[2018-1-14] Atomic Action: Will 2018 Be the Year of the Cross-Blockchain Swap?

[casparthefriendly]

What if there were no exchanges to hack?

As a new generation of crypto users begin to invest in the technology, developers are growing concerned about its infrastructure. They've seen this happen before – new users enter the space attracted by big gains, then suddenly, a catastrophic failure, usually at the very exchanges designed to hold and custody those funds.

But out of adversity, inspiration is taking hold, with high-profile coders turning their focus to atomic swaps, a concept that claims to allow for the direct, peer-to-peer transfer of cryptocurrencies across different blockchains. In the place of the vulnerable exchanges we use today, the idea behind atomic swaps is that these large repositories of customer money could be rendered obsolete by code.

And seasoned blockchain developers like Alex Bosworth believe this is all too necessary, especially given that users today need to effectively give up custody of their****ets if they choose to hold funds on exchanges.

He told CoinDesk:

"Putting users in control of their own private keys has the best aggregate track record for security despite individual cases of loss. Funds under centralized control on exchanges have led to the most massive security failures we've seen."

https://www.coindesk.com/atomic-action-will-2018-year-cross-blockchain-swap/

[uslfd]

But how exactly is that going to work?
Is it a little bit like doing OTC trade? But i thought there would have to be a platform for this to work?

[DooMAD]

But how exactly is that going to work?
Is it a little bit like doing OTC trade? But i thought there would have to be a platform for this to work?

At first I'd imagine it will largely be OTC.  But, given time, it's possible you could even have the trade functionality built directly into the wallet software.  You could maybe add plugins for all the currencies you wish to trade in.  A list of current bids and offers could be displayed in real-time in a separate window, although it may still require a small amount of relying on third parties to accomplish that part.  You'd place funds in a multisig payment channel on your chain, they'd do the same on theirs.  You'd each place an order at current market price, then, provided the funds are timelocked on both blockchains, both your and their wallets would simultaneously sign a transaction and release the funds on their respective chains.  Cross-chain transfer complete.  You then close that wallet and open the wallet for your desired currency and see your new coins safely on the new chain.  At all times, no third party can be hacked or otherwise lose your funds, because only the two people making the trade have access to the private keys.

[bbc.reporter]

@casparthefriendly. I reckon no. Not yet unless there is an alarming need in the community. An example of an alarming need would be if regulators started ordering the closure of all the cryptocoin exchanges giving us no choice but to start swapping atomically. If the technology is there of course.