Enabling High-Frequency Trading with Near-Instant, Trustless Cross-Chain Transactions via Pre-Signing Adaptor Signatures

Atomic swaps have been widely considered to be an ideal solution for cross-chain cryptocurrency transactions due to their trustless and decentralized nature. However, their adoption in practice has been strictly limited compared to centralized exchange order books because of long transaction times (anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes) prohibiting market makers from accurately pricing atomic swap spreads. For the decentralized finance ecosystem to expand and benefit all users, this would require accommodating market makers and high-frequency traders to reduce spreads and dramatically boost liquidity. This white paper will introduce a protocol for atomic swaps that eliminates the need for an intermediary currency or centralized trusted third party, reducing transaction times between Bitcoin and Ethereum swaps to approximately 15 seconds for a market maker, and could be reduced further with future Layer 2 solutions.