be whitelisted.

Over time, the system is expected to move toward a permissionless model where Nodes can self register.

bRUNE aims for diversified and balanced allocation across approved Nodes.

Allocation is influenced by Node Operator fees:

Nodes charging between 0% and the minimum Node fee receive equal allocation
Nodes charging above the minimum Node fee receive progressively lower allocation

The minimum Node fee is currently set to 20%. This prevents over allocation to extremely low fee Nodes and discourages a race to the bottom that could reduce Node reliability.

Yes. A maximum bond setting limits how much RUNE can be allocated to a single Node.

In the future, this is expected to become dynamic based on THORChain's bondHardCap mechanism.

In simple terms, bondHardCap is determined by the bonded RUNE level of the lowest 67% of active Nodes. Bond above that level does not earn additional rewards.

Deposits are executed through RUJI Trade.

If the contract still has available capacity, depositing RUNE mints new bRUNE at a 1:1 ratio
If the contract is full, you can still obtain bRUNE by purchasing it from other users

In both cases, the transaction is executed through the RUJI Trade orderbook.

Withdrawals are performed by selling bRUNE back into RUNE on RUJI Trade. If you use a market order, the final execution price depends on utilization and liquidity available in the bRUNE/RUNE trading pair.

After receiving bRUNE, you can:

Stake bRUNE to earn bonding yield (paid in RUNE or auto compounded)
Provide liquidity in the bRUNE/RUNE pair using Custom Concentrated Liquidity positions
Hold and trade bRUNE like any other asset on RUJI Trade

bRUNE is designed to simplify access to THORChain bonding, but it still carries typical DeFi risks.

Key risks include:

Smart contract risk
Market liquidity risk, where exit price depends on available liquidity
Node performance or network risks that can affect bonding yield
Utilization trade offs where maintaining a liquidity buffer can slightly reduce yield

bRUNE is designed for users who want exposure to THORChain bonding yield while maintaining flexibility and liquidity.

If you prefer simplicity and the ability to enter or exit positions easily instead of maximizing every possible yield point, bRUNE is often the better option.

Your net yield can change based on several factors:

THORChain economic activity (the more trade volumes on THORChain, the higher the yield)
Average Node commission (higher commission reduces yield)
Utilization (higher utilization increases yield but reduces liquidity buffer)
How much of the total bRUNE supply is staked (if fewer holders stake, active stakers earn a larger share)