By EZ in Releases — Jan 25, 2024

Boltz Web App v1.3.0 & Backend v3.4.0: Taproot Swaps

Boltz.exchange enables self-custodial swaps between different Bitcoin layers.

"After the availability of Taproot on the Bitcoin mainchain in late 2021 and the Liquid Network in early 2022, today we are launching Taproot Swaps."
"This upgrade leverages Taproot’s Schnorr signatures to enable cheaper and more private swaps. Taproot’s features also allowed us to implement Immediate Cooperative Refunds, our flagship feature for this release, which dramatically improves UX as now users can get their locked bitcoin back immediately if a swap fails."

What's new

Immediate Cooperative Refunds. "These refunds, as the name suggests, allow for immediate refunding."
Cheaper Network Fees. "The reduction in network fees of Taproot Swaps, is partly because of the smaller on-chain footprint of Schnorr Signatures (64 instead of 72 bytes) but mainly because now it is a single signature instead of script + preimage + signature that is pushed on-chain."
Increased Privacy. "The privacy gains of Taproot Swaps are directly inherited from Taproot itself: all successful swaps look the same on the chain as unused script paths are hidden and all appear to be a single signature spend."
Easier Upgrades. "The new script path of Taproot Swaps enables us to deploy more upgrades in future by adding new script paths, and most notably without increasing costs for users as only the used script is pushed on-chain."