In 2015, Blockstream announced its flagship sidechain prototype and soon after officially launched it as the Liquid Network, a pegged Bitcoin side chain solution that was built to speed up inter-exchange transactions, enabling the almost instant transfer of assets between exchanges.

Recently, Blockstream announced its new Liquid Swap Tool, allowing developers to execute atomic swaps on the Liquid Network for any issued asset such as Lightning-Bitcoin, tokenized assets, crypto assets, etc.

The Liquid Swap tool is a simple standalone desktop GUI and CLI application that enables two parties to swap any issued asset on the network in a single transaction via encoded swap messages.

Blockstream claims that many of its clients are already actively using the Liquid Network, and with some impressive clientele like cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex, BitMEX, and OKCoin already onboard, the new swap tool could stand to benefit millions of end-users.

With the launch of the Liquid Swap Tool, Blockstream has now opened its doors to virtually any financial institution looking to easily swap assets internally without exposing themselves to third-party exchange platforms. This tool should enable more people to start using the Liquid Network sidechain and its assets, and potentially help bolster the Blockstream project.

The current throughput of the Bitcoin main chain is currently sitting at just over 4 transactions per second, whereas the Liquid Network is reportedly able to sustain massively higher throughputs without breaking a sweat.

Beyond simply offering high transaction speeds, the Liquid Network also makes audits easily verifiable through the use of a new auditing standard known as ‘proof of reserves’, giving exchanges a way to prove their reserves without needing to generate an online transaction to do so.

Additionally, since the Liquid Network is maintained by several dozen large independent entities, the network can be considered somewhat decentralized and less vulnerable to attack.

However, despite making atomic swaps possible, the impact of the Liquid Swap tool may be limited until the Liquid Network is fully implemented into the Bitcoin protocol — a proposal that is gaining traction with each improved iteration of this side chain.

What is your opinion on the Liquid Network? Do you think it should be implemented into the core Bitcoin protocol, or remain separate as it is? Tell us your thoughts below!