At a glance
The idea
Alice has L-BTC and wants USDt. Bob has USDt and wants L-BTC. They agree on a price but do not know each other, and neither wants to send first or hand the coins to someone in the middle.
A swap solves it with one transaction. Alice adds her L-BTC and the address where she wants her USDt. Bob adds his USDt and the address for his L-BTC. Each checks the whole transaction and signs only their own coins. It is valid only with both signatures, so it settles completely or not at all.
A swap on SideSwap
On SideSwap, the people who post orders are the makers and the person who takes them is the taker. SideSwap keeps the order books, builds the transaction and passes it between them.
A maker posts an order
Someone offers to buy or sell at their price. With an online order their app keeps the coins ready and signs when the order is taken. With an offline order they sign their half up front, so it can be taken while they are away.You ask for a quote
You say how much you want to swap. SideSwap builds one transaction from the best orders in the book, with your coins, the makers’ coins and the fee. More than one maker can fill your amount.The makers sign
Online makers sign their part first. A maker that does not answer in time is dropped, and its orders leave the book for a while.You check and accept
Your wallet shows what leaves and what arrives. You have about 30 seconds to accept, and a fresh quote follows if you wait. When you accept, your wallet signs your part.Swap proposal
Settled on Liquid
SideSwap adds the makers’ signatures and sends the transaction. It confirms in the next Liquid block, about a minute later, and after two blocks it cannot be undone.Swapped
Online and offline orders
An offline order may first need a small transaction inside your wallet that makes a coin of exactly the right size. How to place and manage both kinds is in The Swap Market in the desktop app.
Why neither side can cheat
Nobody holds your coins
Your coins stay in your wallet until the transaction that swaps them. SideSwap never holds them and never has your keys.
Both sides or nothing
A swap is a single transaction, valid only with every party’s signature. Either everyone is paid or nobody is.
Signatures are held back
You never see the makers’ signatures before the swap is sent, and they never see yours early. Nobody can keep a signed half and send it later, when the price suits them.
Your wallet checks first
Before you sign, your wallet shows what leaves it and what arrives. If the figures are not what you expect, do not accept.
Private on the chain
Liquid hides the amounts and the assets, so the transaction does not show what was traded or how much.
Where you swap
Every way of trading on SideSwap settles like this. On your phone, use Instant Swap or trade on sideswap.io from your wallet. On a computer, the desktop app has the full Swap Market. Programs trade through the API.
Good to know
Fees
Posting an order that someone takes costs nothing. Taking an order costs 0.2% plus a small fixed fee for the Liquid network, and the quote shows both.
A swap is final
Once a swap is in a block it cannot be reversed. The way back is a new swap in the other direction, at the price of that moment.
Look your transaction up first. If it still looks wrong, write to support with the Bitcoin transaction ID.
Instant Swap
Swap between L-BTC, USDt and other assets in one step at a firm quoted rate.
The Swap Market in the desktop app
Place, change and cancel orders on the order books, online or offline, public or private.
Trade on sideswap.io from your wallet
Swap at market or place limit orders on sideswap.io and approve every trade in your wallet.