Waves Makes Some Big Changes With Mainnet Version 0.13.2

The Waves project has revealed a series of major updates to its platform, including an improvement to its consensus protocol and the arrival of ‘sponsored transactions.’ These updates are a part of version 0.13.2 of the mainnet.

In addition to the latest mainnet release, the Waves team has also redesigned the DEX, added Monero to the list of cryptocurrencies on the client, created a forum and launched an ambassador program.

The new version of the DEX will be released this month and includes bug fixes and other minor changes. The ambassador program is part of a larger trend where projects are leveraging the enthusiasm of users to help grow the platform. Likewise, to offer a more organized community discussion channel, the team has created a forum that is already ready to use.

Data Transactions

While the technical details on this development seem a bit fuzzy—the team has provided technical documentation here—it appears that the data transactions feature allows anyone to post information on the blockchain, which can then be used to verify authenticity (as the hash value is unique) and/or provide data to a smart contract for further use. 1kb of data transactions will cost 0.00001 WAVES and transaction sizes are limited to 140kb, which brings it to 0.14 WAVES.

A Fairer Proof-of-Stake Protocol

Though it is an improvement over Proof-of-Work protocols, the trouble with Proof-of-Stake is that it, too, can be monopolized through pools that own large stakes of the token. This is a problem that all major PoS platforms face, and the recent update by Waves eliminates some of the disadvantages that smaller stakers face, allowing them to create more shares of blocks.

Sponsored Transactions

Sponsored transactions is just what it sounds like—users can pay for a node’s service with custom tokens. These are then deposited against WAVES tokens which are used to pay the node. The idea is to keep the demand for WAVES tokens up. The team is also appealing to users’ desire to pay in alternative tokens. Essentially, the custom token is used for the transactions, but the miners get the transaction fee from the user’s WAVES tokens.

Burn Transactions for All

Waves users now have the ability to burn tokens, which is useful because it appears that some users are receiving spam tokens of little value. Given that new tokens can be launched quite easily, the team decided to provide a solution to eliminate them easily as well.

Some of these tokens have been moved to a spam section, but it will be possible to destroy them entirely with the new feature. This feature is expected to be available at the end of June.

The new changes occur as all cryptocurrencies are suffering from a tempestuous month of volatility. Disregarding all of that, the team seems focused on hitting their milestones for a monumental year of development.

Atomic swaps are planned for Q2 2018 and it will be an undeniable factor in deciding whether Waves will grow in recognition. The last quarter of the year hopes to introduce lite-client compatibility and Turing complete smart contracts, which is a critical step towards mass adoption and strong network performance.

As Q2 comes to a close within a few weeks, we can expect to hear similar changes and updates as we wait on the progress of major milestones. No word has been given yet regarding atomic swaps, which is a very exciting development, but with any luck, the team will have it out by the deadline.

Related: Could Waves Become the Top ICO Platform?