Waves (WAVES) is a blockchain platform that lets any business launch its own universal applications and create cryptographically secured coins of its own. It was founded by Alexander Ivanov and launched on 1 June 2016.

What Waves can do

Waves was inspired by NXT, and developers behind that related cryptocurrency also had a hand in building Waves. The idea behind Waves is to make exchanging all kinds of currencies - both crypto and fiat - easier. That goal rests on stronger blockchain decentralization, the Matcher function responsible for fault-tolerant operation, and the Waves fiat gateways.

Continuous operation of payment service providers allows fiat money to be converted into coins quickly and easily, transferred, and converted back into fiat. The advantage of exchanging money this way is meant to be a lower fee.

Waves also introduced lightweight wallet technology that does not require downloading and storing the entire blockchain. All you need is the HTML client, a Chrome extension or an Android app.

Mining on Waves is available only to users running a full node, which requires holding at least 10,000 WAVES. In other words, anyone who wants to mine Waves must first hold at least 10,000 WAVES in their account before downloading the full blockchain and starting to earn coins.

Key features of Waves

1. Tokens can be converted into both fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies.
2. You can issue your own tokens and sell them on the open market.
3. A token created on the platform retains value as long as the application as a whole has value.
4. Low fees for exchanging tokens.