Sasha Ivanov, the Founder of the Waves Platform, an open blockchain protocol and development toolset for Web 3.0 apps and decentralized finance (DeFi), notes that while facing the different challenges of mass adoption, Waves, as an ecosystem, “must step it up a notch, working on liquidity, scalability and post-blockchain DLT vision.”
Ivanov writes in a blog post that the road to Waves 2.0 may “take us a while, but the path is clearly defined.” He revealed that there will be three different stages on the road to Waves 2.0.
They’re focused on supportng the Tannhauser gate, which is described as “a gate to liquidity.” Their goal s to have $10 billion in total-value-locked or TVL on Waves. They plan to deliver on these goals by April-September/October 2021.
As explained by Ivanov, Waves is “a fast blockchain with transactions settled within 2–3 seconds and transaction fees in just cents.” He added that it features an integrated decentralized exchange (DEX) and a gasless (fix transaction cost) smart contract language, “enabling on-chain liquidity transfer.”
Ivanov also mentioned that with “a high throughput and transaction costs being a fraction of those in other networks, Waves is a convenient and fast platform for various DeFi applications.” He further noted that Liquidity from other platforms “has to be imported to Waves, and Waves DeFi instruments will be exported to other chains.”
As confirmed by Ivanov, several “key directions” and milestones will be pursued with the stated goal of locking up $10 billion (or more) in various DeFi products on Waves “until September 2021.”
Ivanov acknowledged that the Ethereum (ETH) network has “the most liquidity now but, at the same time, is the most congested one.” He claims that “by redirecting part of ETH liquidity to Waves, we help Ethereum and boost Waves’ usability.”
He continued:
“We will achieve the maximum possible ETH integration at this stage. It will become possible to use Ethereum private keys and Metamask on Waves, including Waves.Exchange and swop.fi. Within the Gravity framework, we will also interact with other major chains, including Binance Smart Chain.”
While sharing other details about planned updates, Ivanov added that Waves.Exchange is “one of the oldest DEXs around.” He pointed out that it “supports regular order books.” He further noted that they will “enhance it with on-chain and off-chain liquidity pools, combining the best of the two worlds — a traditional market structure with user liquidity pools.” He explained that users will “be able to add liquidity to any pair on Waves.Exchange and reap yield farming rewards” and they will “be able to launch a token and provide liquidity for it in just a couple clicks.”
He also mentioned:
“We will launch all possible volatile synthetic assets on Waves, from Tesla to any crypto or real world asset our community votes for, based on a novel protocol that does not require over-collateralization. It will allow us to lock even more value in Waves DeFi products and will create dozens of new trading products.”
He added:
“On-chain lending is an essential part of any DeFi ecosystem. It is complementary to on-chain asset swaps, effectively creating on-chain marginal trading dynamics, and locks tons of funds in lending pools. A lending protocol is under development on Waves.”
He continued:
“You can bring liquidity over from other chains but you can also export your DeFi products onto other networks, tapping into their on-chain liquidity. Interchain DeFi apps, based on the Gravity protocol, will export Waves DeFi tokens, such as USDN, to other chains, effectively locking more value into them. USDN already exists on ETH and Binance Smart Chain, but it is only the beginning.”
Ivanov further noted that the Waves node release this coming spring will aim to improve smart contract functionally, “finally enabling interacting smart contracts and flash loans on Waves.” He clams that this is “crucial for smoother on-chain value transfer since it allows for interaction between different lending and swap pools.”
He added that the new release will significantly improve NSBT (the Neutrino protocol’s governance token) utility, “since it will allow for decentralized voting for the nodes where WAVES tokens, backing USDN, are staked.”
He also mentioned that there’s “a secret sauce to the Tannhauser gate phase of the roadmap, an application that is long overdue and can become a game-changer.”
He pointed out that liquidity requires scaling. He added that “after we have achieved enough liquidity, we will need to move on to scaling the Waves network to account for the increased transaction volume.”
He explained:
“Our approach will be based on a novel sidechain model, which is under development now. Fast sidechains will be launched through Waves network governance, with the majority of stakers guaranteeing sidechain and main chain consistency. Initially Waves-based sidechains will be launched, which will allow us to support app chains, networks meant to support a certain application (for example, Waves.Exchange or a data chain). Parallel to that, EVM chains will be launched, enabling full Ethereum compatibility. Interchain contract calls will enable cross-chain flash loans.”
He added:
“Real breakthroughs in scalability will be achieved only with new concepts. We plan to implement new approaches to distributed ledgers within the Waves 2.0 framework, to be launched in 2022.”
He further noted that Waves 2.0 will be “realized first as a sidechain, eventually becoming the main chain of the full network.”