About the Waves project
The project is a decentralized platform aimed at working with user tokens. The platform provides access to:
- conducting initial coin offering (ICO) companies;
- creating your own custom tokens;
- exchanging tokens for fiat money with minimal commissions;
- purchase and sale of financial instruments;
It should be emphasized that the system itself is focused primarily on working with user tokens.
Even at the initial stage, the developers set themselves the goal of reducing the volatility of their own token and expanding the number of ways to raise funds.
The exchange built into the platform allows you to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat money with minimal commissions. At the same time, the number of supported fiat currencies is growing regularly. As a result, during the initial placement of user coins, it is possible to determine the cost of a new token and raise funds for a new project in 3 ways:
- in bitcoins;
- in wav tokens;
- in phytanic funds (dollar and euro);
Using browser plugins allows you to run a crowdfunding campaign directly from your browser.
In addition, the functionality of the platform will allow trading of financial instruments in compliance with current legislation.
Thus, the developers position the project not exclusively as a cryptocurrency platform, but as a multi-platform:
- trading platform supporting commodity trading;
- a means of co-financing projects;
- an exchange trading tool for both cryptocurrencies and financial assets and fiat money;
Buying and selling coins
Waves digital currency is traded on 30 exchanges.
Including:
- Binance;
- Bittrex;
- Kraken;
- EXMO;
- Livecoin;
- HitBTC;
- YoBit.
You can exchange the “wave” coin for Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrency, or for fiat.
The EXMO exchange supports the WAVES/RUB exchange pair, and clients of the Kraken platform have access to the WAVES/EUR and WAVES/USD pairs.
For a complete list of exchanges, trading pairs, as well as the current waves coin rate, see https://www.coingecko.com/ru/Cryptocurrencies/waves#markets.
Waves.Exchange website on December 2, 2020 .
You can register on the site and receive a web wallet address or import data from an existing WAVES client and exchange wave tokens for traditional money or digital coins.
Link to registration page https://waves.exchange/create.
The Waves.Exchange application is available for installation on your smartphone.
You can store cryptocurrency and fiat money in it and, if necessary, perform a quick exchange.
History of the platform creation
Waves cryptocurrency is a project of our compatriot Alexander Ivanov, who, when created, was guided by another blockchain platform - NXT. Several team members had previously worked on this project. The project was launched in 2016 .
The crowdfunding company, which started in mid-April 2016, even at the creation stage helped developers attract more than 30 thousand bitcoins, which by the summer of 2020 was equivalent to 15-16 million dollars . On the first day, 2 million USD was collected.
On June 7, a test version of the platform was launched, and in November a full release was released, after which third-party users were able to issue their own tokens on this platform.
A total of 100 million wave tokens were issued, of which 85% were sold during the ICO, and the remaining 15% were reserved for developers. Already in June 2020, the project entered the top 10 in terms of capitalization among cryptocurrencies with an indicator of $552 million.
After a correction at the beginning of 2020, the rate decreased and today the token is in 36th place with a value of 477 million. The price is $4.77 per token, which is equivalent to 293 rubles. Below you can see the exchange rate to the dollar and ruble at the moment.
Project overview and concept
Waves cryptocurrency operates on the Leased PoS algorithm – a variation of the “Proof of Stake” concept, which was modeled on the NXT project. The basis of the LPoS principle is the distribution of profits between cryptocurrency holders when users receive a commission for transactions.
At the same time, only the so-called full nodes can earn money, while others have the right to lease their funds to them, with the distribution of profits between the lessor and the “miner” node..
Strictly speaking, Waves is not just another cryptocurrency; to define the project as such would be technically incorrect. His team presents the product as a blockchain system with certain functions.
This is a decentralized platform focused on working with user tokens. It supports:
- purchase and sale, exchange of financial instruments;
- raising funds;
- conducting crowdfunding campaigns;
- Users can create their own tokens, with people able to specify how much they will cost;
- exchange cryptocurrency for traditional fiat money, with a low transfer fee;
- the presence of a decentralized voting system;
- support for plugins that expand the capabilities of the system.
System participants can issue and trade their assets, exchange and invest, and raise funds for their own projects. Thus, the site performs the functions of an exchange and crowdfunding platform.
How to find the official website of the waves cryptocurrency?
The official website of the waves platform is wavesplatform.com. There is no version of the Waves platform in Russian, but the blockchain platform has a developed community on social networks, in addition, there is an official wiki project that supports the Russian language and contains a description of all the necessary functions and capabilities.
Waves introduced the world's first ever decentralized crypto exchange, DEX. The new exchange also provides a new type of transaction - users of such a crypto exchange are able to trade any pair of tokens without the need to conduct transactions with intermediate currencies. In the new crypto exchange, applications are processed at lightning speed, usually in a few milliseconds.
Platform and token characteristics:
- starting with a reward size of 50 MRT in March 2020, every 50,000 blocks the miner’s reward will be reduced by 5 MRT;
- in order to become a node (a unit of a node supporting a network), the user must have a minimum balance of 10,000 Waves;
- the total number of nodes is limited to one hundred pieces (list of all available nodes);
- the block size is 24 kb, and the block time is up to 1 minute;
- The current transfer fee is 0.001 Waves. The commission for a purchase/sale transaction is 0.03 Waves;
- The profitability from POS mining is about one and a half percent per annum. There is a calculator on the official Waves website for calculations;
- The capitalization at the time of issue is more than $500 million with a price per coin of more than $5;
- Traded on Bittrex, Exmo, Yobit, Binance, Tidex and many others.
In general, the waves cryptocurrency is an improved copy of Ethereum, on the basis of which tokens are also created and a lot of people use it.
The difference is that Ethereum is more popular than WAVES, but time will pass and they will become equal in importance.
Ethereum today costs $300, and vaves $5, and if we understand that the price will be the same, then in a year the waves cryptocurrency will cost the same $300. Do you understand how much you can earn from this?
Waves Manifesto
The creators of Waves have their own original vision of the situation in the financial world and the blockchain ecosystem. They were formulated in seven points of the manifesto.
The developers emphasize that they did not set themselves the task of making “another cryptocurrency” by filling a profitable niche; their goal is to create a product designed for widespread use in the future. The authors of Waves are not going to go against the traditional banking system.
They want banks to become more open to new technologies and work primarily for the benefit of society.
The main goal of the platform is the development of decentralization technologies, since only it will ensure mass adoption of the blockchain.
The fourth point of the manifesto defines the authors’ attitude to blockchain as a whole: in their opinion, it is not so much money as transparent and equal business relations.
The main area of application of the Waves platform is working with crowdfunding projects, as conceived by the developers.
The service does not issue a new cryptocurrency on its own – it provides users with the opportunity to operate with existing coins and create new ones.
The final section of the manifesto expresses confidence that it is impossible to do without interaction with classical financial institutions. Such interaction opens up great prospects for improvement and change for the better in the world of crypto and fiat currencies. At the same time, the process is seen not as an explosive revolution, but as a rapid evolution of the financial world.
Technology and features
As already mentioned, the operation of the cryptocurrency in question is based on the LPoS algorithm - a modification of the consensus used for the NXT currency. The number of coins is limited: 100 million coins were issued, of which 85 million were sold during the ICO, and another 15 million were reserved for the needs of the system.
Earnings in Waves come from transaction fees: not every node of the system participates in the distribution of profits, but only the so-called “full” one. A “full node” today means a network node that meets the following requirements:
- a full-featured client is installed on the host;
- the connection to the network is open (i.e., the necessary host ports are not blocked by a firewall, and the host itself is not behind an anonymizer such as Tor, etc.);
- the balance of the owner’s wallet is at least 10 thousand tokens.
Other nodes cannot participate in the “mining” process. But they have the right to rent out tokens and make a profit.
Features include:
- Speed of transactions.
- The blockchain platform balances the load, choosing among full nodes those that have the right to create new blocks, based on the wallet balance. There are about 100 such nodes in total, which ensures a consistently high speed of block creation. All other nodes are only allowed to rent tokens.
- Possibility of exchange for crypto and fiat currency.
- Waves has cryptocurrency gateways that allow the user to exchange their tokens for traditional money for a small fee.
- Easy to convert to digital and offline currency.
- Low exchange commission.
- Ease of launching crowdfunding based on Waves.
- All you need to do to launch a fundraising campaign is to create your own crypto asset and release it in an ICO. At the same time, users who have purchased the asset will be able to trade it on the exchange themselves.
- Plugin support.
- Availability of a “light” client in the form of a browser plugin.
- Support for an encrypted messaging system and decentralized voting.
- Support for assets in the form of major cryptocurrencies.
- The reputation system (“Karma”) of users, which evaluates the number of transactions carried out by the node, tokens issued, and the quality of reviews received from other users of the system.
- Transaction security.
Platform Disadvantages
Like any similar cryptocurrency platform, Waves has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, during the operation of the platform since its launch in 2020, many users noted periodic glitches, rather comparable to bugs that are inherent in any services of this kind.
However, these small nuances can take away valuable time from users and can also cause a short-term drop in the value of coins.
Secondly, as with everything in the cryptocurrency world, it is impossible to eliminate the risks of fraud. But Waves uses a KYC system that helps identify each customer.
Thirdly, it is worth noting that when creating your own tokenization model, you need to clearly understand how it will comply with the laws. Some countries are not entirely loyal to such activities, so you should carefully study the legal side of the issue.
Risks of the Waves model
Experts do not deny the advantages of the concept, but emphasize that there are certain risks:
- legal nature. A user who wants to launch a global project based on the Waves cryptocurrency must be well-versed legally. The problem is that the model may not comply with the laws of some countries, and you will probably have to look for a state with more lenient legislation to launch the project;
- technical risks. No computer program is immune from errors - the software implementation of Waves is no exception. Software failures in relation to cryptocurrency lead to a decrease in its value, which is undesirable for an investor. This type of risk is inherent in any crypto-financial system;
- fraud. No matter how advanced and secure the technology is, there will always be someone who wants to make money from it dishonestly. It is impossible to completely get rid of this, but the risk is minimized to a certain extent thanks to the implementation of a rating system and Know Your Customer - rating for hosted projects.
Short story
The Waves project began in 2020 and was founded by Russian businessman Alexander Ivanov. In creation, he was guided by the NXT platform.
Alexander’s achievements include several projects: the launch of the first instant cryptocurrency exchange Coinomat.com, the first fiat token CoinoUSD and the first cryptocurrency exchange index Coinoindex.com, and also created a venture fund investing in projects related to cryptocurrencies Cryptoasset.fund.
The team includes 9 more people, among whom are mainly developers. More detailed information about the team can be found on the project website. Waves headquarters is located in Moscow, Russia.
Waves made history even before the official start. At the creation stage, the crowdfunding company helped the organizers raise 30 thousand Bitcoins. For the summer of 2020, this amount was equivalent to 15-16 thousand dollars. Waves became the seventh product in history in terms of the number of funds voluntarily raised for its creation. And on September 27, news appeared on Forbes.
Since then, the Waves platform has been actively expanding and developing: the DEX cryptocurrency exchange was launched, and recently several companies announced the start of accepting Waves tokens as a means of payment.
100 million coins were issued: 85 million were sold during the ICO, 9 million remained for the development team, 4 million for strategic partners, 1 million for post-ICO rewards and 1 million for early investors.
Subsequently, several large and smaller ICOs were held on the platform: MobileGo (a marketing disk for a mobile gaming platform), EncryptoTel (a VoIP and telecommunications service provider), Incent (a blockchain loyalty scheme) and others.
In June 2020, the coin entered the Top 10 digital assets by market capitalization.
Waves Manifesto
The creators of the platform published 7 points of vision for the development of the crypto industry and the financial sector of the economy as a whole, united in a Manifesto.
The manifest looks like this:
- The authors do not have the goal of creating “another cryptocurrency” for the purpose of making a profit. The authors set themselves the goal of a project that will be in demand in the future.
- The developers focus on the development of decentralization, as they see this as the basis for the implementation of blockchain technologies.
- The developers do not oppose the project to the banking system, but advocate fruitful cooperation.
- The authors position blockchain as such not as money, but as an opportunity to have transparent and equal relationships.
- According to the authors, the purpose of the platform is to work with crowdfunding projects.
- The emission of the token is limited, the project is aimed at the possibility of creating your own tokens, as well as interaction with existing ones.
- The developers hope for the evolution of the financial world, as a result of which interaction between the crypto sector and the real world will be built.
Features and Specifications
The founders of the waves cryptocurrency believe that the implementation of blockchain technologies will go faster and cover more areas of human activity, provided that the following problems are solved:
- Blockchain's core objective of enabling the transfer of value through the "tokenization" of digital assets is often overshadowed by other considerations, such as a focus on smart contracts.
The Waves platform makes it easy to buy and sell various digital assets on crypto platforms, regardless of which fiat or cryptocurrency is dominant in any part of the world. - ICO is an important component of launching a blockchain project, but organizing the pre-sale of tokens is a complex process.
One of the main advantages of the Waves project is its intention to become the most effective and convenient platform for launching ICOs.The platform includes the Waves decentralized exchange (DEX), which allows you to exchange digital tokens for Waves coin or any other token created on the platform.
DEX supports the exchange of digital currencies for fiat currencies, such as US dollars or euros.
- Blockchain must be scalable and decentralized.
To improve network throughput, Waves uses the Waves-NG protocol, which reduces block creation time and the likelihood of unnecessary forks. - Smart contract mechanisms must be optimized to work with different assets.
The Waves platform makes this task easier with a special smart contract language called RIDE, which allows you to create categories such as “ smart assets ” and “ smart accounts ”.
Waves aims to be a one-stop solution for a variety of blockchain use cases. It is based on the " colored coin " method, which involves managing real-world assets through their association with addresses on the blockchain.
Tokens created on the basis of Waves can be linked to fiat currencies and other real assets, such as bonds, intellectual property, shares.
Waves' architecture allows third-party developers the flexibility to create and execute new types of transactions in an environment reminiscent of the app stores most users are familiar with.
Creating custom tokens means making settlements easier as tokens are customized to suit the needs of users and investors participating in the ICO.
They can be used as a stake in a decentralized voting model or as part of a ranking system.
And also when launching a customer loyalty program or discounts with rewards.
For example, Burger King customers were able to receive one Whoppercoin token for every ruble spent in restaurants.
Company partnership
During its development, the project has established cooperation with many well-known companies. Among these are:
- BioViva is a US research and development company developing a “cure for aging” based on gene therapy;
- signing a strategic memorandum with;
- digital division of Gazprombank (to promote comprehensive services for conducting ICOs);
- a joint project with the domestic political Party of Growth;
- cooperation with the Mycelium crypto wallet service;
And this list is regularly updated.
Existing risks in the Waves model
The Waves platform, like most cryptocurrency platforms, is not without risks when using it. There can be 3 types of these:
- Legal. A problem common to many other platforms. A startup creator who wants to launch his project based on Waves must take into account the compliance of the platform with the laws of the country where the launch takes place (China can be cited as an example of a state with a complete ban on ICOs).
- Fraud. Although the project implements a system of assessments and ratings - Know Your Customer, cases of illegal behavior cannot be completely excluded.
- Technical risks. You can never completely insure yourself against possible technical errors in software; it is impossible to completely exclude the human factor. And, as you know, a person tends to make mistakes. Nevertheless, developers make every effort to reduce the risks of failures and errors to a minimum and, in the future, make their occurrence almost impossible.
- Global. We can never rule out general risks that can affect the entire cryptocurrency world as a whole. It can never be ruled out that at some point in time the industry will cease to exist.
Coin mining
Waves mining is based on the LpoS , which is an improved version of the PoS algorithm. It provides network participants with the opportunity to lease their own balances in exchange for a share of Waves production.
That is, mining itself can only be done by full nodes, some “selected” network participants who will be directly involved in the generation of new blocks. The number of such nodes cannot exceed 100 units, which will ensure the generation of a new block every 10 seconds.
The minimum possible amount on a node’s balance is 10,000 tokens; the larger the balance, the greater the chance of generating a new block and earning money. The constructed system allows each participant to participate in maintaining the project network.
In fact, mining occurs through leasing, and the user can choose a trusted node at his own discretion. For the end user there is no need to have powerful equipment. It is enough to have an ordinary computer or smartphone with a browser.
To start leasing directly, you need a Waves client; a simplified level client, Waves Lite, .
To rent out your own balance, you must complete the following steps:
- Install and launch Waves Client.
- Log in by entering your mailbox and password.
- In the application, go to the Leasing tab (by selecting the letter “L”).
- Specify the Waves address where you plan to organize the rental; for example, this could be a net or WavesGo pool.
- Specify the number of tokens you want to rent from your balance.
- Choose a commission that will affect the speed of transactions.
- Start the leasing procedure - click the “Lease” button.
- By clicking confirmation, you start leasing your balance.
To cancel a rental, you need to make an entry in the transaction history in the options and then confirm this process.
It should also be understood that by “mining” on the network, the user does not receive newly mined coins, but a commission for making transactions on the network.
We will briefly describe what actions need to be performed in order to configure a full node.
- Install a working environment on your computer
- Download the latest jar and configuration file. Place them in one folder on your hard drive.
- Open the configuration file (using Notepad or any other text editor) and make the settings. When setting up, it is advisable to follow the official instructions so as not to make mistakes.
- Encrypt your API key.
- Download the blockchain and install apikey and apikeyhash in the configuration file, configure the external IP address.
- When the blockchain is completely downloaded, the start process will begin.
Mining Waves
the Proof of Stake consensus algorithm .
But, later, the developers released a modified LPoS (Leased Proof of Stake) protocol.
In classic PoS, to participate in mining, each user must store a certain amount of tokens in the official wallet.
The LPoS algorithm used by Waves makes it possible to lease the wallet balance to full nodes, which are responsible for the health of the network.
Miners create balances using the funds of other users and pay them a portion of the profits for this.
You can either run a full node on your PC or lease coins to other users.
Full nodes in the Waves system process transactions and generate new crypto blocks.
The “thicker” the miner’s wallet, the greater the chance that he will be trusted to create the next block.
Advantages of LPoS:
- Leasing does not at all imply the transfer of funds to the node’s wallet.
The coins remain yours, you just need to activate leasing and select a miner. - Income depends on the efficiency of the full node.
You can terminate the lease whenever you wish without the approval of the node and give the funds to another mining operator. - Remuneration for the rental of assets can be paid both in WAVES coins and in other tokens issued within the platform.
In LPoS, the minimum threshold for a miner’s personal balance is 1000 WAVES; you can attract additional funds by launching a pool.
Since all waves coins are issued, miners receive profit only from processing financial transactions.
Accordingly, the amount of payment to the lessor depends on the number of transactions included in this block.
The Waves-NG protocol, developed on top of Bitcoin-NG, reduces transaction latency and increases throughput without sacrificing network security.
The scalability problem is solved by continuously managing the block during the mining process in a continuous manner.
The liquid block era is extended until the next key block is created, allowing micropayments to be processed without delay.
Thanks to Waves-NG, the system can withstand increased loads during airdrops and ICOs. The concept of the protocol is based on dividing blocks into two types:
- Key block;
- Microblock.
The Waves-NG chain structure is formed as follows:
- The node is allowed to create a new block.
- Key Blocks are being generated.
The volume of the key block is minimal; it only includes the miner’s public identification key, which is necessary for the formation of microblocks. - The miner processes transactions and includes them in microblocks, which are generated every 3 seconds.
Each block has a header that contains the cryptographic hash of its predecessor. - Microblocks are created until the next Key Blocks referencing the liquid block is released.
After verification, the microblocks are combined with the key block, and the new block is displayed on the waves explorer.The generation period for Key Blocks is 30-60 seconds.
If an attempt is made to double spend, the miner is deprived of his reward, and the commission is transferred to the node that discovered the attacker.
In addition to full nodes, master nodes also work in the Waves blockchain.
They are designed to carry out transactions over an encrypted channel.
The list of public nodes is available via the REST API https://nodes.wavesnodes.com.
Wallet Waves
If you plan to use your tokens for purposes other than regular trading, it is advisable to get your own wallet to store WAV. It will also definitely be needed by those network users who want to earn money by renting out their balance.
There are 3 options here:
- installing a full-fledged wallet on your computer;
- using a browser version of the wallet;
- installing a mobile version of the wallet;
The system itself is built in such a way that the tokens are actually stored not in the wallet itself, but directly in the blockchain, they are encrypted with a private SEED key. And the wallet is a kind of link that allows you to get access to these coins using the SEED key.
SEED also has a very important function - it allows you to restore access to your account or import the wallet to another device (again, we emphasize that the wallet is only a tool; in fact, the tokens are stored in another place).
To get yourself a browser wallet, you need to follow these steps:
- Visit the official website of the Waves Wallet https://waveswallet.io/
- Since we are creating a new wallet, we make the appropriate choice - click “New Account”.
- We enter the username, password and confirmation, we receive the wallet address and SEED key, which we must save in a safe place.
- This will complete the setup and creation process.
Note that there is also a version of the wallet for mobile platforms - for IOS and Android.
Installing a full-fledged wallet involves downloading the entire blockchain, about 35 GB in size, and installing it on your computer. Available for download at https://wavesplatform.com/product
In addition to the Windows platform, macOS and Linux are also supported. And the wallet itself, in addition to WAV tokens, also allows you to store bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, zcash, dollars and euros.'
Secure wallets
The WavesFX wallet is designed for installation on a computer.
Its functions are to store and make transactions in the “wave” cryptocurrency.
You can use it to trade on the stock exchange.
Waves wallet FX is a lightweight version of the wallet.
Once installed, you will not be able to directly participate in mining.
To download the full node.
follow the link https://docs.wavesplatform.com/en/waves-node/how-to-install-a-node/how-to-install-a-node.html and follow the instructions from the developers.
The developers suggest using SIGN as an alternative wallet.
This web application only works in a browser with the Waves Keeper extension installed.
Available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera.
“Wave” coins are supported by the Ledger hardware safe of any modification.