AirSwap Review 2026: Peer-to-Peer OTC and RFQ Swaps

AirSwap is a peer-to-peer token trading network that describes itself as the original trustless OTC and RFQ venue. It launched in 2017 and says it runs as an open-source community project. Swaps happen directly between a maker and a taker rather than against a shared liquidity pool.

The homepage reports $4.42B in all-time volume, 2.64M total swaps and a largest single swap of $30.7M. It lists Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Linea and Avalanche as supported networks. These figures are self-reported by the project.

Beyond the main Open DEX, the site links to NFT and DAO apps and to sections for developers and token voters. Its token is AST. The project does not publish a team list or audit reports on the homepage.

AirSwap connects two parties who want to swap tokens. A maker publishes or returns a price, and a taker accepts it. This request-for-quote (RFQ) model keeps the pricing logic off-chain, which avoids the pool-based price curve used by automated market makers.

When both sides agree, the order is signed cryptographically and submitted on-chain. The smart contract checks the signatures and only completes the trade if both token transfers succeed in a single atomic transaction. If either side fails, nothing moves.

Anyone can run a maker and connect to the permissionless network. Takers can then get quotes for tokens of any size, which is useful for large orders where a pool could move the price significantly.

AirSwap's homepage does not publish a fee schedule. It does state that $3.4M in fees has been distributed, which suggests the protocol collects fees and routes them to participants, but the rate and recipients are not spelled out.

Because trades settle on-chain, users pay normal network gas on the chain they use. Quoted prices from makers will include whatever spread the maker chooses, so users see the real cost in the quote at trade time.

AirSwap's security model rests on signed orders and atomic on-chain settlement, so users keep custody of their tokens until the swap executes. The project has been live since 2017, and its code is open source. That gives it a long track record, though the homepage does not describe any specific incidents or their absence.

No audits are listed, and the homepage does not publish audit reports. Users should look for current audit information in the project's documentation and code repositories before trading large sums. The main risks are smart-contract bugs, signing a malicious or mistaken order, and relying on a counterparty's quote. The project does not publish licensing or regulatory details, so users should check the rules that apply where they live.

AirSwap is for experienced traders and OTC-style users who want fixed-price swaps without pool slippage, and for developers or market makers who want to connect to a permissionless RFQ network. Casual users who want the simplest possible swap interface may find a standard aggregator easier.