Overview
Waves is one of the most innovative cryptocurrency platforms ever to be launched. A great deal of waves potential has yet to be realized but that should not be seen as a disqualification – in fact it should be seen as quite the opposite. The fact of the matter is that waves is a very strong platform undergoing massive development with a wide range of functionality. Waves is attempting to provide a solution to one of the most significant issues preventing mainstream cryptocurrency adoption: transferring fiat into crypto. The waves team is not limiting themselves to one single function though. In fact, the scope of the waves platform is much larger. From their decentralized exchange to simplified smart contracts that allow for easy token creation, the waves platform has a lot to offer. We will examine the most innovative features of waves, how they are all interconnected and how each possess the potential to be a massive market of its own. Most importantly, we will discuss how these features complement one another and add tremendous value to the platform as a whole.
FEATURES OF WAVES
The most powerful feature of waves are the “fiat gateways” – which are methods of instantaneous cryptocurrency purchasing through the use of traditional fiat currency. Consider that one of the main objections people typically have towards investing in cryptocurrency is that the process is too complicated and overly challenging. Today it takes between 7-9 days to transfer money into an exchange and can run up quite a tab in commission and fees. The other option is to deposit cash directly via Bitcoin ATM’s which charge shockingly high fees ranging from 7-18%. Waves is trying to cut out that week-long wait and get rid of those unnecessary fees. For this reason, waves could prove to be one of the keys towards mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. Fiat gateways provide easy onramps into crypto. The ability to instantly transfer a U.S. dollar for the equivalent value of a digital currency is huge. People would take crypto much more seriously if they knew investing was as simple as transferring money from one account to another. Waves could be on the precipice of a major industry upset. If waves is able to lock up a few key partnerships it would allow everyday investors access to the crypto markets like never before.
The incredible thing about waves is that they didn’t stop there. Being the world’s first official crypto onramp was simply not enough for this brilliant, highly ambitious team. There are several other features of the platform that are also very innovative and important. The Waves DEX (decentralized exchange) perfectly complements the fiat gateways as the perfect onramp to cryptocurrency investing. The decentralized exchange boasts true peer-to-peer trading with virtually no transaction fees. The waves team is constantly working on this feature of the platform, adding new currencies to the DEX every other day. The trading volumes are currently very low and increasing liquidity is their primary concern. The decentralized exchange space is very hot in crypto right now and there is a lot of competition. However, all other decentralized exchanges are struggling to increase liquidity as well. Waves has a couple of major advantages, after all it was the first project to conceive of the decentralized exchange in the first place. They have by far the most man hours spent in development. They actively seek out partnerships to increase liquidity through their fiat gateways and other decentralized exchanges have little community support relative to waves - which is essential to building and maintaining satisfactory trading volumes.
Waves also enables decentralized application development much like Ethereum. However, waves has a very different approach. Waves uses simplified smart contracts that enable easy token creation. Tokens built on the waves platform are essentially plug-ins, which means no coding knowledge is required to create a waves token. The major benefit of creating a token on the waves platform is that it provides existing businesses looking to leverage blockchain technology an easy, cost-effective solution to tokenizing their business model. As the CEO and founder of waves puts it, “One of the core Waves missions is to enable any business with development prospects, regardless of its size and geographical location, to run the ICO and raise funds for growth and development. We are deeply convinced that in the new digital economy, the ICO can compete with other tools for raising investment both in the high-tech industry and in the real sector and industry.” MobileGo is a great example of a waves-based token success story. It is the most successful token to have been built on the waves platform to date. MobileGo is a mobile gaming platform that wanted to leverage blockchain technology to bring efficiency into their sector and create a crypto-centric gaming community. They raised over $50M in their ICO. Waves provided MobileGo with the tools to raise funds and complete development of their platform. Through the use of a new piece of technology called “BlockSwap,” MobileGo was able to transition seamlessly between waves and Ethereum, thereby allowing them to take advantage of waves’ easy token creation/administration while also leveraging Ethereum smart contracts to enable decentralized gaming tournaments. It is a great example of how the waves platform is providing highly effective solutions for businesses looking to transition into the crypto space.
There are many other examples of interesting projects undergoing development on the waves platform. The idea that waves can provide the enterprise solution for tokenization is quickly becoming a reality. The most compelling example of which is the recently announced “whoppercoin.” That’s right, Burger King. It was announced last week that Burger King Russia is going to launch their very own token on the waves platform to serve as a loyalty rewards program for their customers. A lot of people may overlook that and perhaps even laugh at it. But really consider that this proves waves’ viability as a tool for tokenizing existing business models of all sizes. The idea that waves can provide the enterprise solution for tokenization is no longer conceptual. Burger King’s loyalty rewards program may seem small but the impact on the waves platform is huge. This is the kind of news that grabs the attention of institutional investors and moreover it grabs the attention of other businesses considering leveraging blockchain technology themselves.
BACKGROUND ON WAVES
After taking a long look at the various features of waves, it is no wonder that it is one of the most highly regarded projects in crypto. Still sitting at around only half-a-billion-dollars, it is quite small in relation to what it could be. Waves has an incredible team, perhaps even one of the best in crypto. They are constantly adding all-stars to their staff with strong backgrounds in their respective fields and some level of experience in crypto. If cryptocurrency is ever going to become mainstream, fiat gateways are going to be essential towards making that happen and nobody on the planet is more dedicated to seeing it through than Sasha Ivanov, the CEO and founder of Waves. His experience in crypto began in 2013 upon the launch of coinomat.com which was an instant-purchase cryptocurrency exchange that set out to cut transaction fees below that of the major exchanges. Coinomat was the first blockchain-based instant cryptocurrency exchange. However, the project ultimately lost out against its major competitor, ShapeShift. Sasha was not discouraged though, he saw it as an opportunity. ShapeShift allowed instant purchasing of cryptocurrency through the means of credit/debit cards, which is still very costly. Sasha wanted to go a step further and enable instant, direct fiat deposits. Waves was born out of an unwavering desire to let the masses have access to cryptocurrency in the way it was originally intended – open to all and without the need for costly middlemen. In addition, he took it as an opportunity to develop something truly special, an enterprise solution to tokenization. The idea was to develop a token creation process so simple and easy that any business could issue shares and raise funds, aiming to break down all barriers to entry that have existed in the business world since the beginning of time.
BRILLIANCE OF WAVES
With waves, literally anyone can create a token and hold an ICO. If there is a market for it, no matter how niche, you can start a business. Take for example Kolionovo, a project which launched a (surprisingly) successful token sale through waves, raising over $500,000 for its small agricultural business developing real production of agricultural goods and services. Literally anything can be tokenized with waves and it is so simple and easy that there is no reason not to start your own business. Compatible with Ethereum incase more advanced development is necessary, creating a token on waves is the perfect blockchain solution for new businesses in all areas of technology (both high and low).
However, the true brilliance of waves is not that they have one defining feature, but three. All of which work perfectly together to create one flawless master platform. With their decentralized exchange, it makes transferring cryptocurrency extremely easy while also enabling people to invest in new projects in a quick and simple manner. Finally, because of their fiat gateways, waves becomes the all-in-one tool to invest in cryptocurrencies big and small from beginning to end. Enabling people to instantly purchase cryptocurrency through fiat and providing them with a decentralized exchange and crowdfunding platforms, there is no reason to use anything else.
Core Development: Very Strong. (8.5/10)
The decentralized exchange is still only semi-decentralized, there is still a need for some form of centralization at this time. They are working to fully decentralize trading but blockchain transactions are not high enough yet. The waves team has done a great job so far but they are still working to put all trading data on the blockchain which requires synchronizing all the nodes. The “middle ground” the exchange currently operates on is not bad at all though. It still provides the essential function of a decentralized exchange – you are in control of your own funds, there is no middleman controlling it.
Tokenomica has come along great. Simple token creation and easy administration is proving to be a very useful asset for startups and existing businesses alike. There has been a lot of development on top of the waves platform. Simplified smart contracts and token-creation related features of the waves platform are already very well-developed. This feature of the platform is fully functional and prepared to scale.
Fiat gateways are currently functional, there is still some development ongoing with the waves “stable coin” which pegs fiat to the blockchain.
Business Development: Strong. (7/10)
Token creation is going very well on the waves platform, there have been many notable developments in this sector. The most recent news about “whoppercoin” shows the waves teams ability to land key partnerships is certainly coming along. Recent initiatives have begun to usher as much third-party development as possible on the waves platform. The initiative is in early phases but it looks promising in its current state - there has been a noticeable uptick in development since the initiative began.
Fiat gateways are lacking partnerships at the moment. This is a tough space to enter for any cryptocurrency. Getting banks and other financial institutions to implement these systems takes time. They are very risk averse people and cryptocurrency is their antithesis. However, Ripple was ultimately able to land key partnerships with the same forms of institutions necessary to increase liquidity for the waves fiat gateways. The business end of development for this segment of waves is by far the most challenging but is also in very early phases. The team is one of the most capable in crypto and are working diligently to add as many new partnerships as possible.
Use Cases: Medium. (6.5/10)
The waves platform as a whole currently sees around 30,000 - 40,000 transactions per day, which is fairly low. However, that’s up from 1,000 per day less than four months ago. The usage has been rising steadily as a result of increased demand for the token due to a recent uptick in new projects being developed on the waves platform.
The waves platform has a great deal of room to scale. The use cases are actually fairly low at this very moment. However, the serious use cases come as more fiat gateways are deployed thereby increasing liquidity on the decentralized exchange.
Risk: Medium. (5/10)
Waves has a great team and the development is coming along well. They have proven there is a need for easy token creation and administration. That feature of the platform provides a level of reliability that offsets a lot of the risk.
The risk is rather low in relation to the potential. However, it won’t be easy to add fiat gateways - as stated previously in the “business development” section of the analysis. But if they can do it, the waves DEX will become highly liquid and the waves platform will become a part of the mainstream discussion.
There is certainly a lot of upside for waves. It could become the official on/offramp for crypto which would make it as pivotal to the industry as Bitcoin or Ethereum. However, there are ultimately a lot of variables in the equation to waves success with many challenges and obstacles to overcome first.
Investment Rating: A
Current Market Cap: $500,000,000
Target Market Cap (Long-term): $7,000,000,000 - $11,000,000,000
When Ethereum first launched in 2015, the potential was always there, it just took time for people to realize it. Waves was launched one year later and the potential is certainly there, the question is how long it will take for the market to catch up. Waves has set themselves up to be one of the next major blockchain disruptors. With constant development and new projects announced every week, it is one of the most promising projects in crypto. The network only sees around 30,000-40,000 transactions per day and still struggles with low liquidity on their decentralized exchange. In addition to which, only a handful of fiat gateways have been launched to date. Waves still has a very long way to go, but if you believe in the project and the team’s ability to realize their promises, it could definitly prove to be a great investment.