At its core, Waves is a decentralized platform that enables users to tokenize different assets such as gold, USD, or any other item that a user wants. Because of its functionality and potential to expand the reach of decentralization, Waves has grown exponentially that it ranked as the 11th biggest asset by market capitalization in 2017.
When the creators of Waves created the network, their vision was to create a more user-friendly version of Ethereum to assist in the wide-scale adoption of blockchain technology. Launched in 2016, this platform also supports the execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications.
To boost functionality and usability, Waves platform announced in 2020 that their system will run interoperable with Ethereum. Moreover, the Waves cryptocurrency (WVS) was also released as an ERC-20 asset.
What issues does Waves coin aim to address?
The main goal of Waves is to eliminate the technical barriers in digital assets, which often prevents people from delving into the concept. For beginners, the idea of having your own token comes with a tedious process of programming and protocols.
What Waves does is simply create a platform where people can easily launch their own tokens without the need to delve into the tricky parts of cryptocurrencies. On average, a person who wants to use the Waves platform only needs 5 minutes to complete their custom assets. Because of this, it can be used for crowdfunding and ICOs.
Waves cryptocurrency: Key features you should know about
Waves NG Protocol
The Waves network utilises a next-generation protocol that was designed after the Bitcoin NG protocol developed by programmers at Cornell University.
Through this consensus protocol, it can address the scalability issues that have been plaguing the crypto sphere since it was launched. To make things more efficient, Waves used the model of the algorithm and developed it into a proof of stake (PoS) system.
In the Waves’ version, the NG protocol they use is more productive compared to Bitcoin. This is because it breaks the nodes into two tiers that also makes the processing of crypto transfers easier and faster.
Moreover, they use key blocks and micro blocks to form a more efficient transaction process. With Waves’ PoS protocol, a miner node has to earn its right to create a key block. The key block will not have transaction information. Instead, it will have the coin base information that will give the node the signal to create a micro block.
A single micro block in the ledger is made of various transactions viewed by the node that has the information of the key block. The node will then add the transaction to the micro block then send information to the network signing to validate the transfer using a private key.
This process will continue until a new node is selected to generate new blocks of information to the network. Once a new block is chosen, the existing block will amalgamate with the micro blocks to form a new set of data that will be added to the chain.
Two types of nodes on the Wave blockchain
Full nodes
The full nodes in the Waves network are the first-tier nodes in the network. Usually, they’re the nodes that approve the transactions then add the new blocks of data to the chain. Only users who can stake up to 1,000 WVS assets are the ones eligible to run a full node in the blockchain.
Lightweight nodes
Aside from the full nodes, the Waves network also utilises lightweight nodes that make the network more scalable when it comes to processing crypto transactions.
What makes them different from the full nodes is that they function faster because they do not have to download massive information from the blockchain. Instead, they depend on the signals and confirmation coming from the validators from the full nodes.
Smart contracts
The Waves network allows the execution of smart contracts which has several features. This can be broken into four different concepts:
- Multi-signature wallets
- Atomic Swaps
- Token Freeze
- Decentralized Applications.
Gateways
One of the useful features of Waves is that they offer a lot of fiat gateways. This allows Waves cryptocurrency users to send or withdraw their funds in USD or EUR.
Custom Application Tokens (CATs)
At its core, Waves has custom application tokens (CATs) that can be utilised by users to create crypto coins in the network. Depending on the purposes, users can tokenize an asset and sell them.
This feature can be accessed through the Lite Client, which can run on PC, Android and iOS. Moreover, users can launch, distribute, and trade their personal tokens without hassle using the Waves network.
Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS)
The Waves network uses a special consensus mechanism called the Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) which increases the security of the network. The LPoS uses some characteristics of POS and adds new features that can make the network more robust and scalable.
Waves DEX
The Waves decentralized exchange (DEX) is one of the fastest crypto platforms in the world. With this new platform, users can easily create their own tokens and trade them with any other crypto or fiat in seconds.
Moreover, users can easily trade any Wave-based token without the need to undergo tedious programming. This makes it easier to access and launch other tokens on the network.
Staking
Instead of utilising the proof of work consensus which is energy-consuming, nodes within the chain use the proof of stake protocol.
To become a node in the network, users must stake a minimum of 1,000 tokens in the network. This then enables nodes to deposit large sums of tokens in the chain. The staking protocol also ensures that if a user commits unscrupulous acts in the network, their tokens will be slashed.
