An Ethereum smart contract was published on GitHub by the group behind the project Altcoin Exchange, that allows direct exchange of Ethereum and Bitcoin without the need of a centralized exchange. I will spare the theory, because it's not the place for it here, but if you're interested you can read more about the approach in the group's initial repo, which made possible swaps between Decred and Bitcoin, Litecoin or Vertcoin.
If your first two words after reading this are ""Lightning Netwok" then you're right, the tech used by this group uses a similar approach, but, as far as I understand it's not Lightning Network.
The implications of such a tech are huge, because big centralized exchanges, like Poloniex or Bittrex, can see their (quite profitable, I'd say) business, hit by a new way of exchanging tokens directly between holders.
Please be aware that this tech, although proven to work, it's in a very early stage. Don't play with toys that you don't understand.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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Awesome post, I really enjoyed it. I hope you appreciate the vote!
So whats the difference between an exchange and a swap?
In an exchange you put the funds in an "order book" and the exchange "matches" your order by using its liquidity. It also charges you for withdrawals. In a swap, you agree with a counterparty to exchange funds, without any commission, at a price agreed by both of you.
Since hashing should still be done in case of a swap too, where is it done?
This comment has received a 5.88 % upvote from @upgoater thanks to: @fersher.
everything will be in blazing speeds ;)
Did you write "Lighting Network?" Sounds fast. I bought Bitcoin. I hope for the best for the potential of decentralized cryptocurrency exchange market platforms. I think Bittrex, Poloniex, and some of those others are centralized. I hope the competition continues to rise through open source. I also use Ubuntu.
Sounds most interesting. Wonder if that created the recent climb of bitcoin.
Thank you for making all these infos and resources available. Like your "tool" http://steem.supply/ very much. Everything around here and crypto is relatively new to me, but I now feel comfortable to vote for you as a witness... can't find your name on the list though...(?)
Did you try it ? does it works ? What are the fees ?
https://steemit.com/steem/@chrisaiki/steem-to-euro-usd-or-other-fiat-or-reverse-at-a-better-rate-between-steemians
It's just an experimental contract that trades ETH to BTC at 1:1, so it doesn't do any fiat conversion and adjustments, so no need to test it. There are no fees, that's the idea of a decentralized exchange.
Thanks again @dragosroua for you informative post. I very much appreciate your work.
hey @dragosroua,
Nice analysis buddy and hope it will get an uptrend & reach higher destinations.
upvoted.
Slightly related: what's your opinion on Loopring?
@dragosroua,
"Lighting Network" I think I need to research it before do a nice comment :D
Cheers~
That is awesome!!
Thanks for the info. Too bad I'm in the "not understanding the toy"-camp. But I am curious.
Great news but another thread to watch for. Hackers offering the service to steal your money....