AirSwap Decentralized Exchange Upgrades for Any-Size Ethereum Trades

AirSwap is rolling out some pro tools to attract institutional investors to its decentralized exchange for ethereum tokens.

While to date AirSwap users have been signaling their intent to buy or sell a certain amount of tokens at a certain price on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, the new front end includes a chat feature so traders can negotiate the terms privately.

Put together, these features should address the worries that have kept DEX-curious institutional investors at bay, bringing a large amount of capital into this market, AirSwap said.

"With the OTC tools, this unlocks a totally new world of liquidity. This is going to enable trades of any size to happen with the AirSwap network."

According to AirSwap, and some of the broker-dealer and hedge fund representatives who attended a demo day at the startup's Brooklyn, N.Y., office last week, DEX appeals to such players for a practical reason.

Unlike the centralized exchanges where most cryptocurrency trades take place, a DEX, by definition, allows investors to control custody of their private keys.

AirSwap claims its DEX, which fills orders via smart contracts on ethereum, offers a more efficient way to conduct OTC trades, which today are often negotiated over Skype and can take days to settle.

The new features AirSwap is adding are designed to address those concerns for institutional investors, whom the company has been courting since its founding last year.

Civil CEO Matt Iles told CoinDesk AirSwap's new KYC capabilities, coupled with its atomic swaps and price discovery mechanisms, suited his project's efforts to grow a closed ecosystem without sacrificing liquidity.

Image of AirSwap co-founder Michael Oved, trading with investor Michael Novogratz, as AirSwap analyst Maxime Bucaille looks on, via Lucas Hoeffel.