"Only the Code Can Be Trusted," Says Atomex Co-Founder, Igor

Hey Hackers! I’m Igor and I’m the Atomex co-founder.

First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating us for a 2021 Noonies award! We’ve been nominated in the following category; please do check out the award page and vote:

1. Best Decentralized Exchange of 2021

As a someone in the Decentralized exchange industry, I believe that the most exciting technology of the present is a cross-chain interaction because the number of blockchains grows and there is a need to exchange between them in a decentralized way. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on cross-chain atomic swap technology and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.

1. What do you do and why do you do it?

Atomex is our hybrid DEX based on atomic swap technology and a multicurrency HD wallet. It allows storing funds locally and keeping them liquid at the same time. So, users can make an exchange of their funds to another cryptocurrency just like they do an ordinary blockchain transaction. And it is done in a trustless, decentralized manner, without sending crypto to any third party.

2. Tell us more about the things you create / write / manage / build!

If TCP/IP is a protocol used to transfer information on the Internet, the blockchain is the same for e-money and other classes of assets. However, there is still an interchain gap which leads to an inconvenient value separation.

The atomic swap protocol which we will examine a little further effectively closes that gap in a trustless way, relying on an essentially simple idea. Banks or another trusted third-parties are being replaced by a smart contract, and this is one of the few cases when it can be done with just the data available on-chain (without oracles or other off-chain data providers).

3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?

Many of us were studying together at university, having cryptography and maths as our majors. Then some of us got vast experience in investments, and others were working in software engineering. Fortunately, about six years ago, we were united by the inspiration of blockchains, which were very fitting to our background. Blockchain still needs another tone of reliable things to become adopted, so we are excited to bring our part!

4. What tech are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?

Atomic swap technology as p2p interaction is simple enough, but making it work in automatic mode with minimal involvement of the parties is quite challenging. We are also working on algorithms for automatic market-matching, which will allow each user to provide liquidity to the atomic swap exchange and not have to confirm their transactions each time. We believe that this feature is what will allow to get the mass use of cross-chain decentralized exchanges (like Uniswap in the Ethereum network).

5. What tech are you most worried about right now and why?

I am worried about the problem of front-running on current DEX-es inside a single blockchain. You can be bypassed, framed, or simply kicked off the block with your transaction. This all introduces some unpredictability to trading on DEX. Furthermore, the bot competition on DEX reduces the efficiency of the blockchain as a whole and increases the cost of using it.

6. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?

Most likely in education. There is a certain lack of quality materials for learning decentralized technologies. It is the lack of knowledge that can inhibit development, creating a number of inefficiencies in the market. If we talk about investing for profit rather than developing the industry, then it is in the DEX trading algorithms, NFT gaming and social networking!

7. What are you currently learning?

The new Bitcoin update - Taproot, once we add it, our atomic swaps with Bitcoin will look like regular transactions. We are also actively learning blockchain transaction analysis. This is a big challenge for us, as our DEX has many blockchains.

8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?

Don't short Bitcoin :)

9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Only the code can be trusted!

11. Would you also be interested in joining us on the HackerNoon podcast? If so, what would you like to chat about?

Yes of course! Atomic swaps and cross-chain interaction.

About HackerNoon’s 2021 Noonie Awards

The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.

The 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.