“Atomic Swaps” a Game-Changer for LTC Prices

It is ironic that Bitcoin, Litecoin, and all of their counterparts, which are built on a decentralized blockchain technology, today trade on centralized exchanges. But what if I tell you that you could soon trade Litecoin for Bitcoin and vice versa without having to deal with these exchanges?





Centralized exchanges not only charge you fees, they are also prone to cyber attacks. Countless hacking incidents have taken place in the short eight-year history of cryptocurrencies. From the Mt. Gox hack to the DAO attack to the most recent Tether hack, there have been far too many of these incidents to keep count of.









So imagine if you could just trade your coins with another user directly and securely, by simply bypassing the exchanges. Yes, it has been made possible with “Atomic Swaps”—a decentralized technology under which one party can enter into a trading contract with another party to exchange their coins instantly.





Consider it the equivalent of barter. Say you have some bitcoins that you want to exchange for Litecoins. You could enter into an Atomic Swap with a Bitcoin owner willing to exchange them for Litecoins.





The technology behind Atomic Swaps ensures that both parties make good on their promise and neither party loses their coins in the process.





The technology was tested by Litecoin founder Charlie Lee back in September when he successfully swapped Litecoins with two other cryptocurrencies. However, Atomic Swaps are not available for use for the general public just yet.





Which brings us to today’s Litecoin news update. Sources suggest, and Litecoin founder Charlie Lee endorses, that you and I may be using this technology sooner than we may think. Here’s a tweet breaking the news that Lee retweeted.



