Waves functions as a versatile blockchain ecosystem that facilitates diverse applications, such as smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps). The project debuted in June 2016 after conducting one of the sector's first initial coin offerings (ICO), with an initial goal of enhancing early blockchain systems by boosting their speed, practicality, and ease of use. Since its inception, the platform has evolved through multiple modifications and the introduction of new derivative features to expand upon its foundational architecture. Its native cryptocurrency, WAVES, operates with an uncapped supply and serves standard transactional purposes, including the distribution of block rewards.

The Waves project is closely identified with its creator, Alexander Ivanov (also referred to as Sasha Ivanov), a scientist born in Ukraine.

Before launching Waves, Ivanov was already involved in the crypto sector, where he developed Cooleindex, an indexing site, and Coinomat, an instant exchange that is no longer operational. He also engineered CoinoUSD, an early stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Ivanov remains visibly engaged in promoting Waves, regularly participating in interviews to discuss the platform and broader blockchain industry trends.

Marketing materials from Waves state that the organization currently has a staff of more than 180 individuals, with offices in places such as Switzerland and Moscow.

Waves was among the initial projects in its sector, designed to enhance earlier blockchain systems and tools. From the beginning, the platform targeted business users seeking to leverage blockchain technology for optimizing operations or launching new services. It facilitated smart contract and DApp creation, with a focus on delivering faster performance and greater usability than rival solutions available at that time. Subsequent additions to its ecosystem include Gravity, which serves as an oracle and cross-chain network, Neutrino, a platform centered on decentralized finance (DeFi), and Waves DEX, a decentralized exchange for cryptocurrencies. In 2020, the team stated that the platform would achieve interoperability with Ethereum by issuing the WAVES token as an ERC-20 asset.

WAVES originally launched as a fixed-supply asset for the Waves platform, with a total of 100 million tokens. During its Initial Coin Offering (ICO), which secured 30,000 BTC, the distribution was allocated as follows: 85% to sale participants, 4% to partners and supporters, 9% to developers, and 1% each to early supporters and post-ICO bounty programs.

Over time, the token's utility expanded, leading to a 2019 decision to eliminate the supply cap and hand control over issuance to network participants. At present, the block reward stands at 6 WAVES. Adjustments are made through voting, where users decide whether to reduce the reward by 0.5 WAVES every 110,000 blocks.

The Waves Network relies on a customized proof-of-stake mechanism known as WavesNG. This system draws its foundation from Bitcoin-NG, a scaling concept introduced by Emin Gün Sirer, a developer at Cornell University and prominent Bitcoin supporter. Additionally, the project emphasizes that its codebase is open source, which it claims fosters greater trust and simplifies maintenance compared to proprietary enterprise blockchain alternatives.

Having been available on the market for more than four years, WAVES is listed on numerous exchanges. You can trade it against various cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and fiat currencies. Trading volume is spread across many platforms, with Binance and Huobi Global serving as some of the primary markets.