The Bisq Network can be described in very simple terms as the BitTorrent of cryptocurrency exchanges. Instead of creating a central point of failure that exists by virtue of governmental mercy, the enthusiastic coders behind the project have built an ecosystem where you store your own data locally and transact with other users under a powerful veil of privacy.
In this exclusive Crypto Insider interview, Steve Jain (who does technical writing and documentation for Bisq) talks about the nature of the network, its upcoming ambitious plans which also involve a Bitcoin DAO, and the main differences between this decentralized service and competitors like Local Bitcoins and HodlHodl.
What is Bisq and why does it matter?
Bisq is less of a service and more akin a protocol that makes use of existing technologies in order to enable fast, peer to peer, and private transactions. Signing up doesn’t even require an e-mail address, as participation is the sum of interactions between autonomous actors.
Furthermore, once you create an account, you have no idea with whom you are transacting, which increases the fungibility of the coins. In order to protect this privacy feature, all operations are protected under the mighty cloak of ToR onion routing.
One important feature of Bisq involves crypto to fiat exchanges where you become the only person to know with whom you are trading, and there are systems in place which prevent money laundering. Not even the bank will know why you are sending the fiat, which makes it all more exciting.
Steve Jain explains really concisely that the mechanism was conceived to avoid controversies, and make sure that no funds get lost or stolen. An escrow system insures the validity of transactions by taking into account network confirmations, but at the same time the data does not get stored on a central server and only the participants will be able to keep records of their activity.
If this concept sounds intriguing, then you will definitely enjoy listening to this 38-minute interview with Steve Jain, as some of the most fundamental cypherpunk principles get described in relation to actual functionalities on the Bisq Network.
