Waves blockchain is a flexible and developer-friendly blockchain platform, allowing anyone to create custom WAVES tokens, build decentralized apps, and launch Web3 projects without deep low-level coding.
It focuses on speed, simplicity, and usability, whereby WAVES crypto is utilized for paying transaction fees, participating in securing the network, and also for interacting with apps that are set on top of the protocol. For traders and investors, Waves offers exposure to an ecosystem focused on low-cost, highly scalable tokenization and DeFi.
What is Waves?
Waves is a layer-1 blockchain that went live in 2016, enabling users to create and transfer digital assets, as well as run smart-contract-like logic, interact with its built-in DEX. Unlike some platforms requiring complex development of smart contracts from scratch, Waves provides tools and templates so projects can easily issue WAVES tokens and launch crowdsales with a minimum amount of code.
Wave is the underlying token of the ecosystem, paying for network fees, can be leased to a validator node, and serves as a base asset for many on-chain markets. This makes Waves appealing for such use cases as token launches, community coins, and applications in need of fast, reasonably priced transactions.
Who Created Waves Blockchain?
Waves was founded by Alexander “Sasha” Ivanov, a physicist and entrepreneur who had previously launched Coinomat, an early crypto-fiat exchange, and CoinoUSD, a proto-stablecoin linked to the U.S. dollar. Ivanov founded Waves Platform AG in 2016 and raised funds via an initial coin offering (ICO) in April 2016, after which the Waves mainnet went live later that year.
It was designed to be more user-friendly and scalable than the earlier blockchains, a one-stop shop where companies and individuals could issue WAVES tokens, execute DeFi-style applications, and experiment with tokenized business models.
How does Waves Blockchain work?
It constitutes a consensus algorithm based on Proof of Stake, namely Leased Proof of Stake, along with the scaling technology in Waves-NG.
Key components
Leased Proof of Stake – LPoS
Any holder of the WAVES crypto can “lease” his or her tokens to a full node without giving up ownership, increasing the effective stake of that node and its chance to generate blocks.
In return, leasers receive part of the block rewards and transaction fees.
A node typically needs a minimum of 1,000 WAVES generating balance to allow block production, thus encouraging decentralization while at the same time keeping the load on hardware at modest levels.
Waves-NG protocol
Waves-NG is inspired by Bitcoin-NG; it will improve the throughput through splitting blocks into “key blocks” and “microblocks.”
A leader node produces a key block, then rapidly appends microblocks containing transactions every few seconds, enabling the network to handle about 100 transactions per second in practice, much higher than traditional PoW chains.
Combined, LPoS and Waves-NG should guarantee the properties of fast finality, low fees, and energy-efficient consensus, while still enabling regular token holders to contribute to securing the network via leasing.
How Is the Waves Blockchain System Different?
Waves differs from other Layer-1 networks in its focus on token issuance, LPoS consensus, and NG-based scaling. Here’s a high-level comparison:
| Feature | Waves | Bitcoin | Ethereum (post-Merge) | Solana |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus | Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) | Proof of Work | Proof of Stake (PoS) | PoS + Proof of History |
| Scaling Tech | Waves-NG (key + microblocks, ~100 TPS) | Base L1, ~3–7 TPS | Rollups + sharding roadmap | High TPS, parallel execution |
| Token Issuance | Built-in, low-code asset creation | Not native (uses secondary layers) | Smart contracts (Solidity) | Smart contracts (Rust/C, more dev overhead) |
| Staking Model | Lease WAVES to nodes; earn rewards without running a node | Mining (hardware-intensive) | Direct staking or via pools | Validator/Delegation model |
| Focus | Easy tokenization, dApps, DeFi, DEX | Store of value, settlement | General-purpose smart contracts/DeFi | High-performance DeFi, consumer apps |
This combination of LPoS, NG scaling, and built-in token tools makes Waves particularly suited for projects that need fast, low-friction token creation and trading, including crowdfunding, in-app WAVE crypto, and DeFi primitives.
Why Does Waves Hold Value?
The WAVES token has value within the ecosystem for the following reasons:
- Network utility: The WAVES crypto is needed to cover transaction fees, issue tokens, and interact with applications on-chain, creating a sustained demand from both users and developers.
- Staking and leasing: Holders can lease WAVES tokens to validator nodes for a portion of block rewards and fees. This has a yield-like incentive for long-term holding.
- Ecosystem growth: As more tokens, dApps, and DeFi projects launch on Waves, activity on the network increases, which can translate into higher demand for WAVES as gas and as a base asset in markets.
- Scarcity and economics: While specifics of supply dynamics depend on protocol parameters and governance decisions over time, the combination of staking incentives and network usage is designed to balance availability with utility.
Market value ultimately reflects supply and demand, sentiment, and how successfully the ecosystem continues to attract users, developers, and liquidity.
Read more: Top 10 Crypto to Invest
Why Use Waves?
Users and builders may have several strategic reasons for choosing Waves:
- With Waves, creating tokens is comparatively easy and often does not require extensive smart contract compilations; this is a great selling point for businesses, DAOs, and communities alike.
- Fast, low-cost transactions: The Waves-NG protocol enables high throughput and low latency, making it suitable for applications that require frequent micro-transactions, such as DEX trading or token distributions.
- Energy-efficient participation: LPoS sidesteps the energy-intensive mining process. Thus, token holders can lease WAVES crypto from a simple wallet to take part in helping to secure the network and earn a share of rewards.
- Built-in DEX and DeFi tooling: Historically, Waves has housed a decentralized exchange and asset management tools directly within its ecosystem to lower the barrier to launching and trading new assets.
For traders and investors alike, holding WAVES crypto means exposure to a blockchain focused on tokenization and scalable on-chain activity with added potential yield from leasing.
Final Thoughts
Waves (WAVES) is a mature blockchain platform that combines a user-friendly token issuance toolkit, an energy-efficient Leased Proof of Stake consensus, and a scaling solution in Waves-NG to deliver fast, low-cost transactions. Its design targets real-world use cases, such as tokenized assets, crowdfunding, and DeFi, at a time when on-chain efficiency and usability are more important than ever.
For those exploring diversified crypto exposure beyond major networks, understanding how Waves works and how WAVES derives value from network activity can help inform a more nuanced portfolio and development strategy.
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FAQs
- What is Waves blockchain?
Waves is used to pay transaction fees, issue and transfer custom tokens, interact with dApps and DeFi protocols on the Waves blockchain, and participate in network security through leasing to validator nodes.
- Who founded Waves, and when did it launch?
Waves was founded by Alexander “Sasha” Ivanov, a Russian-born physicist and entrepreneur, and the platform launched in 2016 following an ICO earlier that year.
- What is Leased Proof of Stake?
Waves’ consensus is the Leased Proof of Stake, a model in which WAVES holders can lease their tokens to full nodes to increase their chances of producing blocks and, by extension, sharing in their rewards without actually transferring ownership of the leased tokens.
- How does Waves-NG differ from other scaling approaches?
Waves-NG extends the Bitcoin-NG concept of separating key blocks from microblocks, such that a leader node can generate the microblocks containing transactions very fast, hence giving very high throughput, with less confirmation time compared to traditional single-block model approaches.
- How do WAVES crypto holders receive rewards?
WAVES holders are able to lease their tokens to generating nodes on the network. When the nodes generate blocks and collect transaction fees, a share of the rewards is distributed back to lessees according to the leasing agreements.
