BasicSwap Explained

BasicSwap is a cross-chain and highly secure DEX (decentralized exchange) that lets you trade cryptocurrencies without middleman interference using atomic swaps. Its distributed ledger technology enables users to place or accept swap offers without fees, promoting a free and open trading environment devoid of central points of failure.

BasicSwap is crafted to uphold the highest standards of freedom in direct opposition to the growing threats to our sovereignty in the digital age.

What is it?

BasicSwap's order book — WIP, design subject to change — BasicSwap’s order book — WIP/Beta, UI/UX subject to change

BasicSwap is the world’s most secure and decentralized DEX. It facilitates cross-chain atomic swaps by enabling peers to interact directly with each other within a free and open environment without central points of failure.

This DEX is fully non-custodial and features a decentralized order book, letting you create or accept swap offers without any fees, counterparties, or the need for accounts. Built as a low-friction, highly secure solution to the frequent losses of funds on centralized exchanges (e.g., FTX, BitFinex, MtGox), BasicSwap aims to provide more reliable and secure cryptocurrency trading conditions for everyone.

BasicSwap is currently in beta. While it already offers most of the essential trading features you’d expect from regular exchanges, it is still under development by community contributors, with many more features coming soon.

Benefits

BasicSwap distinguishes itself from conventional exchanges, often known as “centralized exchanges” or “CEX,” through its decentralized framework which offers several key advantages:

True cross-chain support — Swap cryptocurrencies that live on entirely different blockchain environments, like Bitcoin and Monero.
Decentralized order book — Make or take limit swap offers on a completely distributed order book system.
No third-party or middleman — Trade crypto with no intermediaries, completely eliminating central points of failure.
No trading fees — Only pay the typical cryptocurrency network fee.
Superior financial privacy — Protect your financial information from unauthorized access with BasicSwap’s privacy-conscious technology.
Full Monero support — Swap Monero with a variety of other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Particl. No wrapped assets or layer-2 involved.
User-friendly interface — Enjoy all these features within a user-friendly and intuitive interface that handles all the complicated parts for you.

These benefits stem directly from the inherently decentralized nature of the BasicSwap protocol and aren’t possible on centralized infrastructure.

Under the Hood

BasicSwap can be best understood as the decentralized version of the SWIFT messaging network; it sends and receives messages between two peers via the decentralized SMSG network for them to execute coin swaps together without any central party involvement.

The coin swapping process itself is not conducted by BasicSwap. Instead, it is handled by on-chain atomic swaps on the respective blockchains of the cryptocurrencies being exchanged. BasicSwap’s role is to enable communication between swappers, allowing them to exchange the necessary information for atomic swaps and to publicly broadcast their offers without intermediaries.

Get familiar with how BasicSwap works by consulting this important definition page.

Compatible Coins

BasicSwap's wallets page — WIP, design subject to change — BasicSwap’s wallets page — WIP/Beta, UI/UX subject to change

Coin Name	Ticker
Bitcoin	BTC
Monero	XMR
Dash	DASH
Litecoin	LTC
Firo	FIRO
PIVX	PIVX
Decred	DCR
Wownero	WOW
Particl	PART

BasicSwap is completely open-source and community-powered, meaning that anyone can contribute by integrating assets. If you’d like to add a coin not currently available on the platform, head over to this page of the Particl Academy!