<p>Bitcoin Optech <a href="https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/coinswap/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">defines</a> a coinswap as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Coinswap is a protocol that allows two or more users to create a set
of transactions that look like independent payments but which actually
swap their coins with each other, optionally making a payment in the
process.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The most recent example of a coinswap implementation is Chris Belcher's <a href="https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2022-February/020026.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Teleport</a>. The important detail is it is swapping coins or UTXOs on the same blockchain to gain a privacy benefit.</p>
<p>Lightning Labs <a href="https://docs.lightning.engineering/the-lightning-network/lightning-overview/understanding-submarine-swaps" rel="nofollow noreferrer">defines</a> a submarine swap as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A submarine swap is a trade between on-chain and off-chain digital assets (i.e.between Bitcoin held on-chain and Bitcoin on the Lightning network).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(I believe Alex Bosworth of Lightning Labs coined the term.)</p>
<p>Of course terminology is always a bit uncertain in emerging fields as formal definitions haven't been universally agreed upon. There is a wide overlap in terms of the actual technology (adaptor signatures, timelocks etc) used to trustlessly swap coins on the same blockchain, to swap between onchain and Lightning and to swap between different blockchains (generally referred to as an atomic swap).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-11T14:40:02.383Z
2022-03-11T14:40:02.383Z
Michael Folkson
<p>What is the difference between a coinswap and a submarine swap?</p>

<terminology><submarine-swaps><coinswap>
How is coinswap different from submarine swap?
V3nom
# How is coinswap different from submarine swap?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-03-05)

What is the difference between a coinswap and a submarine swap?

**Tags:** terminology, submarine-swaps, coinswap


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-03-11. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Bitcoin Optech [defines](https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/coinswap/) a coinswap as:

> Coinswap is a protocol that allows two or more users to create a set
> of transactions that look like independent payments but which actually
> swap their coins with each other, optionally making a payment in the
> process.

The most recent example of a coinswap implementation is Chris Belcher's [Teleport](https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2022-February/020026.html). The important detail is it is swapping coins or UTXOs on the same blockchain to gain a privacy benefit.

Lightning Labs [defines](https://docs.lightning.engineering/the-lightning-network/lightning-overview/understanding-submarine-swaps) a submarine swap as:

> A submarine swap is a trade between on-chain and off-chain digital assets (i.e.between Bitcoin held on-chain and Bitcoin on the Lightning network).

(I believe Alex Bosworth of Lightning Labs coined the term.)

Of course terminology is always a bit uncertain in emerging fields as formal definitions haven't been universally agreed upon. There is a wide overlap in terms of the actual technology (adaptor signatures, timelocks etc) used to trustlessly swap coins on the same blockchain, to swap between onchain and Lightning and to swap between different blockchains (generally referred to as an atomic swap).


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