Waves Staking

The Waves blockchain employs a Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) consensus algorithm. Similar to other Proof of Stake algorithms, a participant's likelihood of generating the next block is directly proportional to their economic stake in the network. There are two main options for staking WAVES:

Run Generating Node: generating blocks yourself, which is proportional to the generating balance of your node. Block generation is generally the best option for those willing to run the infrastructure. To do so, you will need to maintain a node with a balance of at least 1,000 WAVES. Additionally, you will need to factor in hosting costs for your server, which you can rent from Amazon or any other cloud provider.

Leasing: Those who do not want to install a node themselves and pay the running costs can still collect revenues by leasing their WAVES to other nodes. By doing so, WAVES holders can not only generate income but also help make the network more secure. Different nodes will offer varying proportions of the WAVES they receive as rewards to lessors, as well as their own tokens and other benefits.

For each new block added to the Waves blockchain, the generating account receives various rewards in WAVES:

• A share of the block reward: currently, this is 6 WAVES, with the generator receiving 2 WAVES.
• 40% of the transaction fees from the current block and 60% from the previous block, as per the Waves-NG protocol. If transaction fees are specified in a sponsored asset, the equivalent amount in WAVES is credited from the sponsor's account.
• Additional rewards in the Waves DAO LP token (WAVESDLP), which can be claimed via Waves DAO or the claimLP() function on a smart contract.

Waves Platform introduced governance for decentralized monetary policy, which means block generators on the Waves network are now able to vote to change the size of the block generation reward. The established block reward is to be valid for 100,000 blocks, which roughly corresponds to 69 days. The final 10,000 blocks (roughly a week) of each 100,000 block period will be a voting period for the following 100,000 block stretch.

During the voting period, block generators vote for higher, lower or unchanged rewards by writing their decision to all created blocks. The reward can be changed in increments of 0.5 WAVES at a time. For the reward size to be raised or reduced, over 50% of all block generators will have to vote for it. Otherwise, the reward size will remain unchanged for the next period.

As for the rewards for lessors, different nodes offer varying proportions of the WAVES they receive as rewards to lessors, as well as their own tokens and other benefits.

A user who has leased their funds can spend them at any time, as the funds do not leave the user’s account but are only locked for leasing. Funds are unlocked immediately when a lease is cancelled. The only risk for users is that the block generator will not meet their stated terms and conditions and will not transfer remuneration to users who have leased their WAVES. In that case, users will not make any profit, but they will not lose their leased WAVES. Cheating and payment evasion will not bring significant benefit to the block generator; moreover, their deception will discourage all current lessors, so that leases will be cancelled, leading to lower profits.

A block generator’s stake is the sum of their own available funds and the funds leased to them for more than 1,000 blocks. The block generator’s own available funds can be withdrawn out of the stake and used at any time, while the funds leased to them cannot be influenced by the block generator in any way. They cannot transfer or affect them at all – they are even unable to refuse any funds leased to them. On the other hand, users who have leased their funds can cancel their leases at any time and with just a few clicks, since the leased funds do not leave the user’s wallet and are simply locked in the account.

LPoS allows ordinary users to lease their WAVES tokens to generating nodes, enhancing the node's chances to generate blocks and earn rewards. The leased tokens remain locked in the lessor's account until the lease is canceled. Node owners typically share block rewards with lessors, though the Waves protocol does not regulate these payments, leaving them at the node owner's discretion.

Benefits for WAVES Holders:

• Earn rewards by participating in block generation without running their own node.
• Tokens remain under the holder's control and can be canceled at any time.
• Flexibility in choosing nodes for leasing, potentially through applications like WX Network.

Benefits for Node Owners:

• Increased chances of generating blocks and earning rewards due to leased tokens.
• Freedom to set payment terms for lessors.

Waves Platform was launched in 2016 following a successful token sale that raised 30,000 BTC. It was conceived as a powerful and low-cost blockchain-based crowdfunding solution, which allowed anyone to create digital assets quickly and easily, with no smart contract programming required. Waves Platform has since released numerous successful blockchain-based solutions and has steadily developed into a technologically-rich open protocol for DeFi dApps.

Waves Platform was founded in 2016 by Sasha Ivanov, a physicist and entrepreneur, who has been deeply involved in the electronic payments market since 2009. Before starting Waves he had already founded several tech companies, projects and products to help improve business, banking and public administration systems. Today, more than 250 engineers, developers, analysts and marketing professionals are involved in the development of the Waves ecosystem. Waves Platform developers speak at the top global tech events from New York and San Francisco to Tokyo and Singapore, as well as organizing Waves Platform blockchain meetups and hackathons all over the world on a regular basis. Waves Platform’s global community is expanding fast, with the support of over 50 regional ambassadors, from every continent.