Reading paths and public sources

Research cutoff: September 26, 2026. Sources below are grouped by chapter; inline links attach evidence to individual claims. Official documents establish stated designs and rules, not independent proof of effectiveness or a security audit by this series.

Main reading path

Historical cases

Market mechanisms

Technology and security

Research and sources

Public sources

ArcBlock protocol and API references are publicly readable:

Reading the evidence

Historical material is version-specific. Bitsquare Alpha is not current Bisq; OpenBazaar 1.0 limitations should not be applied unchanged to 2.0. Whitepapers and current service access policies are checked separately. This research does not quantify adoption or establish statistical causes of market share.

Legal sources include legislation, guidance, nonbinding staff positions, enforcement announcements and judicial text. The SEC's 2026 interface statement is from Trading and Markets staff, not a Commission rule. The 2026 Storm order is accessed through a public mirror of the judicial text. Case status can change. The legal chapter examines representative jurisdictions rather than offering a global legal opinion.

Why markets need intermediaries

CEXs, exchange-backed chains and white-label markets

Bisq: the exchange on your own computer

Bitmarkets: can deposits replace an arbitrator?

OpenBazaar: offline shops and the search problem

Ethereum and 0x: orders need not live on-chain

How AMMs changed the counterparty problem

Intents and solvers: who chooses your route?

One agreement, different settlement chains

Privacy, MEV and new attack surfaces

Market freedom and specific responsibilities

Robert Mao: November 2022 DEX architecture deck, 17 slides, WIP/DRAFT