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Blockstream Launches Beta Swaps After Boltz Halts Services

Blockstream's HTLC-based beta aims to restore trustless transfers across Bitcoin mainnet, Lightning, Liquid by offering an alternative to single-provider swap infrastructure.

Overview

  • Boltz suspended all swap operations on August 3 after months of automated, AI-assisted probing and a series of contained exploits, and the company has not set a date to resume normal service.
  • Boltz said customer funds were never at risk because its architecture is self-custodial and refund mechanisms remain available while swaps are offline.
  • Blockstream announced a Blockstream Swaps beta that is being tested with select participants and said development predated the Boltz outage but has been accelerated in response to the disruption.
  • The new service uses HTLC-based atomic swaps, including submarine and reverse-submarine swaps, to move funds trustlessly between on-chain BTC, Liquid LBTC, and Lightning without users running Lightning channels.
  • The outage exposed a single-point-of-failure risk for platforms that relied on Boltz and prompted calls for more redundancy; Blockstream frames its beta as a complementary option that could reduce future service disruption while the market watches for wider rollout and security improvements.