The Side Protocol is a powerful platform that offers high-level functionality and facilitates the delivery of IAS (Interactive Advertising Bureau Authorized Sellers) to clients. With Side Protocol, businesses can streamline their operations and enhance their digital advertising efforts with ease. This protocol is designed to optimize the process of onboarding and integrating IAS into existing systems and workflows, significantly reducing the time and effort required. In addition, the Side Protocol is SEO-friendly, providing businesses with enhanced search engine visibility and online presence. Overall, the Side Protocol offers a comprehensive and efficient solution for businesses seeking to enhance their digital advertising performance and operations.
The Side Protocol has successfully delivered the Interchain Atomic Swap (IAS), a trustless and decentralized protocol for inter-chain asset swapping. The IAS uses the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol standard (ICS-100), and was developed by Side Labs as an application layer protocol that is now incorporated into IBC.
The increasing interest in atomic swaps stems from their ability to offer a decentralized, safe, and private method for exchanging digital assets across multiple blockchain networks without the need for an intermediary token or third party. The atomicity property of atomic swaps ensures that trades are either carried out fully or not at all, discouraging fraudulent activities.
Atomic swaps can only be carried out between two blockchain networks that are compatible with each other, backing the same Hash Time-Locked Contracts (HTLC) and cryptographic hash function, along with a transaction scripting language. If the two networks are not compatible, a cross-chain bridge or interoperability protocols will be needed.
Recent enhancements in interoperability protocols, such as the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol in the Cosmos network, have made it possible to carry out atomic swaps across various blockchain networks.
The IBC Protocol is a modular, end-to-end, connection-based, stateful protocol designed for dependable and ordered communication between heterogeneous blockchains in an unknown and dynamic topology. The modular framework allows developers to create various inter-chain applications for specific use cases.
The Inter-chain Atomic Swap (IAS), created by Side Labs and supported by the IBC Protocol team, is a fresh IBC application (ICS-100) for inter-chain asset swaps. It is bridgeless, upgradeable and composable, essential for cross-chain interoperability. Developers can use IAS to build various types of DEX, carry out inter-chain liquid staking and payment channels.
Side Labs, a key player in building the Side Protocol, the open-source interchain explorer Ping Pub, and IBC-oriented applications like ICS-100 and ICS-101, consists of expert builders, engineers, and researchers. Their future plans include executing open-source standards to meet user requirements, including a conventional x/IAS model written in Go, IBC-capable CosmWasm-oriented smart contracts written in Rust, and continue backing EVM-oriented chains.