Carbon is a decentralized layer 2 cross-chain trading protocol launched by Switcheo Labs, designed specifically to support trading of sophisticated & advanced financial instruments such as options, bonds and futures, at scale. Carbon is a custom-built sidechain that utilizes underlying technology from Cosmos Tendermint Core comprising:

As a layer 2 protocol, Carbon operates as a secondary framework that runs parallel to Layer 1 chains (i.e. Ethereum, Neo, Zilliqa), functioning independently while remaining anchored to their security. This enables faster trades, lower fees, support of sophisticated financial instruments, advanced order types, and cross-chain communication. The delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPOS) system built into Tendermint Core is utilized as Carbon's underlying consensus mechanism. This means the network is secured by a decentralized network of validator nodes that verify each transaction on the blockchain. 

Carbon enables cross-chain communication by acting as a bridge to sovereign blockchains, making use of a "relay chain" (Poly Network) to store and relay cross-chain transactions such as deposits and withdrawals between chains. This separate relay chain maintains block headers of participating chains which enables cross-chain communication. 

SWTH is the native governance token of Carbon. As the native governance token of Carbon, SWTH exists on different chains to open up the protocol to other blockchain ecosystems, enabling liquidity from external networks to flow into Carbon's ecosystem. With SWTH, anyone can be a liquidity provider on Carbon or external networks to earn from trading fees and additional farming incentives.

Carbon is a fully decentralized, community-driven development. With its on-chain governance feature, SWTH stakers are empowered to drive growth, enact changes and suggest improvements to the protocol. Powered by the SWTH token, stakeholders are entitled key decision-making power through their voting rights.