After months of rigorous development and testing, our off-chain swaps are becoming increasingly stable, and we’re thrilled to announce the open Alpha release of the Hydranet Web DEX! The release is to take place on the 23rd of May, so get ready!

To our early testers and contributors: thank you so much. Your efforts have helped us get to this stage. While this release is a major milestone, it’s not the finish line, it’s the beginning of an even more ambitious phase. With bugs becoming fewer and less severe, we’re ready to welcome a broader community of users to help us refine and improve Hydranet even further.

We’ve moved from a closed alpha to a open Alpha, meaning everyone is now invited to join, test and trade.

A trading platform like no other

Hydranet runs directly in your browser, on any device of your choice, whether it’s on your desktop, mobile, or tablet. This may sound standard, but here’s what sets Hydranet apart: it’s the first platform to run off-chain nodes for the Lightning Network and Lithium Network in-browser. This enables full custody of your assets at all time while gaining access to near-instant swaps and transactions with no network fees. Pretty neat!

The open Alpha includes a range of wallet and trading functionalities. Some were already part of the closed alpha when it was initially launched, but we’ve expanded the functionality as the platform matured, leading up to its current state.

Wallet features

• On-Chain Send/Receive: Send and receive crypto securely on-chain.
• Off-Chain Send/Receive: Enjoy fast, low-cost transactions using the Lightning Network (for Bitcoin) and Lithium Network (for Ethereum and smart contracts).
• Channel Rental Manager: Rent inbound channel liquidity from the Hydranet Hub to enable off-chain receiving.
• Channel backup service: Safeguard your off-chain data with an integrated channel backup service.

Trading

• Off-chain Atomic Swaps: Execute instant, secure off-chain swaps across chains without intermediaries. Off-chain swaps incur no network fees and execute near-instantly.
• SimpleSwap UI: A streamlined trading interface for one-click swaps. In this alpha release, users still need to set up state channels manually, but stay tuned, automated channel management is coming.
• Off-chain liquidity pools: Launch and manage your own liquidity pools using a familiar DEX-style interface.

Limitations and future improvements

Hydranet is still in active development. Here’s a look at what’s on the roadmap toward the Beta version:

• Order book: A full-featured spot order book for advanced traders. Supports limit/market orders, live data, and pro-level tools, combining the UX of centralized exchanges with the decentralization of Hydranet.
• SimpleSwap: Backend integration for true one-click trades. The UI is ready, now we’re adding the “magic” that makes it fully seamless.
• Watchtowers: Monitoring services to oversee your state channels and penalize malicious behavior, for increased security and peace of mind.

Goals of the alpha build

This alpha release is all about validation, refinement, and feedback. Our key goals include:

• Stabilizing Off-Chain Nodes: Ensure the off-chain nodes (running in-browser) are robust, responsive, and secure.
• Improving Wallet Reliability: Enhance wallet usability and minimize friction so anyone can use Hydranet from their browser without hassle.
• Testing Swap Functionality: Identify and eliminate bugs in the implemented off-chain swap logic, across various assets and networks.

Ready to test? Start here

New to Hydranet or just want to help us push the platform forward? We’ve put together a series of testing tutorials to get you started as soon as the open Alpha have been released:

• Best practices in testing
• Wallet setup
• Manage state channel liquidity
• Off-chain transactions
• Off-chain swaps
• Off-chain liquidity pools

Your feedback at this stage is invaluable. Whether you’re a casual user or a seasoned dev, every bug report and suggestion helps us improve Hydranet for the whole ecosystem.

And don’t keep it to yourself — share the alpha with your friends, communities, and networks. The more people testing and using the platform, the faster we can reach a polished, powerful Beta version together.

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