Swapping cryptocurrencies with other people just got a whole lot easier.
Crypto wallet maker Komodo has released a beta version of their AtomicDEX platform on Android, providing a way for users to make atomic swaps on their phones. An atomic swap is when a cryptocurrency is directly traded for another cryptocurrency, without any third party being involved to handle the funds. As such, the whole trade is performed on-chain.
“The biggest benefit in this trustless manor is that the atomic swap protocol won’t allow any participant to scam the other participant. We have hashes and timelocks that won’t allow the spending of funds unless specific conditions are met,” Komodo CTO Kadan Stadelmann told Decrypt.
The app will be available for download on the Google Play Store, but technical users can also interact with it as a fully decentralized application—so they don’t have to rely on Google as a trusted third party. To do this, they can download the source code directly from Github.
AtomicDEX is a non-custodial decentralized exchange. This means that users look after their own private keys, keeping full control over their coins—in contrast to a custodial exchange, like Binance, where the exchange looks after users’ funds. It also uses BitTorrent technology to ensure that users are able to connect with each other in a decentralized way. This helps prevent third parties from intercepting transaction data and manipulating prices.
While the service is peer-to-peer, Komodo does charge a transaction fee of 0.15 percent per trade. DEXs have long been beset by a lack of users, and therefore liquidity. This can make it hard for anyone to use the exchange as they may have to wait a long time for their trade to be fulfilled. Komodo initially plans to solve this by using market makers who will commit to buying and selling large amounts of coins on the platform.
Recently, Komodo introduced a blockchain builder, that enables anyone to create their own blockchain—built on Amazon Web Services—in just a few minutes. It will also be undergoing a full design rebrand on July 15, a move which has been ten months in the making. But until then, fans will have enough tech to play around with.