Swap BTC and ETH in seconds: Keep your Private Keys Private
By: Kincaid O'Neil
Tags: Lightning Network, Decentralized Exchange, Bitcoin, Etherum, Technical

Bitcoin? Ethereum? You got it! 🌈

Today, Switch supports the three top crypto assets: Bitcoin, using LND and the Lightning Network; Ether, using Machinomy payment channels; and XRP, using its native payment channels.

Crucially, nearly any cryptocurrency or layer 2 network that transfers value fast and cheaply can support non-custodial trading in Switch. No specialized blockchain required!

We’ve been building the foundation to support ERC-20 tokens such as Dai, and hope to roll out support in the coming weeks. On top of that, many more asset integrations are in the pipeline.

Wait, it’s that fast? 🏎

Switch swaps are fast, and complete in seconds for small value transfers.

Every blob corresponds to an actual payment channel settlement, represented in real time.

Since streaming micropayments leverage payment channels and layer 2 networks such as Lightning, each “packet” of value settles on the order of milliseconds.

No slow on-chain transactions, or outrageously long escrows. It’s just: Settled. Boom. Done.

Networked liquidity 🕸

Switch is underpinned by the Interledger protocol to send packets over a decentralized network of “connectors,” or money routers, which provide liquidity.

Inspired by the internet, Interledger is an open standard for interoperability across all payment networks.

Each card in Switch is linked to a connector, and provides an “uplink” to the Interledger network to perform swaps and send peer-to-peer payments.

For this beta release, Switch uses a connector operated by Kava. But coming soon, we’ll roll out support for user-defined connectors, and all the tools, infrastructure, and docs necessary to operate one yourself.

Safe and secure 🔐

Even if you use the Kava connector, don’t trust us!

When trading between cryptocurrencies, Switch will prefund a very small amount of the source asset — the equivalent of $0.10, by default — to the connector. Then, the connector sends back a small amount of the destination asset. If the exchange rate is reasonable, we repeat the process. And again. And again; many times per second.

If at any point the connector stops sending or sends us too little of the destination asset, we halt the exchange. This enables non-custodial trading, since the counterparty risk is merely a few cents, and comparable to that of atomic swaps.

But by contrast to atomic swaps, streaming micropayments also mitigate liquidity lockup and the floating option problem — which is a win-win!

Try it today 🚀

Switch is available in beta for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and supports both testnet and mainnet, with trades up to $20.

Follow our Getting Started guide to get up to speed and configure Switch on testnet in minutes.

While we hope it’s all smooth streaming, as this is beta-quality software, issues may arise. We’re rapidly iterating to make Switch more reliable, feature-complete, and secure. If you encounter any bugs or unexpected behavior, we’d encourage you to submit an issue!

And for the latest updates from Kava, follow us on Twitter ~ we’d love to hear about your experience with Switch!