Privacy and security are paramount in the world of cryptocurrencies. 

New research from Aravinda Thyagarajan, a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer Science Department advised by CyLab’s Elaine Shi, outlines a new protocol toward better privacy and security protections when swapping cryptocurrencies. The paper, “Universal Atomic Swaps: Secure Exchange of Coins Across All Blockchains,” is being presented at the 2022 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.

“The whole cryptocurrency decentralized business is about giving control of the digital coins to you,” said Thyagarajan, a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer Science Department. “You should control your coins, and you don’t want to leak any information about them.”

Thyagarajan’s protocol is universal — it allows for exchanges across all current and future cryptocurrencies. It also ensures that the swap will happen honestly or it won’t happen at all without relying on third parties. The protocol also supports the exchange of multiple types of cryptocurrencies in individual swaps.

“With this protocol, you can shop on an e-commerce website using a coin that is not the coin that they accept and keep your privacy,” Thyagarajan said. “You're able to do that because you're not relying on third-party services, and because it doesn't rely on any special features of the underlying currency.”

Read more about Thyagarajan’s research on CyLab’s website.