CHAINFLIP

CHAINFLIP enables cross-chain cryptocurrency swapping — for example, swapping Bitcoin with Ethereum — without using centralised exchanges, specialised wallets, or wrapped tokens. Chainflip functions similarly to UniSwap, but supports cross-chain transactions using liquidity pools. Existing decentralised token swapping solutions suffer from a range of issues that severely limit usability, privacy, and practicality. CHAINFLIP is a protocol for automated cross-chain token swaps that resolves these issues. Fees to compensate both network and liquidity providers are included in each swap, removing the need to obtain native tokens to pay gas fees. The operations of the system are primarily executed by a network of staked vault nodes, which jointly manage and secure both the volume and diversity of liquidity required to facilitate token swaps. The network of vault nodes acts as the network’s decentralised authority, and achieves consensus over the state of the swaps, liquidity, and balances of the network using parameters outlined by a permissionless distributed database.