Atomiq Exchange

Atomiq Exchange is a fully trustless, non-custodial cross-chain DEX that lets users swap native Bitcoin — both on-chain and via the Lightning Network — directly for Solana tokens and other assets, with zero slippage and no bridges, custodians, or wrapped assets involved.

What It Does

Atomiq solves one of the oldest problems in DeFi: moving native Bitcoin into and out of smart-contract ecosystems without trusting a third party. Rather than wrapping BTC into a bridged token controlled by a multisig or a centralized issuer, Atomiq enables direct atomic settlement between Bitcoin UTXOs and Solana accounts. Users receive exactly what they were quoted — no slippage, no MEV exposure, no counterparty risk if the swap fails.

Supported swaps on mainnet include Bitcoin on-chain and Lightning Network trading against SOL, USDC, WBTC, and BONK on Solana, with Starknet also live and EVM chains in development. The exchange was built for both retail users and developers: a public SDK lets projects integrate Bitcoin swap functionality directly into their own applications.

How It Works

Three interlocking primitives drive the protocol.

Bitcoin PoW light client on Solana. Rather than relying on an oracle or bridge to attest that a Bitcoin transaction happened, Atomiq runs a Bitcoin light client on Solana that saves Bitcoin block header data on-chain. Solana smart contracts then verify Bitcoin transactions against real proof-of-work directly, anchoring swap security to Bitcoin's consensus rather than to any trusted relayer. This is the core architectural distinction from bridge-based designs.

Proof-time Locked Contracts (PrTLCs). For on-chain Bitcoin swaps, Atomiq introduces PrTLCs — a new contract primitive developed by the team to enable non-custodial atomic settlement. Unlike the older HTLC model, PrTLCs are paired with UTXO-controlled vaults: Bitcoin UTXOs are directly linked to vaults on the smart-contract chain, so liquidity providers do not need to pre-lock capital on both sides simultaneously. Once a user initiates a swap, the contract handles completion even if the user goes offline. If a swap fails for any reason, funds are automatically returned — nothing can get stuck.

Lightning Network via HTLCs. Bitcoin Lightning swaps use the established Hash Time-Locked Contract (submarine swap) model, giving users access to near-instant, low-fee Bitcoin payments as a swap input. Both on-chain and Lightning flows share the same RFQ pricing mechanism.

Off-chain RFQ system. Atomiq uses a Request-for-Quote model rather than an AMM. Liquidity providers dynamically quote trades off-chain, and users receive a firm, binding quote before any transaction is signed. This eliminates slippage entirely and makes MEV attacks structurally impossible — there is no on-chain AMM pool state to front-run.

Liquidity Provider Model

Anyone can run an Atomiq LP node to provide liquidity and earn fees. LPs are never trusted: the protocol's smart contracts enforce atomic settlement regardless of LP behavior. If an LP fails to cooperate, the user's funds are automatically refunded via the contract logic. The LP stack is open-source and can be self-hosted using the published Dockerized node configuration, which bundles a Bitcoin node, LND Lightning node, the chain relayer, and the LP node service.

Security and Contracts

Atomiq's smart contracts are deployed immutably — there is no upgrade authority. Two independent security firms have reviewed the codebase:

• Ackee Blockchain audited the Solana/SVM implementation.
• CSC audited both the EVM and Starknet/Cairo implementations, with separate update reports for each.

Audit PDFs are publicly available in the project's GitHub repository under atomiqlabs/atomiq-readme/audits.

Team and Origins

Atomiq Exchange grew out of a solo project. Adam Borcany, co-founder and CTO, originally built the protocol as SolLightning — a proof-of-concept Bitcoin-to-Solana submarine swap system — before expanding the architecture with PrTLCs and founding atomiqlabs with co-founder Sylvie Durach. Borcany is based in Slovakia; Durach, who serves as the strategic and business lead, is based in Berlin. Both previously co-founded hopa, a cross-border payments company, in 2022.

Funding and Ecosystem

Atomiq has raised approximately 4.5 million USD in total. A 3 million USD seed round was led by X21 Digital, with participation from AlphaBit, NXGen, Dutch Crypto Investors (DCI Capital), Spicy Capital, Altcoin Buzz, and RBB Lab.

Within the Solana ecosystem, Atomiq is integrated in the Phantom Wallet app directory and listed on DappRadar under DeFi. The protocol is also live on Starknet — it was named as a Bitcoin-to-Starknet bridge in Starknet's 2025 ecosystem year-in-review — and has been described as the first project incubated in the Mintlayer ecosystem, where it serves as the settlement layer for Mintlayer's real-world asset platform.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

Atomiq addresses a gap that has frustrated Solana DeFi since the chain launched: there is no native bridge-free path for Bitcoin holders to access Solana's token ecosystem without trusting a custodian. Existing options — centralized exchanges, wrapped BTC issuers, or general-purpose bridges — all introduce counterparty risk. Atomiq replaces that trust layer with Bitcoin's own proof-of-work, verified on Solana itself. For users who hold BTC and want access to Solana DeFi, or for Solana native users who want to swap back to native Bitcoin or Lightning, Atomiq is the only fully trustless path currently live on mainnet.

The developer SDK extends this capability to third-party applications, positioning Atomiq less as a standalone product and more as infrastructure for Bitcoin liquidity on Solana. Combined with immutable contracts, multi-firm audits, and an active team posting and building as of mid-2026, the project represents a serious long-term infrastructure bet on Bitcoin-Solana interoperability.