Waves is a decentralized, open blockchain platform which is easy to use and can be adopted by anyone.

Created and founded by Sasha Ivanov in the Summer of 2016, Waves presents the public with many possibilities. The Initial Coin Offering (ICO), or crowdfunding, raised more than 29,000 BTC compared with the 31,000 BTC raised by Ethereum back in 2014.

How?

Waves allows anyone to create and distribute their own crypto-token, making crowdfunding of blockchain-related projects easy and simple.
Using the Waves platform you will also find embedded a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) which allows peer-to-peer trading from within the client.
This was one of the big targets in the WAVES roadmap, which was implemented in April 2017.

So what?

Sasha Ivanov, founder of Waves has said in many interviews that he plans on working on the platform all while being transparent. So far, he has delivered on many on his promises for the Waves platform and community, which by the way is very tight-knit and very good at one thing: “HODL”. Many of the early adopters of waves are there because they saw the opportunities and possibilities which the platform has to offer, even though there were nay-sayers and people who thought it would never lead anywhere.

Let’s get back on track, however. What else can this platform offer?

Remember how we were talking about the DEX? Well, recently the platform added one more gateway to the already existing list of BTC, EUR and USD, and that gateway is ETH. This means that the waves wallet can now be used to store ETH tokens, and that ETH tokens can also be used in the DEX to buy any waves-based token, bitcoin, euros and US dollars. The next target for the DEX is to add a CNY gateway, which I am sure needs no explanation as to what this means for the platform.

Furthermore, it has recently been announced that the Russian National Settlement Depository (NSD), the central depository for the largest exchange group in Russia is working on developing a blockchain platform to provide deposits and settlements for cryptocurrencies, which is, you guessed it, in partnership with Waves Platform. While this poses some legislative issues, Sasha Ivanov’s work does not go unnoticed. He is actively working on, and promoting the platform, which is nothing but good news and future expectations.

Are waves mine-able?

Shortly answered, no.
One cannot “mine” waves in the traditional way that Ethereum or Bitcoin can be mined. Rather, the Waves Platform brings something new to the table called Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS). In this system, a user can choose between being a full node, and using the mining power provided by other users to clear transactions faster and more efficiently, orusers can choose to lease their mining power (without actually leasing their assets, meaning there is no real risk for doing this) in order to receive transaction fees, without having to run a full node.

Future of waves

We can expect the waves token to break its current ATH (All-Time High) by the end of 2018, as many waves-based ICOs are coming up and many improvements for the Waves Platform itself, such as a new GUI for the DEX and new gateways.
If you are a day-trader, Waves is probably not for you; however, if you are looking for a long-term holding coin, this is probably a safe asset to invest in and wait.