Builder Project Name: Boltz
Submission Date: October 24, 2024
Team: Kilian, Michael & Karl
Sector: Exchange/Swaps/Payments
Links to Deck / Video / Images:
Description: Boltz is a “Non-Custodial Bitcoin Bridge” and the easiest way to move satoshis between different Bitcoin layers without giving up control. It currently supports the Bitcoin mainchain, the Lightning Network, the Liquid Network and Rootstock (Beta).
Product: Boltz leverages Atomic swaps to achieve its non-custodial property. Atomic Swaps employ Hashed Timelock Contracts (HTLCs) which, in layman’s terms, enable the two transactions (both sides of the swap) to be linked together cryptographically. Leveraging this technology, there is no way for one transaction of a swap to complete without the other transaction completing too. Vice versa, if one transaction fails, the other transaction fails too.
This is the most trustless technology that exists for moving satoshis between Bitcoin layers and gives users peace of mind as they don’t need to trust or rely on Boltz. As of January 2024, Boltz features Taproot Swaps, which has helped to dramatically improve UX for failed Atomic Swaps.
Boltz features an easy-to-use Web App and various native integrations into other platforms and wallets like Aqua via its open, trustless API. Boltz is a pioneer behind the concept of a trustless API and has various integration efforts ongoing with projects on Rootstock.
Mission: Boltz is on a mission to establish itself as the go-to non-custodial bridge between Bitcoin layers. Due to focus on the Lightning Network, it is especially suited for enabling near-instant low-value payment use cases between Bitcoin layers as well as letting users explore new ecosystems with small amounts. Boltz solves a major pain point for new Rootstock users: to easily and cheaply obtain small amounts of RBTC and explore new use cases in the Rootstock ecosystem.
Value added to Rootstock: Boltz is the easiest way for new and existing users to get RBTC.
General traction: Boltz achieved one of its main goals since starting with Rootstock integration in developing an atomic swap protocol that does not require the end-user to hold RBTC in order to swap to RBTC, which was a major disadvantage of previous solutions so far. This was achieved through collaboration with the RIF Relay team, allowing Boltz to develop an atomic swap protocol with sponsored transactions using RIF Relay. This was extensively tested on Testnet and launched on Mainnet (beta). Integration of Rootstock swaps into the Boltz Web App was finalized and is currently tested and used by dozens of beta users. One of the first native integrations going live is the Wesatoshis Labs card, leveraging RBTC<>Lightning swaps to facilitate payments at any merchant accepting Lightning, using RBTC.
Conclusion: Boltz bridges the gap between Bitcoin layers in a non-custodial manner and is the easiest way to obtain RBTC. It enables users to easily explore Rootstock, to spend RBTC via Lightning and brings Rootstock to Bitcoin-native projects in ways that haven’t been possible before.