Layer 1 blockchain
Waves ticker WAVES
Summary
Leased proof of stake: an account's chance to produce the next block is proportional to its generating balance, the lowest WAVES balance (own plus leased in) over the last 1,000 blocks, and at least 1,000 WAVES is required. Holders who do not run a node can lease WAVES to one without handing over custody and can cancel at any time. Each eligible generator computes a waiting time from its balance and a VRF-based random value, and blocks target 60 seconds. Under Waves-NG, live since height 805,000 (December 2017), the elected leader publishes a key block and then streams transactions in microblocks every few seconds until the next leader's key block. A protocol change is approved when at least 80 percent of blocks in a 10,000-block voting window signal support, and it activates one window later. 123462122
Design
- System
- Layer 1 blockchainWaves is a permissionless proof-of-stake base layer with its own blocks, fork choice and native token, running since 2016. It is not a layer 2 or sidechain of another network. Unit Zero, an EVM chain whose block producers are chosen by a Waves contract, is recorded as a separate scaling layer on top of Waves rather than as part of the base chain.
- Settlement family
- Its own design
- Scarce resource
- Stake (proof of stake)
- State model
- Accounts
- Finality
- Probabilistic
- Who makes blocks
- Any account with at least 1,000 WAVES of generating balance, owned or leased in, can generate blocks. After each block, every generator waits a delay computed from its balance, the network's base target and a VRF value it derives by signing data from the block 100 below; the first whose delay expires publishes. Node operators decide on their own whether and how to share rewards with lessors. A version 1.6 feature adding a committed generator set per 10,000-block period with a 100 WAVES deposit was not yet activated on 27 September 2026.
- Fork choice
- Each block scores 2^64 divided by its base target, and nodes follow the valid chain with the highest cumulative score; microblocks add no weight, and the next leader may build on any microblock of the current block. When switching forks a node exchanges its last 100 block IDs with a peer; under current rules the maximum rollback depth is 100 blocks, so the block 100 below the tip counts as final. Shallower confirmations are probabilistic. The Waves-NG design page says a leader that signs two microblocks with the same parent has its revenue revoked.
Qualifications
- Finality · Partial. What runs today is probabilistic finality with a 100-block automatic rollback cap. A deterministic mode, where a block is final once generators holding two-thirds of the committed balance endorse it, shipped for mainnet voting in node 1.6.2 but had not been approved by miners as of 27 September 2026.
- Evm compatibility · Partial. Waves accepts Ethereum-format transactions signed in MetaMask for token transfers and Ride dApp calls, and MetaMask-signed exchange orders, but it does not run EVM bytecode. EVM contracts run on Unit Zero, a separate chain.
- Tps · Unknown. The only published figure found is a design-document number for Waves-NG with no method or window; no measured rate was reviewed.
- Stake distribution · Unknown. How generating balance is spread across nodes and leasing pools was not measured for this review.
- Settlement family · Partial. Recorded as other: Waves settles on its own chain, where leased proof of stake picks block generators and Waves-NG key blocks and microblocks carry transactions; it is not a layer 2 or sidechain of another network. None of the named settlement families describes this.
Tradeoffs
- Emphasizes
- Scalability and Decentralization
- Gives up
- Settlement strength. Under the rules active at review, finality is probabilistic with a 100-block automatic rollback cap, and producers post no bond that can be slashed: penalties are limited to the revenue loss the Waves-NG design describes for microblock forks or being barred for 1,000 blocks after a proven wrong state hash, and the upgrade adding a slashable 100 WAVES deposit awaits votes. Leasing lets block production gather in large pools while lessors carry no penalty risk. A transaction seen in a microblock can still drop out if the next producer builds on an earlier microblock.Decentralization here means modest node hardware and an open 1,000 WAVES entry threshold; it does not measure how many independent operators actually produce blocks, which was not reviewed. The Waves-NG design page presents its latency and bandwidth gains as coming without trading away other properties; that is the project's own reading.
- Full node at home
- Practical at home 5151626The install guide lists 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM and a 175 GB SSD for a validating or light node (a little more for a generating node), and the database can be split across fast and slow disks. The downloadable state snapshot was about 146 GB in March 2024. Light mode applies the generator's state snapshots instead of re-executing transactions. Also running Unit Zero adds an execution client; its guide asks for 4 cores, 8 GB RAM and 250 GB or more.
- Throughput claims
- Theoretical peak: 100 tx/s 2Theoretical peak; not comparable across chains or with observed load.Design comparison table on the Waves-NG protocol page; no date, method or measurement window is given.Not stated.A design-document figure from the original Waves-NG proposal, set beside 1 MB blocks, 200 transactions per microblock and 3-second microblocks; it is not a measurement. Ignores propagation, the per-block script complexity cap, state growth and spam load, any of which can bind first. Not a statement about current mainnet load and not comparable with other chains' figures.
Scaling layers
- Unit Zero (Units Network EVM chain anchored to Waves) · Sidechain, mainnet 1723242526
A separate EVM chain (chain ID 88811). Waves generators with at least 20,000 WAVES of generating balance join a chain contract on Waves, which picks one producer per Waves block and records each Unit Zero block's parent, transaction root and state hash, resolving forks by majority of committed balance. Waves does not check Unit Zero execution with fraud or validity proofs and does not hold its transaction data, so it is not a rollup; correctness, and the transfers the contract settles, rest on the committed producers. Zero-knowledge checks are future work.
Capabilities
| Capability | How it is provided | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Account abstraction | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Atomic swaps | Built into the protocolLimited scope | Limited to exchanges on Waves itself. An exchange transaction, a built-in transaction type, settles both sides of two signed orders in one step, so two traders exchange assets in one transaction under consensus rules; each exchange transaction is submitted by the matcher the orders name. Ride account scripts can also check SHA-256, Keccak-256 or BLAKE2b hashes and the block height, so hash- and time-locked contracts can be written, but no official hash-lock example or cross-chain swap tool was found. 101214 |
| Authenticated data publication | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; the only feature reviewed is account data storage: any account can publish signed key-value entries (up to about 165 KB per data transaction) into its public on-chain data storage, and oracles use this. That data is held in chain state, which the current definition does not count as publication, and there is no subscription service beyond reading nodes or their update stream. 89 |
| Light clients | Built into the protocolLimited scope | Consensus produces what a light client checks: light mode (active since 2024) lets a node check consensus and apply the generator's state snapshots, matched against a state hash in the block header, instead of re-running transactions; other generators can challenge a wrong hash. Limited: a light-mode node still downloads every block, and no phone-class verifying wallet was found. 5 |
| Native staking or delegation | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| On-chain governance | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Parallel execution | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Payment or state channels | Unknown | No source was cited for the earlier none, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown rather than not present. Earlier finding: no payment or state channel network settling to Waves was found in the reviewed docs; absence was not exhaustively verified. |
| Programmable spending | Native (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definition | Ride scripts can guard accounts (which transactions may leave), assets (which operations are allowed) and dApps (callable functions). Ride is deliberately not Turing complete, with costs fixed in advance by complexity limits. 1011 |
| Protocol-verified messaging | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Reversible transfers or recovery | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
| Rollups | None found Earlier definition | No rollup settling to Waves was found. Unit Zero records block headers on Waves but has no fraud or validity proofs and keeps its data off Waves, so it is listed as a separate chain, not a rollup. 1723 |
| Shielded transfers | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Signed partial offers | Not present | None: a Waves order is signed by the trader but is addressed to one matcher and appears on chain only inside that matcher's exchange transaction, so no other taker can complete it; the current definition does not count orders addressed to one matcher. AMM venues are separate. 13 |
Reading these values
- How this feature is provided
- Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
- Structured assessment pending
- The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
- Unknown
- The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
- Earlier definition
- Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
- Reading across rows
- The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.
Ecosystem & custody
| Product type | Status | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Automated market makers | ThinWX Network, Swop.fi, Puzzle Swap | The Waves docs list these three community-built exchanges and describe liquidity pools at WX Network, Swop.fi and Puzzle Network; the Waves home page calls Swop.fi a DEX and automated market maker. The protocol also has built-in exchange transactions for signed orders filled by a matcher such as WX Network's. Liquidity and current activity were not verified because the sites render only through JavaScript. 141933 |
| Issuer-native stablecoins | None found | Neither Tether's supported-protocols page nor Circle's USDC address list mentions Waves, so no issuer-backed stablecoin is issued natively. Dollar tokens used on Waves, such as those WX Network offers staking for, arrive through gateways or bridges. 192930 |
| Algorithmic stablecoins | ThinXTN (Neutrino index token, formerly USDN) | Neutrino's contracts still refer to this asset as USDN, the protocol's first dollar token; on chain it is now named XTN with the description Neutrino Index, and the Waves docs call it an index token backed by a basket of Waves ecosystem tokens rather than a dollar stablecoin. A share of each block reward goes to an XTN buy-back contract. Backing and usage were not verified. 7193132 |
| Bridges | Established in the ecosystemPepeTeam Bridge (PepeBridge), WavesBridge (wavesbridge.io), Unit Zero chain contract transfers | The Waves docs point to PepeTeam Bridge for moving assets between Waves and Ethereum, Polygon, Tron and others. The Units docs route UNIT0 through WavesBridge, whose operator they do not name, among Waves, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base and Solana, and between Waves and Unit Zero. They also describe Unit Zero to Waves transfers through the chain contract, which mints a wrapped token on Waves once the transfer is about 200 Unit Zero epochs deep. Risk: PepeTeam's draft lite paper relies on a majority of witnesses to confirm source-chain transfers and on threshold signers to release funds, and says the team manages the protocol at launch, so enough colluding or compromised witnesses and signers could release unbacked tokens. The Unit Zero route trusts the transfer digests its committed producers post. Signer sets, operators and audits were not verified; wrapped tokens are only as sound as the bridge that issued them. 1819242728 |
| Block explorers | First-partyWaves Explorer (wavesexplorer.com), w8io (w8.io), wscan.io | The docs call Waves Explorer the official explorer and also list w8io and wscan.io. Waves Explorer and wscan.io loaded at review; w8.io refused automated requests. Explorer views are provider-indexed data, not independent validation. 1934 |
| Hardware wallets | ThinLedger via WX Network, Keeper Wallet or Waves Signer | See the custody section: a Ledger Nano S or Nano X signs with its Waves app through WX Network, Keeper Wallet or apps built on Waves Signer, not through Ledger's own wallet, and Trezor supports only the WAVES token on Ethereum, not the Waves chain. 203637383940 |
Hardware-wallet custody
| Device maker | Status | What users can and cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | Through an intermediaryWX Network or Keeper Wallet, or a web app using Waves Signer's Ledger provider, with the Waves app on the deviceSame as native: No | Can: Install the Waves device app through Ledger's app manager, as WX Network's guide instructs; Ledger's own asset registry names a Waves manager app Can: Sign in to WX Network or add a Ledger account to Keeper Wallet and approve each Waves transaction on a Nano S or Nano X, per those wallets' own guides Can: Approve transactions from web apps that use Waves Signer's Ledger provider, which the Waves docs say works with Nano X and Nano S Cannot: Manage WAVES accounts inside Ledger Wallet itself: Ledger's wallet source has no Waves coin family, despite Ledger's generic Waves page Cannot: Rely on any reviewed guide for newer devices such as Nano S Plus, Stax or Flex: the WX Network, Keeper Wallet and Signer pages name only Nano S and Nano XLedger's Waves page is a template that invites users to manage and even stake WAVES in Ledger Wallet, but the wallet's published source lists no Waves family. WX Network's and Keeper Wallet's own guides describe Ledger signing; whether those paths still work with current firmware was not tested. 203536373839 |
| Trezor | None foundSame as native: No | Cannot: Hold or send WAVES on the Waves chain with a Trezor: Trezor's Waves page lists only Ethereum as the supported network Cannot: Treat the Ethereum-network WAVES token as custody of Waves chain coins 40 |
Public data
iKnow Blockchain has no public-data lookups for Waves yet. This is a limit of the service, not a statement about the network.
| Lookup | Status | What it covers and its limits |
|---|---|---|
| Address or account | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Tokens and assets | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| NFTs | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Transactions | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
Sourced developments
Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 27, 2026; next review was due Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Publication date · newest first
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Node 1.6.4 proposed a 20 WAVES reward split; the boost ended without it
Node 1.6.4 introduced feature 26, Adjusted Block Reward Distribution: once active, the total block reward would be 20 WAVES, with 10 to the Waves DAO, 8 to the producer and 2 to the XTN buy-back address (10 and 10 if the buy-back is ceased). It was meant to replace the tenfold boost if activated before height 5,410,000. That did not happen: the boost ended at that height on 20 September 2026, the reward returned to 6 WAVES, and on 27 September the feature was still in voting.
- Proposal:proposed in node 1.6.4
- Implementation:implemented in node 1.6.4
- Release:node 1.6.4 released 2026-08-27
- Activation:in voting on mainnet as of 2026-09-27; missed the height 5,400,000 activation target
Sources: wavesplatform on GitHub — Waves node v1.6.4 release notes (external site) · Waves public node pool (nodes.wavesnodes.com) — Waves mainnet block reward status (node REST API) (external site) · Waves public node pool (nodes.wavesnodes.com) — Waves mainnet block header at height 5,410,000 (node REST API) (external site) · Waves public node pool (nodes.wavesnodes.com) — Waves mainnet feature activation status (node REST API, read at height 5,419,632) (external site)
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Mandatory node release 1.6.3 for mainnet, testnet and stagenet
Waves published node 1.6.3 on 3 June 2026 and marked it mandatory for mainnet, testnet and stagenet, asking every node operator to update. The release notes say it updates dependencies and strengthens transaction validation, but they do not list the specific checks. They name no new protocol feature for producers to vote on, and nodes moving from 1.6.2 do not need to rebuild their state.
- Implementation:implemented in node 1.6.3; followed by node 1.6.4 on 2026-08-27
- Release:mandatory release 1.6.3 published 2026-06-03; not a pre-release
- Activation:no feature activation named in the release; the changes apply on each node once its operator installs it
Sources: wavesplatform on GitHub — Waves node v1.6.3 release notes (external site) · wavesplatform on GitHub — Waves node releases (Atom feed) (external site) · wavesplatform on GitHub — Waves node releases (external site)
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Node 1.6.2 put deterministic finality to a mainnet producer vote
Waves node 1.6.2 brought feature 25, Deterministic Finality, to mainnet voting together with P-256 signature verification, and it requires Java 17. Once active, committed producers with a 100 WAVES deposit endorse blocks, and a block endorsed by two-thirds of the committed generating balance cannot be rolled back. On 27 September 2026 the node API still showed the feature in voting, with 3,007 of the 8,000 supporting blocks needed in the current window.
- Proposal:released for mainnet voting
- Implementation:implemented in node 1.6.2 and later
- Release:node 1.6.2 released 2026-04-14
- Activation:not activated as of 2026-09-27; missed the height 5,200,000 activation target named in the release and was still in voting
Sources: wavesplatform on GitHub — Waves node v1.6.2 release notes (external site) · Waves documentation (docs.waves.tech) — Waves: Block Finality (external site) · Waves public node pool (nodes.wavesnodes.com) — Waves mainnet feature activation status (node REST API, read at height 5,419,632) (external site) · Waves documentation (docs.waves.tech) — Release Notes (external site)
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Tenfold block reward boost activated at height 5,110,000
Feature 23 (Boost Block Reward), shipped in node 1.5.6 in July 2024, activated on mainnet at height 5,110,000, whose block is timestamped 24 February 2026. For the next 300,000 blocks the total block reward was multiplied by ten, from 6 to 60 WAVES, split equally between the block producer, the Waves DAO treasury and the XTN buy-back contract.
- Proposal:shipped for mainnet voting in node 1.5.6 (July 2024)
- Implementation:implemented in the reference node
- Release:mandatory release 1.5.6
- Activation:activated at height 5,110,000; boost period ended at height 5,410,000
Sources: Waves public node pool (nodes.wavesnodes.com) — Waves mainnet feature activation status (node REST API, read at height 5,419,632) (external site) · Waves public node pool (nodes.wavesnodes.com) — Waves mainnet block header at height 5,110,000 (node REST API) (external site) · Waves documentation (docs.waves.tech) — Features (external site) · wavesplatform on GitHub — Waves node v1.5.6 release notes (external site) · Waves documentation (docs.waves.tech) — Community-Driven Monetary Policy (external site)
Topics your AI can explain
Your AI can explain these topics for Waves through the connection, with sources.
Known gaps
What this profile's review did not establish:
- How generating balance is spread across nodes and leasing pools, and how many independent operators produce blocks, was not measured.
- The deterministic finality upgrade and the adjusted block reward split were both in miner voting on 27 September 2026; whether and when either activates is unknown.
- The official blog at blog.waves.tech refused automated requests, so blog posts were not reviewed; developments come from GitHub releases, the docs release notes and the public node API.
- Liquidity and activity on WX Network, Swop.fi and Puzzle Swap were not verified; their sites render only through JavaScript.
- XTN's backing, supply history and current use were not verified, and the Neutrino site (neutrino.at) did not resolve at review.
- PepeTeam Bridge and WavesBridge signer and witness sets, operators, audits and current routes were not verified, and who operates WavesBridge was not confirmed.
- WX Network's and Keeper Wallet's Ledger guides name only Nano S and Nano X; signing with current firmware or newer devices was not tested, and Ledger's own Waves page conflicts with its wallet's published source.
- Point-in-time chain readings (feature voting counts, the 6 WAVES reward after the boost ended, total supply) come from the original author's public node API reads on 27 September 2026; verification used published pages only and did not re-read them.
- Parts of the docs were stale at review: the mining reward page still described the boosted 60 WAVES reward, and the feature table did not yet list feature 26.
- No hash-locked swap tool, reversible-transfer or recovery feature, or channel network was found; absence was not exhaustively checked.
- The current node database size was not measured; the 146 GB snapshot figure dates from March 2024.
- The docs describe a 2,000-block default for manual node rollback alongside the 100-block cap on automatic fork switching; how the two interact was not tested.
- Unit Zero's number of producers, committed balance and bridge contracts were not verified.
- Unit Zero mainnet liveness was checked only by reading its explorer and recent chain-contract calls on Waves on 27 September 2026, not over time.
Sources
Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.
- LPoS: Leased Proof of Stake (external site)
- Waves-NG protocol (external site)
- Waves-NG solution (external site)
- Waves: Block Finality (external site)
- Waves 1.5: Light Node (external site)
- Activation Protocol (external site)
- Community-Driven Monetary Policy (external site)
- Account Data Storage (external site)
- Data transaction (external site)
- What is Smart Account (external site)
- Ride: Getting started (external site)
- Ride hashing functions (external site)
- Order (external site)
- Exchange Transaction (external site)
- Install Waves Node (external site)
- Download the Latest Blockchain (external site)
- Unit Zero (external site)
- WAVES (external site)
- Waves Ecosystem (external site)
- Signer (external site)
- Waves mainnet feature activation status (node REST API, read at height 5,419,632) (external site)
- Features (external site)
- Level 2 blockchain networks and extended consensus (external site)
- Cross-Layer Transfer (external site)
- Connect to Mainnet (external site)
- Run Mainnet Node (external site)
- Bridge Unit0 Across Networks (external site)
- Bridge litepaper (draft) (external site)
- Supported Protocols and Integration Guidelines (external site)
- USDC contract addresses (external site)
- XTN asset details (node REST API) (external site)
- neutrino-contract repository (external site)
- Waves.tech (external site)
- Waves Explorer (external site)
- Waves Wallet (external site)
- Ledger crypto-assets currency registry (@ledgerhq/cryptoassets, currencies.js) (external site)
- Ledger Wallet (ledger-live) coin family source directory (external site)
- Use Ledger Nano Devices With WX Network (external site)
- Getting started (browser extension) (external site)
- Waves wallet (external site)
Report an error
Found something wrong or out of date? Reporting is free, and every chain goes through the same process. Published corrections appear in the public log.
Funding disclosure
Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding