This week’s Bitcoin Atom fork: A quick primer

Bitcoin Atom, an ambitious Bitcoin fork due to come into existence within the next few days, plans to solve a substantial problem in the cryptocurrency world. The project will use atomic swaps to allow users to exchange tokens at absolutely minimal costs without any intermediaries or centralized exchanges. The project also plans to integrate Lightning Swaps (LS) to power extremely fast and cheap transactions.

While the most appealing component of Bitcoin Atom is a potential solution to Bitcoin’s scalability problems, it also has a few other differentiating points. Perhaps foremost among these, Bitcoin Atom uses a hybrid consensus model that combines Proof of Work (POW) and Proof of Stake (POS), two different types of algorithms for reaching consensus, or agreement, on whether or not a transaction is valid before it is added to the blockchain. This hybrid model aims to increase network stability and decrease the threat that a majority group of miners could sabotage the system.

The current process of trading in cryptocurrencies involves several steps, as well as exchange and network fees. For example, if you want to trade Bitcoin for Ethereum, you have to create an account on an exchange such as Bittrex or Binance and place your order. However, with Bitcoin Atom, you’d be able to swap it directly (assuming you already have a wallet with some cryptocurrency to swap).