BasicSwap

• Name: BasicSwap
• URL: https://basicswapdex.com/
• Category: atomic-swap DEX / decentralized messaging orderbook / adaptor-signature Monero exchange infrastructure
• Tags: bitcoin-ecosystem
• Summary: BasicSwap is atomic-swap coordination software, not a DEX in the usual custody or matching-engine sense. The useful decomposition is simple: order discovery, encrypted peer messaging, and final settlement stay separate. That makes it a clean baseline when newer cross-chain systems quietly add validators, pooled balance sheets, or wrapped assets.
• What it does:
  • Maintains a decentralized order book where users can publish or accept swap offers without accounts or platform trading fees
  • Uses the SecureMessaging (SMSG) network to relay encrypted swap messages and public offers without a centralized matching server
  • Executes the actual exchange on the underlying chains through atomic-swap protocols rather than through a custody layer or synthetic asset
  • Supports both HTLC (Secret Hash) swaps and PTLC/adaptor-signature-based swaps for assets such as Monero that do not fit the ordinary script-based model
  • Relies on users running supported wallet software, light-wallet modes, or remote nodes rather than depositing assets into a platform-owned pool
• Key claims:
  • The strongest reusable insight is that BasicSwap is closer to a decentralized communications and coordination layer than to a conventional exchange operator. The docs repeatedly frame it as a decentralized version of SWIFT for peer trading.
  • BasicSwap explicitly says it does not process, initiate, or execute swaps itself. The actual swap occurs onchain through atomic-swap protocols on the participating blockchains. That makes it a useful baseline for comparing exchange systems that do introduce their own settlement chain, custody wallet, or validator set.
  • SMSG is a real control surface, not a side utility. BasicSwap uses a decentralized encrypted messaging network to maintain its order book, relay swap-state messages, and protect counterparties’ financial metadata.
  • The dual-protocol design matters. BasicSwap supports both HTLC flows and adaptor-signature flows, and its protocol docs make clear that adaptor signatures are the path for coins like Monero that do not support the same scripting assumptions as Bitcoin-like chains.
  • The adaptor-signature spec is especially useful because it exposes the exact tradeoff behind Monero support: rather than pretending every asset fits one generic atomic-swap pattern, BasicSwap preserves a separate offchain signature-exchange protocol for no-script coins.
  • BasicSwap belongs in the active corpus because it gives the exchange/interoperability set a clean atomic-swap-and-messaging baseline against validator-custody DEXs, bridge-based swap systems, and AMM-style cross-chain liquidity networks.
• Whitepaper: No canonical standalone BasicSwap whitepaper surfaced in this pass. The strongest primary materials were the official docs, official site, repository README, and protocol docs collected in ../whitepapers/basicswap-primary-sources-2026-05-14.md.
• Sources:
  • https://basicswapdex.com/
  • https://docs.basicswapdex.com/docs/intro/
  • https://docs.basicswapdex.com/docs/about/under-the-hood/
  • https://github.com/basicswap/basicswap
  • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/basicswap/basicswap/master/README.md
  • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/basicswap/basicswap/master/doc/protocols/adaptor_sig.md

Internal linkages

• Best direct-peer exchange contrast: bisq keeps more trust in escrow, deposits, and human dispute handling.

• Rail-specific swap-stack contrast: sideswap packages swaps inside a Liquid wallet-and-dealer stack.

• Coordination-heavy privacy cousin: joinmarket is useful because participant discovery matters almost as much as final settlement there too.

• Last reviewed: 2026-05-31 UTC