Atomic Swap
a.k.a. Cross-chain swap
A direct trade of coins on two different blockchains that either completes fully for both sides or doesn't happen at all.
An atomic swap lets two people trade coins that live on different blockchains, say bitcoin for litecoin, without an exchange in the middle. "Atomic" means it can't be split: either both payments go through, or both are cancelled and everyone gets their coins back.
It works with a shared secret and a time limit. Both sides lock their coins in a contract. The same secret unlocks both, and revealing it to claim one side automatically gives the other person what they need to claim theirs. If anyone walks away, the timer runs out and the coins return home. Nobody has to trust anybody.
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