The 2.0 tokens platform, which raised $16 million in its crowdfund earlier this year, is testing asset creation ahead of its upcoming public release.
Development for the Waves platform has entered a new phase, with the release of custom token functionality on its testnet – the last stage before mainstream deployment.
Waves, which is billed as ‘blockchain for the people’ and the ‘ultimate tokens platform’ has a vision for an open network that will be used by individuals and businesses of all kinds. Core to this vision is the creation of tokens on the Waves blockchain to any specification, lending them to a wide variety of applications.
Greater flexibility in the core
Whilst previous 2.0 platforms have allowed asset creation, Waves has made them more versatile and flexible than ever before. ‘By enabling not only custom token creation, but asset-to-asset exchange in the core, we will make it easy to trade any token against any other,’ comments founder and CEO Sasha Ivanov. ‘This is itself is very powerful, but a secondary implication is that it’s possible to pay transaction fees in any currency. That’s critical for the user experience and it brings greater simplicity to commercial applications. If you are sending US dollars, for example, you don’t want to be paying fees in a different currency – it adds unnecessary friction to the process.’ The requirement to pay transaction fees in the native currency has been a limitation of earlier platforms such as Counterparty, which requires fees to be paid in bitcoin.
The lynchpin of the Waves ecosystem
Waves’ custom tokens will form the foundation of what the platform aims to achieve in the coming months and years. ‘Once we have viable token creation, it’s straightforward to build new services on top of that,’ continues Ivanov. ‘Financial companies can launch their own fiat-backed tokens, which can move around the world on the blockchain quickly and at low cost. KYC (Know Your Customer) regulation is applied at the point of entry and exit from the blockchain, according to the company’s jurisdiction.’
Once this stage has been completed, applications like decentralised crowdfunding and remittance services become possible. ‘Organisations will be able to raise money in many different currencies – bitcoin, dollars, Euros, and so on – and exchange them with minimal costs for whatever currency they need to pay their bills.’
Whilst custom tokens are key to Waves’ appeal, the platform’s roadmap ultimately includes far-reaching functionality including decentralised reputation systems and a form of smart contracts.
You can always find the latest version of the client at https://wavesplatform.com and https://wavestalk.org.
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Blogpost: https://blog.wavesplatform.com/waves-platform-releases-most-versatile-ever-custom-assets-on-testnet-bbea0eca049e#.z3q381lb8
Fantastic update, well bring on the next few months! Certainly going to kick off when the full node will be released in the near future!