What The Heck Is an ‘Atomic Swap’?

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Let’s acknowledge an ongoing problem: 

(And no, it’s not Seb’s new found habit of working the word ‘rambunctious’ into professional communications for a laugh – though that is a problem…)

It’s the ongoing transfer hacks in Web3. 

Many people would argue that hacks are just the teething issues of a new industry — and they are! But obviously, they need to be stopped ASAP.

One solution is to create a decentralized exchange (DEX) that uses atomic swaps to facilitate exchanges. 

…cool — what the heck does that mean?

Imagine this: You’re in the fourth grade and are planning to trade baseball cards with a classmate.

Instead of you each having to trust the other to play fair, you give your cards to a buddy, who verifies both cards are legit before completing the exchange.

Atomic swaps are kinda like that, but for crypto tokens — and they’re verified by computer code, instead of a (potentially corruptible) human middle man.

Good news for Web3 safety:

There’s a company called Portal which has just closed a $34M funding round, with plans on creating a DEX that supports atomic swaps.

We love to see it!