This is the weekly “altcoin corner” article where we explore another project in the greater cryptocurrency ecosystem

Komodo has been sitting quietly in the upper 50 cryptos on CMC for a while after reaching an all time coin price high of about $14 last month. Their newest released project is Barter DEX, and it appears ready for primetime Beta testing, introducing its new Atomic Swap cirect currency trading for supported coins.

You are able to trade blue chip cryptos like Dash, BTC, BCH, LTC, Zcash as well as Jelurida assets that have migrated from the NXT blockchain (Another story there). The client for Barter DEX works smoothly and you can withdraw and deposit cryptos but their menu for coins you can add are some that don’t have Electrum server support, such as Stratis and NAVcoin, o check info at thi link for currently supported cryptos and assets.

A DEX allows users to control their funds/private keys

Perhaps we should back up a bit. What exactly is a DEX? A DEX is a decentralized exchange, one that does not rely on central servers and the usually has no KYC requirements for trading of cryptocurrencies. Barter DEX joins BitShares DEX among the major DEX players. The user controls their private keys, they do not have to relay on exchange wallets for their crypto holdings.

A first look at Barter DEX shows a very eye catching GUI (graphical user interface, for those that are new to the terminology) with the option to add supported coins and assets in addition to Komodo, the base trading currency for the platform and the coin your account balances will be displayed with. This takes a bit of getting used too, as KMD is on other exchanges, but you can adjust to the different valuation scale, as users have for other cryptos.

It is best to run Barter DEX with Komodo’s Agama wallet, which has finally had a new release that offers a light client mode so that you don’t have to keep a full blockchain on your device, and Barter DEX can see your Komodo balance when you log in with your passphrase. Examining the Atomic Swap platform, you can indeed swap directly between supported coins and assets. This still is a decentralized exchnage and volume is still slow, so until enough active nodes for the DEX are up, the user will have to exercise patience in their trading. You won’t get the instant gratification that often comes with a quickly executed trade, but it offers traders yet another option whn trading privately and securely.

Look for further updates on this promising new DEX.