Multi-chain Trading New Star: Exploring Helix Markets

The Internet Computer (IC) ecosystem is welcoming a remarkable new member—Helix Markets. This multi-chain decentralized exchange based on the IC chain, (DEX), has recently launched its public beta, offering users a unique "no cross-chain" multi-chain trading experience.

The core advantage of Helix Markets lies in its adoption of Chain-key signature technology, enabling direct integration with other public chains. This means users can natively use and exchange assets from different chains on the IC chain without traditional cross-chain operations.

The platform currently supports test coin trading on three chains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and IC. Users need to first deposit assets into Helix Markets to trade. While this may sound similar to other DEXs, the uniqueness of Helix Markets lies in the fact that the entire trading process does not involve cross-chain operations and does not use wrapped tokens or stablecoins.

Helix Markets utilizes Chain-key signature technology to enable smart contracts on the IC chain, known as Canisters, to create public chain addresses dependent on ECDSA, allowing them to hold real tokens directly. In addition, Canisters can make HTTP calls, enabling direct communication with external networks without the need for oracles. This allows Helix Markets to propagate transactions directly to the corresponding chains, such as pushing Bitcoin transactions to Bitcoin nodes or sending Ethereum transactions to RPC providers.

In order to ensure the safety of user funds, Helix Markets automatically generates a set of addresses for each user that support the asset's underlying chain. For example, when a user deposits ETH, they are actually depositing ETH into a new Ethereum address created by Canister. This design allows users to have complete control over their funds.

It is worth noting that although Helix Markets creates addresses for users, it cannot arbitrarily use users' assets. This is because the Chain-key signature technology distributes fragments of the private key to each node in the subnet where the Canister is located. The Canister can only initiate transactions using the user's address with signatures from 2/3 of the nodes in the subnet.

The emergence of Helix Markets has brought some interesting new plays to the IC ecosystem:

1. Introduced stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, allowing users on the IC chain to trade pairs like ICP/USDC.
2. Support trading tokens from other networks on the IC chain, such as BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, etc.
3. Provided listing channels for new IC chain projects.
4. With the "reverse Gas" mechanism of the IC chain, users do not need to pay Gas fees and enjoy a seamless trading experience similar to that of centralized exchanges.

Currently, Helix Markets is still in the public testing phase and has not announced any token issuance plans. However, whether or not there will be airdrops for test users in the future, users interested in the IC ecosystem should give this platform a try to experience its smooth interactions and rich features.

One notable feature of Helix Markets is its adoption of a hybrid trading model. The "asset wallet" corresponds to an on-chain address, while the "trading wallet" is an off-chain order book. Settlement on-chain will only occur when assets are transferred from the "trading wallet" back to the "asset wallet." The official statement plans to migrate the order book on-chain in 2024, achieving a fully decentralized trading model.

Overall, Helix Markets provides users with a secure and efficient multi-chain trading platform. It not only showcases the potential of the IC chain in multi-chain asset integration but also offers new ideas for the development of decentralized exchanges. Over time, we will witness whether Helix Markets can become the most recognized and secure multi-chain DEX, bringing new vitality to the IC ecosystem.