Atlas DEX is building cross-chain DEX that allows traders to aggregate liquidity across multiple AMMs and execute complex trades multi-platform. To do this, we needed to choose a blockchain that had the speed, security and architecture to support that goal. We required a blockchain with the technology that could bridge assets cross-chain fluidly and in a permissionless manner, and which had the potential to scale infinitely to handle the traffic our powerful DEX will need. In short, we needed Solana.
Solana’s Speed and Security
Solana is a high-performance blockchain that can process 50,000 transactions per second with an average block time of approximately 400ms. Not only that, but despite this speed and ease of use, the transaction fees are stupendously low. Its average transaction fee is around $0.00025. Its ability to execute smart contracts in a parallel fashion through its Sealevel technology is exactly what Atlas DEX needed to construct its own “guiding light” algorithm — a mechanism which executes multiple trades cross-chain simultaneously in the most cost-effective manner possible. For all these reasons, Solana gives Atlas DEX the foundation required to offer complex and instant swaps of assets to its users. As one of the first mover DEXs on Solana, Atlas DEX’ use cases will compel users worldwide to efficiently trade their assets.
Solana’s Wormhole Tech
There is another crucial advantage that made the Solana blockchain the right choice for us — the Wormhole tech that Solana brings to the table. With Wormhole, Solana has created a token bridge that allows assets to cross blockchains in a secure and decentralized manner. Its leaderless guardians perform computations about on-chain events and sign a Validator Action Approval (VAA). When the majority of guardians — all of equal weight — approve, protocols with wormhole contracts automatically trigger the required mint/burn functions, and the token can move from one chain to another.
Rather than having its own staking token, protocol or other singular community whose motives can go awry, wormhole guardians are chosen from top Solana validators and other important ecosystem stakeholders with a profound interest in ensuring the growing security and stability of the Solana blockchain. These “borrowed” identities and validation through proof of authority, help distribute the mechanism of validation multi-platform and ensure safe passage cross-chain for all ecosystems who want to cross. Think of it like an old fashioned trade-route, where every kingdom on its route has a mutual interest in keeping it free, open, and fair for all.
The first bridge to be established is to the ERC-20 network, followed shortly thereafter by the Terra network, with other bridges in the works as the tech develops. Over time, the wormhole tech will allow assets to relocate at will to the entire blockchain universe. This tech allows Atlas DEX to enjoy the benefits and aggregate liquidity from these networks at the low cost required to give traders the advantage in the open market they seek.
Why We Chose Solana Over Other Blockchains
Of course, Ethereum fees are still a constraint to the wormhole tech. The tab will still have to be picked up by those requesting to migrate their asset to it. These fees, and the congestion and transaction speed throttling that Ethereum can be prone to, are among the reasons we chose to build on Solana in the first place. Everyone knows that Ethereum has an issue with scalability, and although there have been impressive efforts to rework Ethereum’s now ancient, in crypto terms, code — for example with the recent London hard fork — the network still has a long way to go before it can reach the speed and low-cost that Solana is already providing today.
When it comes to other alternatives, while it’s fair to say the Binance Smart Chain has similar capabilities to Solana, the inherent centralization of the project makes it an inappropriate framework on which to build our DEX, as we believe decentralization is a core pillar upon which blockchain communities are founded. Finally, Solana’s single global state, that doesn’t require a myriad of sharding and Layer 2 systems to help augment its main chain, makes it a holistic platform with far more interoperability between its various protocols.
Atlas DEX and Solana Can Map the Blockchain Universe
All that said, obviously these other blockchains have importance in the wider blockchain universe. That’s exactly why Solana’s ongoing efforts to bridge them are so fundamental and important to our vision of what Atlas DEX should be. Together with Solana’s technology, we can quickly aggregate liquidity from all these markets and provide a map and safe-passage not only to the Solana blockchain we have built on, but also to all the blockchains that are building our cryptographic future. Solana provides the scalability, complexity, speed and open-minded connectivity Atlas DEX needs, and that’s why we think it’s the perfect home for our upcoming cross-chain DEX.
