Technical Architecture

At its core, Bolt operates through three interconnected components that work together to enable efficient cross-chain liquidity provision. Bolt's Price Oracle, Outposts, and Order Settlers are each outlined below:

The Price Oracle, running on the Bolt network, serves as the protocol's foundation by maintaining a decentralized network of validators who reach consensus on best current prices on a range of assets aggregated from multiple CEX and DEX sources. These prices are made easily verifiable across various blockchains via the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol using a novel mechanism called Proof of Price Efficiency (PoPE).

The second key component is the network of Bolt Outposts – smart contracts deployed across various blockchain networks that serve as access points to Bolt's prices and liquidity. These Outposts maintain IBC clients that can verify price data from the Price Oracle and handle incoming order management. Unlike traditional AMMs that require separate pools for each trading pair, Bolt's Outposts support single-sided liquidity pools that can be traded against multiple quote assets, significantly improving capital efficiency for market makers as they settle trades.

Order Settlers form the third pillar of the system. These are market makers who monitor Outpost contracts for new orders (swaps submitted by users) and provide the necessary liquidity for settlement. When settling an order, Settlers must include valid price proofs from the Price Oracle, ensuring that all trades execute at verifiably fair market prices.

System Flow and Operation

When a user initiates a trade through a Bolt integration, the process begins with order creation at an Outpost. The order details are broadcast to the network of Order Settlers, who can then compete to fulfill these orders. To settle an order, a Settler must first obtain a current PoPE from the Oracle Layer, which contains cryptographically verifiable price data.

The settlement process involves submitting both the required assets and the price proof to the Outpost contract. The Outpost verifies the proof's validity by checking the Price Oracle's state through its IBC client and ensures the settlement price falls within acceptable bounds. This verification process guarantees that users receive fair market prices while protecting against manipulation and stale price data.

Integration (WIP)

API

Developers will be able to integrate with Bolt through a unified API that abstracts away the complexity of cross-chain operations. The API supports both synchronous and asynchronous settlement models, handling all aspects of bridging and price discovery automatically.

The core integration interface will expose three primary functions:

• createOrder

• cancelOrder

• settleOrder

This interface allows developers to easily incorporate Bolt's liquidity into their existing applications while maintaining full control over the user experience.

Frontend SDK

Integration with Bolt Liquidity is intended to be as simple as possible for existing swap aggregators with their own frontend trading interfaces and applications. Bolt provides a TypeScript SDK to allow easy integration, this is structured as a standard npm module and will be freely available for partners to reference in their own projects very shortly.

Security and Trust Model

Bolt's security model is built on several key principles. The Price Oracle achieves consensus through a decentralised network of validators each fetching price data and reaching agreement on a valid price for each asset each epoch. The IBC protocol provides secure cross-chain communication, while Merkle proofs ensure the authenticity of price data.

To prevent manipulation and ensure system reliability, Bolt implements several safeguards. Price proofs have built-in expiration periods to prevent the use of stale data. The Outposts enforce maximum price deviation limits and require valid PoPE verification for all settlements. Regular updates to IBC clients ensure that the system maintains accurate state roots across all supported chains.

Network Support and Fees

Bolt will soon be live on Archway, Sui, and various EVM chains, with planned expansion to additional networks including various, Solana, and Bitcoin L2s. The protocol operates on a straightforward fee structure of 20 basis points per trade, with 15 bps going to Order Settlers as compensation for providing liquidity and 5 bps supporting network operations.

Future Development

As the multi-chain ecosystem continues to evolve, Bolt's architecture allows for seamless expansion to new networks and adaptation to emerging needs. The protocol's modular design enables progressive decentralization and the addition of new features while maintaining the core focus on efficient cross-chain liquidity provision.

For developers looking to integrate with Bolt, comprehensive documentation, including detailed API specifications and example implementations, will be available very shortly via this docs site. The Bolt team is available for integration questions on X or Telegram, drop us a message if you're interested in collaboration.