When Anyswap launched in July 2020, it promised something most crypto users didn’t even know they needed: a way to swap Bitcoin for Ethereum without using a centralized exchange. No KYC. No custody. Just direct, peer-to-peer swaps across blockchains. For a while, it felt like magic. But by late 2021, the platform vanished under a new name-Multichain-and the original Anyswap exchange is now gone. This isn’t just a review of a service that’s dead. It’s the story of what went right, what went wrong, and why cross-chain tech still matters today.
What Anyswap Actually Did
Anyswap wasn’t a typical crypto exchange. You couldn’t buy ANY tokens with a credit card. You couldn’t deposit fiat. Instead, it was a decentralized cross-chain swap protocol built on Fusion’s DCRM (Distributed Control Rights Management) technology. That fancy term just means it let you trade tokens between blockchains without wrapping them or using a middleman.
Think of it like this: if you had 1 BTC on Bitcoin and wanted 35 ETH on Ethereum, you’d normally need to move your BTC to a centralized exchange, sell it, then buy ETH and send it back to your wallet. Anyswap skipped all that. You connected your MetaMask or Trust Wallet, picked your tokens, and the system used cryptographic key sharding to move value directly from chain to chain. No one held your coins. Not even Anyswap.
It worked with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Fantom, Avalanche, Litecoin, and more. And it didn’t need a presale or venture funding. It launched on July 22, 2020, with $3.5 million in liquidity overnight. Within a day, it hit $7.79 million in daily volume. That’s rare in DeFi.
Why Anyswap Stood Out (At First)
Most cross-chain tools back then used wrapped tokens. For example, wBTC is Bitcoin locked up on Ethereum, represented by a token that’s supposed to be 1:1 backed. But wrapped tokens rely on custodians. If the custodian gets hacked or goes rogue, your wrapped asset is at risk.
Anyswap avoided that. It used Shamir’s Secret Sharing and MPC (Multi-Party Computation) to split private keys across nodes. No single node had full control. That made it more secure than bridges like Polygon’s PoS Bridge or RenBridge. Even Binance noticed. In October 2020, it gave Anyswap a $350,000 grant from its $100 million Accelerator Fund.
For experienced DeFi users, Anyswap was a game-changer. One Reddit user reported swapping 2.5 BTC for 50 ETH in a single transaction, saving $120 in fees compared to traditional methods. Another said they moved $10,000 from Ethereum to BSC without ever touching a centralized exchange.
The Downside: Liquidity, Speed, and Reliability
But Anyswap had a fatal flaw: it didn’t scale.
On February 26, 2021, its 24-hour trading volume was $1 million. Binance did $1.5 billion the same day. Anyswap’s liquidity pools were tiny. That meant high slippage. If you tried to swap $5,000 worth of ETH for FSN, you might end up getting 15% less than expected.
Transaction failures were common. During Ethereum network congestion, users reported three failed swaps in a row, losing $45 in gas fees each time. The system didn’t have a clear way to refund failed transactions. And customer support? Nearly nonexistent. On Trustpilot, 82% of negative reviews complained about slow or no responses.
For beginners, the learning curve was brutal. First-time users took 45 to 60 minutes to complete a swap. Many failed on the first try. Documentation was scattered across GitHub and the official site, and key details about cross-chain routing were missing. You had to understand gas limits, slippage tolerance, and blockchain-specific quirks just to get started.
What Happened to Anyswap?
By September 12, 2021, CoinMarketCap labeled Anyswap as an “Untracked Listing.” No volume. No data. No transparency. That’s a death sentence in crypto. A platform without tracked volume isn’t trusted. It’s ignored.
Then, on December 16, 2021, Anyswap quietly rebranded to Multichain. It wasn’t a simple name change. It was a full rebuild. The old Anyswap interface disappeared. The ANY token kept trading, but the original exchange was dead.
Multichain promised to fix everything: better liquidity, faster swaps, improved UI. But it didn’t. In July 2022, the Multichain Router v3 suffered a $120 million exploit. Hackers drained funds by exploiting a flaw in the multi-signature verification system. The platform lost credibility fast.
The ANY token hit an all-time high of $7.15 in January 2022, right after the rebrand. By December 2022, it was down to $0.85. Today, price predictions are all over the place-some say $14.55, others $3.20. No one knows.
How Anyswap Compared to the Competition
Here’s how Anyswap stacked up against similar tools at its peak:
| Feature | Anyswap | THORSwap | Synapse Protocol | Uniswap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supported Chains | 15+ | 10+ | 12+ | 1 (Ethereum) |
| Asset Type | Native swaps | Wrapped + native | Wrapped + native | Native only |
| Trading Fees | 0.30% maker / 0.40% taker | 0.15% flat | 0.10% flat | 0.30% flat |
| Liquidity (Peak) | $3.5M | $120M | $85M | $5B+ |
| Non-Custodial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best For | Advanced users needing cross-chain swaps | High-volume traders on Ethereum/BSC | Quick swaps between major chains | Ethereum-only swaps |
Anyswap’s biggest advantage was its tech. But its biggest weakness was execution. THORSwap and Synapse had more liquidity and better user interfaces. Uniswap was simpler and faster. Anyswap tried to do everything-but didn’t do any of it well enough.
Is Anyswap Still Usable Today?
No. The original Anyswap platform is offline. The website redirects to Multichain. The ANY token still trades on exchanges like KuCoin and Gate.io, but it’s no longer used to access the original swap service.
If you’re looking for a cross-chain solution today, you have better options:
- Multichain - the successor, but with a history of exploits. Use with caution.
- LayerZero - newer, backed by major VCs, used by projects like PancakeSwap and Aave.
- Wormhole - popular for Solana-Ethereum bridges, used by major DeFi apps.
- Connext - focuses on fast, low-cost transfers between Ethereum Layer 2s.
Anyswap’s legacy isn’t in its platform. It’s in proving that cross-chain swaps without wrapped assets are possible. The problem wasn’t the idea. It was the team’s inability to scale, secure, and support it.
Who Should Have Used Anyswap?
Only three types of people should’ve used Anyswap:
- Advanced DeFi users who understood gas fees, slippage, and blockchain congestion.
- Token holders who needed to move assets between chains without trusting a centralized exchange.
- Early adopters willing to tolerate failures for the sake of innovation.
If you were new to crypto, wanted to swap USDT to ETH quickly, or needed customer support when things went wrong-Anyswap was not for you. It was a tool for hackers, builders, and risk-takers.
Final Verdict: A Bold Experiment That Fell Short
Anyswap was never meant to be a user-friendly exchange. It was a technical experiment. And for a brief moment, it worked. It proved you could move Bitcoin to Ethereum without a middleman. That’s huge.
But crypto isn’t just about tech. It’s about reliability. It’s about trust. It’s about making things simple enough for real people to use.
Anyswap failed on all three. Its liquidity dried up. Its support vanished. Its user experience was a minefield. And when the exploit hit Multichain, the final nail was driven in.
The lesson? Innovation alone doesn’t win in crypto. Execution does. And Anyswap? It had the idea. It just didn’t have the stamina.
Is Anyswap still operational as a crypto exchange?
No. Anyswap officially rebranded to Multichain on December 16, 2021. The original Anyswap exchange platform is no longer accessible. The website redirects to Multichain, but the original service, interface, and liquidity pools have been shut down. Any attempt to use the old Anyswap site will lead to a dead page or a redirect.
What happened to the ANY token?
The ANY token still exists and trades on exchanges like KuCoin, Gate.io, and Bitrue. It reached an all-time high of $7.15 in January 2022 after the Multichain rebrand, but dropped to $0.85 by December 2022. Today, it trades below $1. While the token is still active, it no longer serves any function on the original Anyswap platform. Its value now depends entirely on speculation and its association with the struggling Multichain ecosystem.
Was Anyswap safe to use?
Technically, yes-because it was non-custodial. Your private keys never left your wallet. But safety isn’t just about custody. Anyswap had frequent transaction failures, especially during Ethereum congestion. Users lost hundreds in gas fees on failed swaps. There was no refund system. Customer support was nearly non-existent. So while your funds weren’t stolen by the platform, your time and money were often lost due to poor reliability.
Why did Anyswap fail when other cross-chain platforms succeeded?
Anyswap had superior technology with DCRM, but it lacked liquidity, user support, and scalability. Competitors like THORSwap and Synapse offered similar cross-chain swaps with better interfaces, deeper liquidity pools, and faster response times. Anyswap’s user base was small and technical, and it never expanded beyond that. When congestion hit, the system broke. When users complained, there was no help. Without community trust and operational stability, even the best tech fails.
What’s the best alternative to Anyswap today?
For cross-chain swaps today, LayerZero is the most trusted, used by major DeFi protocols like Aave and PancakeSwap. Wormhole is strong for Solana-Ethereum transfers. Connext is ideal for Ethereum Layer 2 swaps. Multichain is the direct successor to Anyswap, but it’s risky after the $120 million exploit in 2022. Only use it if you understand the risks and have small amounts at stake.
Can I still access my funds if I used Anyswap in 2021?
If you left tokens in an Anyswap liquidity pool or had pending swaps, you can still access them through the Multichain interface. However, the original Anyswap UI is gone. You’ll need to connect your wallet to Multichain’s website and manually retrieve any remaining assets. If you didn’t withdraw your tokens before the rebrand, check your wallet history on Etherscan or BSCScan to confirm what you still hold.
Dave Ellender
I used Anyswap back in 2020 when I was trying to move BTC to ETH without touching centralized exchanges. It was wild how it just worked. No KYC, no waiting. I lost a few bucks on gas when the network choked, but the tech was real. RIP Anyswap, you were ahead of your time.
Adam Fularz
this thing was a joke. too many fails, no support, and the UI looked like it was made in 2012. why would anyone use this over uniswap? its like buying a horse when teslas are free. lol
Linda Prehn
Honestly the whole thing felt like a middle finger to normal people. You had to be a crypto wizard just to swap two tokens. And don't even get me started on the lack of refunds. I lost $200 in gas and got zero help. This isn't innovation this is cruelty disguised as decentralization
Adam Lewkovitz
America built the internet. We didn't need some obscure protocol from a bunch of crypto bros to move coins. If you can't make it simple then you're not building for the people. Anyswap was a vanity project for people who think they're smarter than everyone else. And now it's dead. Good riddance.
Clark Dilworth
The DCRM architecture was genuinely novel - leveraging Shamir’s Secret Sharing with MPC nodes to eliminate single points of trust in cross-chain liquidity routing. That’s not just technical innovation, that’s cryptographic minimalism. The failure wasn’t the model, it was the lack of economic incentives for liquidity providers and the absence of a proper tokenomics feedback loop. The community didn’t scale because the value accrual mechanism was underengineered.
Brenda Platt
I remember when I first tried Anyswap and it took me 47 minutes to swap 0.1 ETH for FSN. I cried. I really did. But then I found LayerZero and now I’m back in the game. To everyone still using Multichain: please, just stop. You’re not being brave. You’re being reckless. You deserve better. 💔
Barbara Rousseau-Osborn
You people are so naive. You think ‘non-custodial’ means safe? Please. If your transaction fails and you lose $150 in gas, that’s not a feature - it’s negligence. And now you’re praising it like it’s some kind of martyr? Anyswap was a dumpster fire with a whitepaper. Multichain got hacked for $120M - guess what? Same team. Same arrogance. Same disaster.
george haris
I used Anyswap when I was just getting into DeFi. I didn’t know what slippage was. I didn’t know what gas was. I just wanted to move my tokens. It broke three times. I lost money. But I learned. And now I use LayerZero and I’m way better off. Anyswap didn’t fail because the tech was bad - it failed because no one taught you how to use it. We need more guides, not more tools that assume you’re already an expert.
Mark Estareja
The real tragedy isn’t the exploit or the rebrand. It’s that the people who built Anyswap thought they were revolutionizing finance. But they were just building a toy for insiders. The rest of us were collateral damage. I lost weeks of my life trying to get a swap to work. Now I just use Coinbase. It’s faster. It’s easier. And I sleep better.
David Zinger
Anyswap was Canadian tech disguised as American innovation. We had the same problem with RenBridge. Nobody in the US wants to admit it but Canada and Europe were building better cross-chain tools. This wasn’t a failure of tech - it was a failure of marketing. And now Multichain is just a ghost ship with a new name. Classic
steven sun
i still have some any tokens in my wallet. no idea what to do with them. maybe they’ll moon again? who knows lol
Sara Delgado Rivero
If you didn’t understand gas fees and slippage you shouldn’t have been using any of these protocols. That’s not the platform’s fault. That’s your fault. Anyswap was never for beginners. Stop pretending it was. The people who lost money were the ones who didn’t do their homework
Athena Mantle
Anyswap was a mirror. It showed us what crypto could be - raw, unfiltered, brutal. But it also showed us what we’ve become: a community that worships tech over humanity. We don’t need more chains. We need more care. More patience. More compassion. The real revolution isn’t in cryptography. It’s in how we treat each other when things go wrong.
carol johnson
I miss the early days. No influencers. No memes. Just people swapping tokens like it was magic. Anyswap was the last honest experiment. Now everything’s a tokenized NFT meme coin with a VC backing. We lost something beautiful. And now we’re just trading in ghosts.
Catherine Hays
The whole thing was a scam. They raised money under the guise of decentralization then sold out to the same VCs they claimed to hate. Multichain is just a rebrand of the same greed. Anyone who still holds ANY is either delusional or part of the team.
Chidimma Catherine
In Nigeria we dont have access to many of these platforms but i heard stories. People lost money. But also people learned. Maybe one day someone from Africa will build the next version that actually works for everyone not just the rich. We need tools that work on 2G networks and with $10 not $10000
Mike Stay
Anyswap’s failure is a textbook case of technological overreach without institutional maturity. The DCRM architecture represented a paradigm shift in trust minimization, yet the operational infrastructure - customer support, liquidity bootstrapping, UI/UX iteration - remained in a pre-industrial state. The protocol was a cathedral built on sand. The market rewarded execution, not aspiration. LayerZero’s success isn’t due to superior cryptography - it’s due to disciplined engineering, strategic partnerships, and a relentless focus on reliability. Anyswap had the vision. LayerZero has the discipline. In crypto, discipline wins. Vision dies.