Waves

Created by John Powe in W Glossary 26 Nov 2024

Waves

Waves is a blockchain which envisioned the objective of enabling its users to create and launch their very own crypto tokens without having the extensive knowledge of smart contract programming. This is achieved by creating and managing tokens via scripts.

The key idea is that developing tokens and the apps that govern them should be made easy and the process of doing so shouldn’t be any different from the way current web apps are launched nowadays.

Waves Explained

Waves’ blockchain has two different node types in which its software can be run:

1. Full nodes: which keep the complete transaction history

2. Lightweight nodes: which depend on their full counterparts for transaction confirmation and other network interactions

The Leased Proof-of-Stake (LPoS)

Waves operates on LPoS, or Leased Proof-of-Stake, a variation of the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

The Leased Proof-of-Stake builds on conventional Proof-of-Stake models by giving users the option to lease their balance to full nodes. In turn, when a specific full node is chosen as the producer of the next block, part of its compensation goes to whoever leased tokens to it.