Centralized versus decentralized

When I first learned about Bitcoin I had to learn about the blockchain and the concept of decentralization. The main goal goal of cryptocurrency has always been decentralization and one important aspect of that is control over your money. The possession of your private keys always guarantees this control and safety of your money. Ironically, this movement founded on decentralization where you controlled the keys to your wallet and this you controlled your money, has always had centralized exchanges.

If you exam the large exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Bittrex and others, they are centralized. They are run by a small group of people who make the rules. And in order to trade cryptocurrency tokens you must surrender your cryptocurrency tokens to them and you must trust them to return your property. They then control your cryptocurrency. Then if the exchange freezes all trading or if the exchange just freezes trading of your particular tokens wallet, you can't get your cryptocurrency tokens. You then have to wait until they say you can have them, and sometimes they say how much. When something like this happens you truly understand the importance of decentralization, and you truly realize how centralized the exchanges are.

Decentralized exchanges

After years of only centralized exchanges the "DEXS" or decentralized exchanges appeared. Uniswap, Justswap and others are more decentralized then the first generation of exchanges, but they still require your cryptocurrency to leave your wallet and be stored on the exchange wallet, so you can swap tokens, and contribute liquidity to liquidity pools. Many projects talk about the technology called Atomic Swaps as the solution to the centralized exchange. But this technology is frequently talked about but I had not seen a functioning product, until now. That product is XBridge, created by Blocknet.io
And cryptocurrency projects already integrated into its swap protocol include #Bitcoin, #Bitcoin Cash, #Dash and #Litecoin, there are over 100 projects!

Blocknet.do

Blocknet has been working on the problem of centralization of exchanges and centralization since 2014. It has a working product called XBridge. This product is a dApp, but it works on a network, not a blockchain. You see BLocknet.io is not just working on a dApp, they are working on a phenomenal concept called the interchain which is revolutionary network, not controlled by anyone and open to everyone.
This product is called XRouter.

The interchain: X-Router

A decentralized communication layer that connects blockchain networks to multi-chain applications. This allows dapps to consume services and obtain data from any blockchain without downloading the entire blockchain an application is running on.

Blocknet has conceived the notion that cryptocurrency isn't a zero sum game, with one or two blockchains being the winner and all others being loser. Instead Blocknet envisioned a network, open to all, which allowed all blockchains to speak to each other, and all applications on blockchains to be able interact with applications on other blockchains, and buy the goods and services of these applications.

I am pausing for your to unpack that mentally. It's a lot.

Thats right, envision all the blockchains in the cryptocurrency universe, being connected to other blockchains functionally by a network, called the internetwork. And this network allows communication between applications on different blockchains, and the purchase of goods and services between blockchains.And lets take it one step further, these purchases are made with each chains native cryptocurrency tokens, using atomic swaps and multiple asset wallets.

So your probably thinking this is fantasy, but Blocknet.do has a atomic swap dApp called X-Bridge and their are currently over 100 cryptocurrency blockchains which have been integrated with the XBridge and the Interchain, so any of those 100 cryptocurrencies can be swapped for any of the others.

This requires another pause I think, because I found a Unicorn. A functional decentralized exchange doing atomic swaps! This mythical beast which was often spoken about but never seen, has now been found. Plus it is in use by very notable projects like #Bitcoin, #Bitcoin Cash, Dash and #Litecoin. Yes these three coins are one of the 100 coins which has completed the Integration Process and now can be swapped via XBridge.

XBridge performs a decentralized wallet to wallet exchange or swap using the atomic swap technology.

X-Bridge approaches each of the four main components of an cryptocurrency exchange in a decentralized fashion:

Storage of Funds

• Trading is non-custodial and occurs directly out of the client's wallet. Funds remain within the client's control throughout the entire process.

Order Books

• Orders are broadcasted directly peer-to-peer over the network. Each client compiles the order book themselves instead of relying on a central order book service. All integrators and services on the protocol share the orderbook and liquidity. Currently there is just support for a public order book, but there are plans for private order books and direct trading as well.

Order Matching

• This is performed peer-to-peer by the clients.

Settlement

• This is performed using BIP65 CLTV atomic swap contracts[1]. For blockchains that do not inherently support BIP65, such as Ethereum, similar methods are being emulated to extend the protocol to those blockchains and subsequent assets.
  #Please-note-this-is-paraphrased-from-their-website-for-accuracy. Source

So there are some technical details that you should know about, such as what cryptocurrency projects use this technology now, what is the process of implementing this for your cryptocurrency project, are there special characteristics or blockchain requirements, etc etc.. I have paraphrased information below from the website, translating some technical terms and phrases into more understandable sentences, but some of it, I quote directly to avoid losing anything in translation,

A list of cryptocurrency tokens and the wallet version needed to use Blocknet X-Bridge

Blocknet has over 100 digital assets

Compatible with Blocknet wallet v4.3.x
View Manifest

Digital Asset
Ticker
Supported Wallet Versions
Abosom
ABS
v1.0.0
AeriumX
AEX
v2.2
Altbet
ABET
v3.4.1.0, v3.4.1.0+
APR Coin
APR
V3.1.0
Argoneum
AGM
v1.4.0.0, v1.4.1.0
ATBCoin
ATB
v1.1.0

AustraliaCash
AUS
v0.17.4.1
Badcoin
BAD
v0.16.3-2
Bitcloud
BTDX
2.1.0.1.1

Bitcoin

BTC
v0.15.1, v0.15.2, v0.16.0, v0.16.1, v0.16.2, v0.16.3, v0.17.0, v0.17.0.1, v0.17.1, v0.18.0, v0.18.1, v0.19.0, v0.19.0.1, v0.19.1, v0.20.0

Bitcoin Cash

BCH
v0.21.11
Bitcoin CZ
BCZ
6.0.3.2
Bitcoin Diamond
BCD
v1.3.0
Bitcoin Gold
BTG
v0.17.2
BitGreen
BITG
v1.4.0.8, v1.4.0.9, v1.5.0.1, v1.5.0.2
BitCore
BTX
0.90.8.8.1, 0.90.8.9, 0.90.8.10, 0.90.8.11, 0.90.9.0, 0.90.9.1
BitcoinZero
BZX
5.0.7.8
BitMoney
BIT
2.2.0.2
BitSend
BSD
0.14.2.0.1
BLAST
BLAST
v2.2.0
Blocknet
BLOCK
v4.3.0
Carebit
CARE
v5.0.0
CbdHealthNetwork
CHN
wallets-source-daemon
Chaincoin
CHC
v0.18
Civitas
CIV
v1.2.2
ColossusXT
COLX
v1.2.3, v1.2.4
Crave
CRAVE
v2.5.2
Crypto Dezire Cash
CDZC
v2.1.2
Cryptonodes
CNMC
v1.4.4.1
Dash

DASH

v0.14.0.2, v0.14.0.3, v0.14.0.4, v0.14.0.5, v0.15.0.0
Denarius
D
v3.3.9.3, v3.3.9.4, v3.3.9.5, v3.3.9.6, v3.3.9.7
Desire
DSR
Desire-v.0.12.2.2
DeVault
DVT
v1.1.7
Diamond
DMD
3.0.1.3

DigiByte

DGB

v7.17.2
Digiwage
WAGE
1.2.1
Divi
DIVI
v1.1.2, DESK-1.6.6
DogeCash
DOGEC
5.2.1.0
Dogecoin

DOGE

v1.14.2
Dynamic
DYN
v2.4.3.0, v2.4.4.0, v2.4.4.1
Einsteinium
EMC2
v0.13.5.0
Electra
ECA
2.1.1, 2.1.2
Emercoin
EMC
v0.7.10emc
Eternity
ENT
v0.12.1.7
eXperience Points
XP
v3.4.0.3
Faircoin
FAIR
v2.0.1
FantasyGold
FGC
2.19.1
Flo
FLO
v0.15.2.0, v0.15.2.1
FujiCoin
FJC
fujicoin-v0.18.0
Galactrum
ORE
v1.4.0
Galilel
GALI
v3.4.0
GambleCoin
GMCN
1.1.4
GeekCash
GEEK
v1.3.0.1
GINcoin
GIN
v1.3.0.0
GoByte
GBX
v0.12.2.4
GravityCoin
GXX
4.0.7.8
HASH
HASH
v1.5.1
Hatch
HATCH
v0.14.0.3
Helium
HLM
v0.16.0
HTMLCoin
HTML
v2.5.0
Innova
INN
v4.3.8.8
Internet of People
IOP
v6.3.0
Ixcoin
IXC
v0.14.1
Jiyo
JIYOX
v.2.1
Kalkulus
KLKS
v2.8.0
Know Your Developer
KYDC
3.2.1, 3.3.1
Kreds
KREDS
v1.0.0.6
KZCash
KZC
v0.1.9.1
LBRY Credits
LBC
v0.17.3.1, v0.17.3.2, v0.17.4.5

Litecoin

LTC
v0.15.1, v0.16.0, v0.16.2, v0.16.3, v0.17.1, v0.18.1
Luxcore
LUX
v5.3.3
Lynx
LYNX
v0.16.3.9
Machinecoin
MAC
v0.16.3, v0.17.1
MNPCoin
MNP
v1.2.5
MktCoin
MLM
0.15.0.3

MonaCoin

MONA
monacoin-0.17.1
MonetaryUnit
MUE
v2.1.4, v2.1.6

Monoeci

XMCC
v0.12.2.3
Myriad
XMY
v0.16.4.1, v0.18.1.0
Namecoin
NMC
nc0.13.99-name-tab-beta1, nc0.16.1, nc0.16.2, nc0.17.0, nc0.18.0, nc0.18.1, nc0.19.0, nc0.19.0.1, nc0.19.1, nc0.20.0
NativeCoin
N8V
1.2
Nix
NIX
v3.0.7, v3.0.8
Nodium
XN
3.0.6
Noir
NOR
v2.1.0.9
Northern
NORT
3.3.1, 3.3.2
Nyerium
NYEX
v1.0.3
NyxCoin
NYX
v2.0.0.0
Odin
ODIN
v1.6.6
Ohmcoin
OHMC
2.4.0.0
OPCoinX
OPCX
v2.0.0
PACGlobal
PAC
v0.15-da839021c
Phore
PHR
v1.6.3

PIVX

PIVX
v4.1.1
Placeholders
PHL
2.0.30.5
Polis
POLIS
v1.6.0, v1.6.1, v1.6.2, v1.6.3
Pura
PURA
v1.3.7
Qbic
QBIC
v1.1
Qtum
QTUM
mainnet-ignition-v0.19.1
Rapids
RPD
v2.0.0.0-b784ecbf4d
Rapture
RAP
v1.1.2.2
Ravencoin
RVN
v4.1.0, v4.2.0, v4.2.1
Reecore
REEX
v1.4.2.2
Scribe
SCRIBE
v0.2
Secure Cloud Net
SCN
v2.5.1.1, v2.5.1.2
Sequence
SEQ
v1.3.3.0
Shekel
JEW
1.5.0
Sibcoin
SIB
v0.17.0.0
Social Send
SEND
1.2.0.5, v1.2.1.0
SparksPay
SPK
v0.12.4.3
STRAKS
STAK
1.14.7.5
SUB1X
SUB1X
1.4.0
Syscoin
SYS
v4.1.3
Terracoin
TRC
v0.12.2.4, v0.12.2.5
Tribe
TRB
1.0.2
Uniform Fiscal Object
UFO
v0.18.0
Unobtanium
UNO
v0.10.5, v0.11.0
Verge
XVG
v6.0.2
Vertcoin
VTC
0.14.0, 0.15.0, 0.15.0.1
Viacoin
VIA
v0.16.3
Vitae
VITAE
v4.4.0.3, v4.4.2
VIVO
VIVO
v0.12.1.17
Vsync
VSX
v3.8.7.6, v3.8.7.7
Wagerr
WGR
v3.1.0
XCurrency
XC
v3.0.05
ZCoin
XZC
v0.14.0.1, v0.14.0.2

Source for this material is the Blocknet webpage

Conditions or rules for Using X-Bridge

Blockchain Requirements¶

In order for for a blockchain to be compatible it must support JSON RPC, CLTV atomic swaps, and the following calls:
createrawtransaction
decoderawtransaction
getblock
getblockchaininfo (fallback getnetworkinfo, getinfo)
getblockhash
getnewaddress
getrawmempool
getrawtransaction
gettransaction
gettxout
listunspent
sendrawtransaction
signmessage
signrawtransaction (or signrawtransactionwithwallet)
verifymessage

Blockchains must undergo a process called integration to swap assets

Integration of assets is a free and open process, without permission required. All configuration files are located in Blocknet's blockchain-configuration-files Github repository.If you would like to have a digital asset supported, please ask a member of that project to fill out the integration form or create a pull request.

·

Wallet Requirements

XBridge is not yet compatible with hardware wallets such as Ledger, web wallets such as MyEtherWallet (MEW), or lite wallets such as Jaxx. Desktop Qt/cli wallets must be used.

Blocknet.do has created a True decentralized cryptocurrency exchange with atomic swaps

This may be one version of the future, where people exchange cryptocurrencies from their wallets.