Atomic Swaps on Solana: A Step-by-Step Guide
In today’s world of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), atomic swaps have emerged as a game-changer for traders. An atomic swap is a type of transaction that allows users to exchange two cryptocurrencies or tokens in a single atomic operation, ensuring complete security and minimizing the risk of errors. In this article, we will explore how to do an atomic swap on Solana, focusing on writing a program that buys a token on Raydium, then sells it on Orca, and returns it to the user if an error occurs during the sale.
What is an atomic swap?
Before diving into the details, let’s quickly define what an atomic swap is. An atomic swap is a type of transaction that ensures that a series of operations are executed as one, without any intermediate steps or risk. This is different from traditional swaps, where each operation is executed separately and errors can occur.
Choosing a Programming Language
If you want to implement atomic swaps in Solana, you need to choose a programming language. In this example, we will use Python, which has excellent support for the Solana Node API.
Environment Setup
First, make sure you have the following prerequisites installed:
- Solana Node: “solana install solana-discord.py”.
- Python 3.7+ (with the “type” and “py-solana” packages)
- A compatible wallet (e.g. Solana CLI)
Implementing Atomic Swap
Here is a step-by-step guide to implementing atomic swaps in Solana:
Step 1: Configure Wallet
Create a new wallet using the Solana CLI:
solana keygen --path wallet.json
Generate a private key and store it in Wallet.json. You can also use the default key pair.
Step 2: Define the actions
Define the two actions that will be used to perform the atomic swap:
buyTokenOnRaydium
: buy a token on Raydium using the Solana CLI.
sellTokenOnOrca
: sell a token on Orca using the Solana CLI.
Here are the Python functions:
import solana CLI
def buy_token_on_raydium(private_key, amount):
"""Buy a token from Raydium."""
raydium = CLI.solana_from_path(private_key.path)
result = raydium.send_approve(
"Raydium Token Program",
{
"program_id": "raydium-token-program",
"amount": {"type": "uint8", "value": amount},
},
{"wait_time": 2000},

wait for the program to finish)
return result
def sell_token_on_orca(private_key, amount):
"""Sell a token on Orca."""
orca = CLI.solana_from_path(private_key.path)
result = orca.send_approve(
"Orca Token Program",
{
"program_id": "orca-token-program",
"sum": {"type": "uint8", "value": sum},
},
{"wait_time": 2000},
wait for the program to finish)
return result
def atomic_swap(private_key, sum):
"""Perform atomic swap."""
buy_result = buy_token_in_raydium(private_key, sum)
sell_result = sell_token_in_orca(private_key, sum)
if buy_result.status != "OK" or sell_result.status != "OK":
return {"error": "Error during swap"}
Step 3: Perform Atomic Swap
Now that you have defined the functions, you can perform the atomic swap:
private_key = "path/to/private/key"
amount = 1000000
replace with the desired token amountswap_result = atomic_swap(private_key, amount)
print(swap_result)
print the swap result
Error Handling
You can handle errors during the swap by adding error checking and logging. Here is an updated implementation:
“`python
import solana CLI
def buy_token_on_raydium(private_key, amount):
“””Buy a token from Raydium.”””
raydium = CLI.solana_from_path(private_key.path)
try:
result = raydium.