User Guide

User Guide

New here? Follow this guide and you'll be making your first atomic swap in minutes — no prior crypto experience needed.

📋 Contents

  1. What is this?
  2. Setting up your wallets
  3. Selling BTCT (receiving DOGE)
  4. Buying BTCT (paying DOGE)
  5. The 5-step swap flow
  6. What if a trade fails?
  7. Using BTCT Town
  8. FAQ
  9. Glossary
1 What is this?

🤝 Peer-to-peer, no middleman

This is a decentralized exchange (DEX) where you can swap BTCT (Bitcoin Time) and DOGE (Dogecoin) directly with another person.

Unlike centralized exchanges, the server never holds your coins. Trades happen directly between wallets through a smart contract, so even if the server were compromised, your funds would remain safe.

🔐 How is it trustless?

It uses a "secret key" mechanism. The seller generates a secret and locks their BTCT behind a hash lock. The buyer locks DOGE behind the same hash. When the seller reveals the secret to claim the DOGE, the secret becomes public on-chain — allowing the buyer to claim the BTCT automatically.

This is called an Atomic Swap. Either both sides succeed, or neither does. There is no in-between.

💡 This DEX is fully open-source. Anyone can read the code or run their own instance. → View on GitHub
2 Setting up your wallets

🔑 BTCT Wallet

  1. Click the Wallet tab in the top menu
  2. Click "New BTCT Wallet" to generate a new wallet
  3. Save the displayed Private Key somewhere safe
    â€ģ There is no recovery if you lose it
  4. Once your wallet address (starting with 0x) appears in the top bar, you're connected
⚠ī¸ Never share your private key with anyone. Whoever has the key controls the funds.

🐕 DOGE Wallet

  1. In the Wallet tab → DOGE section, click "New DOGE Wallet"
  2. Save both the DOGE address (starts with D) and the WIF private key
  3. Fund the address with DOGE before starting a trade

🔄 Importing an existing wallet

  1. Wallet tab → click "Import"
  2. Paste your saved private key or WIF — the wallet loads instantly
💡 Wallet data is stored only in this browser. To use the same wallet on another device, import the private key there too.
3 Selling BTCT (receiving DOGE)

📋 Posting a listing

  1. Click Bulletin Board in the top menu
  2. Click "Post Listing"
  3. Select type: SELL BTCT
  4. Enter your price (1 BTCT = ? DOGE)
  5. Enter the min/max BTCT amount
  6. Click Post — your listing is now live
💡 Once posted, a speech bubble will appear above your character in BTCT Town showing your listing.

âŗ When a buyer responds

You'll receive a notification when someone initiates a trade from your listing. Open the trade in My Listings or Swap History and proceed through the 5-step swap.

→ See the full 5-step flow

4 Buying BTCT (paying DOGE)

🔍 Finding a listing

  1. Browse Bulletin Board for SELL listings
  2. Click "Start Swap" on the listing you want
  3. Enter the amount of BTCT to buy and confirm

📤 Proceeding with the trade

After the trade is created, the seller acts first. Once notified, open the trade from Swap History and follow each step as it becomes available.

⚠ī¸ Make sure your DOGE wallet has enough funds before starting. Check your balance in the Wallet tab.
5 The 5-step swap flow

Each step requires a button click that triggers a wallet signature. All signing happens locally in your browser — the server never touches your keys.

1
Seller

Generate & publish the secret hash (~12-hour timeout)

The seller generates a random secret and publishes its SHA-256 hash to the trade. Only the seller knows the original secret at this point. If BTCT is not locked within 12 hours, the trade is auto-cancelled.

2
Seller

Lock BTCT in an HTLC contract (~2-hour timeout)

The seller sends the BTCT to a hash time-locked contract. Only someone who knows the secret can claim it. After ~2 hours, the seller can refund.

3
Buyer

Lock DOGE in a P2SH HTLC contract (~6-hour timeout)

The buyer locks DOGE in a second HTLC using the same hash. The seller must reveal the secret to claim it. After ~6 hours, the buyer can refund.

4
Seller

Reveal the secret & claim DOGE

The seller broadcasts the secret on-chain to withdraw the DOGE. The moment they do, the secret becomes permanently visible on the blockchain.

5
Buyer

Use the revealed secret to claim BTCT

The buyer reads the secret from the blockchain and withdraws the BTCT from the HTLC. Trade complete! 🎉

💡 Why is this safe? In step 4, the seller must publish the secret to claim the DOGE. The instant they do, the buyer can use it to claim the BTCT. It's structurally impossible for one party to walk away with both assets.
6 What if a trade fails?

⏰ Automatic expiry

If the counterparty goes offline or the trade stalls, the contracts will expire after their respective timeouts:

🔔 Expiry notifications

The server automatically detects expired trades every 5 minutes and sends a real-time socket notification. When you open the trade page, the appropriate Refund button will appear automatically.

🚨 Refunds are not available before the timeout. Until then, the coins remain safely locked in their respective smart contracts.
7 Using BTCT Town

🎮 What is BTCT Town?

BTCT Town is a real-time pixel-art RPG connected to the DEX. You can walk around, see other traders, and post or accept listings — all without leaving the game.

🕹ī¸ Controls

đŸ“Ļ Trading in Town

  1. Approach the bulletin board NPC and press Space / ACT
  2. Click Post Listing to advertise your trade
  3. Look for speech bubbles above players — they show active listings
  4. All five swap steps can be completed directly in Town

🎨 Character customization

⛏ī¸ Pool mining in Town

You can mine BTCT directly in your browser without leaving Town. The mining spot is located at the top of the map (look for the ⛏ī¸ Mine label).

  1. Walk to the mining spot at the top of the Town map
  2. Press Space or tap ACT to open the Mining panel
  3. Set the number of threads (more threads = higher hashrate, more CPU usage)
  4. Click Start Mining — you're now connected to pool.btc-time.com
  5. Close the panel if you like — mining continues in the background
  6. The ⛏ī¸ button in the top bar blinks while mining is active
  7. The pool automatically pays out to your BTCT address every hour on the hour
⚠ī¸ Mining stops if you close or refresh the browser tab.
8 FAQ
Do I need to sign up or verify my identity? â–ŧ
No account required at all. Your wallet address is your identity. No email, no password, no KYC.
Can the server steal my coins? â–ŧ
No. The server never stores or accesses your private keys. All transaction signing happens locally in your browser. The server only relays trade metadata.
What are the fees? â–ŧ
There are no platform fees. You only pay the standard blockchain network fee when broadcasting a transaction — a tiny amount for BTCT and roughly 0.02 DOGE for DOGE transactions.
What if the other party cancels after I've locked my coins? â–ŧ
Your coins are safe. They're locked in a smart contract that only you can refund after the timeout. The counterparty cannot access your locked funds under any circumstances.
I lost my private key. Can I recover my wallet? â–ŧ
Unfortunately, no. Private keys are never stored on the server — only you hold them. Please back up your keys in a secure location immediately after creating a wallet.
Where can I get BTCT? â–ŧ
You can buy BTCT here on this DEX using DOGE. You can also learn more about Bitcoin Time at btc-time.com.
Is the source code available? â–ŧ
Yes, fully. The entire codebase is MIT-licensed and publicly available on GitHub. You can audit, fork, or self-host it freely.
9 Glossary
🔐 Atomic Swap
A technique to exchange two different cryptocurrencies simultaneously. Either both transfers complete or neither does — like an atom, it can't be split.
🔑 Private Key
The master password for your wallet. Anyone who has it can move your funds. Never share it.
đŸ“Ļ HTLC
Hash Time-Locked Contract — a "lockbox" on the blockchain. Coins inside can only be claimed with the correct secret, or returned to the sender after a timeout.
đŸĻ Non-custodial
The exchange never holds your funds. Your coins stay in your own wallet at all times.
⛓ī¸ Blockchain
A public, distributed ledger of transactions. Records are permanent and verifiable by anyone.
đŸ”Ŗ Hash
A fixed-length fingerprint of data. Easy to compute from the original, but impossible to reverse. Used here as the "lock" in the HTLC.
📡 Transaction (TX)
A signed message broadcast to the blockchain recording a transfer of funds. Once confirmed, it cannot be altered.
⏰ Timeout / Timelock
A deadline built into the HTLC. If the swap isn't completed in time, each party can reclaim their own coins. BTCT: 24 h, DOGE: 12 h.

Ready to make your first swap?

Set up your wallets and start trading — no sign-up required.

🚀 Launch DEX 🎮 BTCT Town