AirSwap (AST)

AirSwap Coin Price & Market Data

AirSwap price today is $0.137170 with a 24-hour trading volume of $1,068,671. AST price is down -1.5% in the last 24 hours. It has a circulating supply of 170 Million AST coins and a max supply of 500 Million. If you are looking to buy or sell AirSwap, Gate.io is currently the most active exchange.

What is AirSwap?

AirSwap is a peer-to-peer (P2P), decentralized exchange trading platform for Ethereum-based ERC-20 tokens. Using the platform, users can communicate directly with one another to determine which tokens they’d like to trade, at mutually agreed upon prices. Trades are executed using the Swap protocol smart contract; no third party is involved, and users maintain full control of their tokens.

With its P2P model, the platform seeks to address several issues faced by exchanges in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Namely: i) slow transaction times, ii) front running and iii) privacy. Developed by Fluidity, the vision is for AirSwap to empower the world with frictionless trade. As of January 2021, the platform has a market capitalization of $15 million and a monthly trade volume of $8 million.

The AirSwap token (AST) is the utility and governance token of the AirSwap decentralized exchange platform. Holders of the token can use it to broadcast their intent to trade by staking AST in the platform’s smart contract, in addition to having the rights to vote on governance decisions.

What can the AirSwap token (AST) do?

The AirSwap token (AST) has two main functions:

1. Signal a users’ intent to trade

2. Governance.

In every AirSwap transaction, there is a Maker and a Taker. The former is the party who provides an order while the latter is the party that fills it. Makers signal their intent to trade by locking-in/staking a set amount of their AST for a specified time in the platform’s Indexer smart contract. A signal would have information on the type of transaction (buy/sell), type of token supplied (e.g. Dai or USDT), price, and corresponding base token.

The Indexer will then aggregate these orders and match them to Takers when queried, based on the type of token individuals are willing to buy or sell at their given price points. Currently, the minimum amount needed to signal intent is 250 AST with a lock-up period of 7 days, after which the tokens are unlocked. Users can head to AirSwap’s Delegates page to become a Maker, or the Swap page to become a Taker. More information on how to stake AST can be found on AirSwap’s FAQ.

For governance, AST is used to vote in AirSwap Improvement Proposals (AIP). These proposals detail changes to AirSwap’s smart contract and operational parameters, such as the provision of airdrops for holders, liquidity rewards for liquidity providers (LP) or the introduction of new token mechanisms. The proposals are first posted on the platform’s Github and are duplicated on Snapshot, where votes are officially cast. In November 2020, AirSwap passed AIP 7 which proposes to reward individuals for governance, in addition to introducing a new AST+ token. Further explanation on AIP 7 can be found via the link provided. 

Where and how do I obtain AST?

AST tokens can be acquired from cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Uniswap or AirSwap itself. You can browse through the various centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges via the link provided. Alternatively, this page’s markets tab also has a list of all the exchanges which presently trade AST pairs.

How does AirSwap work?

AirSwap utilizes the Swap protocol to drive its P2P trading ecosystem. Within Swap however, are several other protocols which support the main smart contract:

1. Peer Protocol

2. Indexer Protocol

3. Oracle Protocol

The Peer Protocol is the core protocol of AirSwap and represents its simplest form. Here, Makers and Takers directly negotiate with one another off-chain, coming to an agreement before executing their transactions on the AirSwap contract.

When combined with the Indexer Protocol, this transactional flow is enhanced. As mentioned, the Indexer will aggregate orders from Makers and match them to Takers. Through this protocol, both parties gain access to a wider net of potential counterparties, facilitating a larger number of trades on the network as well as quicker settlement times.

However, the aggregation of orders gives rise to the need to verify/benchmark each party’s specified prices. This is where the Oracle Protocol comes in. Adding this module to the transactional flow gives each party the ability to obtain off-chain price information. Makers will receive suggestions for a fair price while Takers can verify that it is fair. Together, these three modules help to ensure users have access to liquidity in a scalable, private and flexible manner.

Further reading on these protocols and their inner workings can be found in AirSwap’s whitepaper. 

Where can I learn more?

To learn more about AirSwap and AST, you may visit Fluidity’s Medium page or read AirSwap’s whitepaper.