ConsenSys introduces major AirSwap upgrades

ConsenSys, one of the most prominent Ethereum software companies, has launched an updated version of AirSwap, a peer-to-peer exchange that promotes full decentralization and guaranteed prices. 

ConsenSys introduced the new AirSwap on Tuesday, culminating “Phase II” of its development roadmap. The technical upgrades were based on AirSwap Improvement Proposals, or AIPs, which help the community select and prioritize new development projects on the network.

The upgraded exchange will protect traders from both front-running and price slippage by leveraging the request-for-quote, or RFQ, protocol and atomic swaps for settlement, ConsenSys tells Cointelegraph. The company expects RFQ models will capture roughly 40% of decentralized trading volume in the future.

Don Mosites, product lead at Codefi Markets and co-founder of AirSwap, explained:

“On aggregators like MetaMask Swaps, we see ~40% of volume captured by Request for Quote models thanks to zero slippage, competitive prices, and efficient execution.”

RFQ systems minimize gas costs and promote better pricing by professionals, Mosites said. The result is no slippage on trades of any size and no front-running or market manipulation.

“AirSwap RFQ solves challenges presented by AMMs,” or automated market makers, Mosites explained. It also presents a better use case for over-the-counter, or OTC, trades. Mosites said “some of the largest trades in DeFi have been on AirSwap OTC.”

Last week, the biggest AirSwap trade to date: $2.75M $USDT swapped for $SNX (@synthetix_io) Use AirSwap for safe and efficient OTC trading at any size: https://t.co/zg3GDpze1I https://t.co/VDVCYSyFgr

— AirSwap (@airswap) July 23, 2020

AirSwap was reportedly also the source of the “first-peer-to-peer security token trade” in Nov 2018.

The first P2P compliant transfer of an @SPiCE_VC token using @securitize_io Digital Securities protocol at @airswap , historical moment. https://t.co/3Zxok63kz1

— Carlos Domingo (@carlosdomingo) November 2, 2018

Beginning Tuesday, exchange users will also be able to participate in governance by staking their AirSwap tokens on Codefi Activate, which seeks to promote the usage of new networks. Fifteen AIPs have been published so far and the rest are awaiting votes.

New token issuers can use Codefi Activate to incentivize participation in the governance process for their respective communities. 

AirSwap launched in 2017 with 9,447 participants from 135 countries. Its trade volumes average roughly $2 million per day and are projected to rise following new integrations.

ConsenSys was in the spotlight last week after the company announced a new partnership with cybersecurity firm Securosys to launch a more secure staking solution for Ethereum 2.0. The new product, Codefi Staking, provides “institutional staking tools” for Eth2.