Key terms and concepts behind preference-based trade coordination, blockchain settlement, and marketplace infrastructure.
Trade CoordinationThe process of discovering and executing trades across a marketplace by analyzing a preference graph. Rather than matching just two parties, trade coordination finds coordinated opportunities across the marketplace, enabling trades that would be impossible through pairwise exchange alone.Preference GraphA directed network where each node represents a participant and each edge represents a trade preference — a user is willing to give asset X to receive asset Y. The graph encodes the complete set of potential trades across all participants, enabling discovery of complex trading opportunities that no order book can surface.Living GraphSWAPS' persistent, incrementally updated preference graph architecture. Rather than rebuilding the entire graph on each API request, changes are applied in real time as users update their inventories and want-lists. This enables efficient, targeted trade rediscovery in only the affected portions of the network.Atomic SettlementA settlement mechanism that executes an entire trade as a single indivisible transaction on the blockchain. If any individual transfer within the trade fails for any reason, the entire transaction reverts and no assets change hands. This eliminates counterparty risk completely — every participant is protected.Delegate ModelA custody approach where assets remain in the owner's wallet at all times. Rather than transferring assets into escrow, the owner grants permission to the settlement contract only at the moment of execution. This means users never lose control of their assets until the exact instant the trade settles.Double Coincidence of WantsAn economic constraint requiring that two trading parties each possess exactly what the other desires at the same time. This fundamental limitation of bilateral barter makes direct exchange of unique assets extremely unlikely, and is the primary cause of illiquidity in NFT and collectible markets. SWAPS eliminates this constraint by coordinating trades across the entire marketplace.Trade DiscoveryThe process of finding valid trading opportunities within a preference graph that no traditional order book can see. SWAPS analyzes the full network of user preferences to surface trades where every participant gives up an asset they own and receives one they want — even when no direct two-way match exists.Onchain SettlementBlockchain-based execution of discovered trades. SWAPS supports both Ethereum (ERC-721, ERC-1155) and Solana (SPL tokens) for settlement. The entire trade is submitted as a single atomic transaction, ensuring trustless, verifiable, and irreversible execution without intermediaries.Shadow DOMA web standard that provides encapsulated isolation for embedded components. SWAPS uses Shadow DOM to ensure the embeddable trade widget renders consistently inside any host application, preventing style conflicts between the widget and the marketplace's existing CSS.Trade FlexibilityThe ability to trade based on preferences rather than exact dollar-for-dollar price matching. Instead of requiring precise monetary equivalence, SWAPS enables participants to express what they own and what they want, then discovers trades where every party is satisfied — regardless of whether the assets share the same floor price.