Bitcoin Vs Waves Explained

Bitcoin (BTC) and Waves (WAVES) are two different digital assets and blockchain networks that have revolutionized many things in the financial and cryptocurrency world. However, there are some differences between Bitcoin vs Waves that are worth addressing. 

While Bitcoin (BTC) became a leader in terms of financial decentralization and permissionless services, Waves was able to initiate a revolution of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). We will tell you this and many other things in the next sections. 

What is Bitcoin (BTC)?

Bitcoin (BTC) is the first cryptocurrency to be released. It was created back in 2008 and launched in 2009 during the financial crisis that was hitting the world. The main characteristic of Bitcoin is that it was able to deal with the double-spending problem faced by decentralized networks. 

Since that moment, Bitcoin reached very high price levels. Indeed, the virtual currency was able to surpass $60,000 and be adopted by institutional investors. During the bull market experienced in 2017, retail investors got access to the digital asset. 

Companies such as MicroStrategy, Tesla, MassMutual or Square have purchased Bitcoin in order to get exposure to it. Some other firms like VISA or PayPal are already using digital currencies and blockchain technology in order to offer better services to clients and users from all over the world. 

Bitcoin allows individuals to send and receive money anywhere around the world as long as there is an internet connection. This is the first time that money can be sent across borders in a decentralized way and in just minutes. 

Interesting: Buying Bitcoin (BTC): Easy Beginner’s Guide

Moreover, the network is very secure thanks to the large hash rate that it has. Over the last years, Bitcoin miners have been investing in mining hardware in order to protect the network and get rewarded for it. 

What is Waves (WAVES)?

Waves (WAVES) is one of the oldest Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in the market launched in 2016. This blockchain network allows companies and developers to create cryptocurrency tokens. This is similar to how Etheruem (ETH) or Tron (TRX) work. 

The positive thing about Waves is related to the fact that it does not require advanced smart contract programming compared to other blockchain networks. It is possible to simply create tokens using scripts that would then be running on the Waves blockchain network. 

In addition to it, the goal behind Waves is to create a system where scripts can be attached to assets. These assets can easily be transferred on the Waves blockchain network. Another thing to mention is related to its own decentralized exchange (DEX). All these things make this platform different when compared Bitcoin vs Waves. 

This was one of the first projects to work on a decentralized exchange and release it to the market. Nowadays, Waves is the 78th largest virtual currency in the market and it has a valuation of $1.33 billion. 

The company tried to become a platform to launch Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Considering that Waves has its own decentralized exchange, it is possible for new ICO projects to get access to liquidity as soon as they are released to the market. 

Furthermore, so as to reduce scalability problems, the project has implemented the Waves-NG protocol. This increases the platform’s performance and reduces congestion on the network. 

Bitcoin vs Waves Main Differences

Bitcoin vs Waves are totally different. They have different blockchains, goals and communities. Thus, to compare Bitcoin vs Waves we need to think of them about two different projects with goals that are completely diverse. 

While Bitcoin tried to change the way in which traditional finance work, Waves aims at making it easier for projects and companies to launch tokens on its network. Thus, it has helped the entire ecosystem to grow by offering solutions and services to companies. 

Bitcoin works on a blockchain network that is different to the Waves blockchain. They are separated and not interconnected. This is why, if you want to use the Waves network, you would not be able to do so with Bitcoin, or vice versa. 

While a large ecosystem could be built on top of Waves (ICOs, tokens, assets and smart contracts), with Bitcoin this becomes much more difficult. In order to do so with BTC, it is necessary to use different tools such as sidechains. 

Bitcoin was released to decentralized the financial world while Waves was created to help companies and developers launch their own tokens and projects on top of its network. 

Bitcoin vs Waves Metrics

As Bitcoin vs Waves are different, there are some metrics that show some discrepancies. Let’s get into them. 

In terms of price, currently, Bitcoin is being traded around $60,000 while Waves has a price per coin of $12.81. Bitcoin’s market capitalization (the number of coins multiplied by the price) has surpassed $1.11 trillion. Waves, instead, has a valuation of $1.34 billion. 

This is why they also have different positions in the market. While Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in the world, Waves is the 78th largest. 

In terms of price action, Waves reached an all-time high during the bull market experienced in 2017. In December, Waves hit a price of over $14. Bitcoin at that time was traded close to $20,000. Since that moment, Bitcoin, tripled its price while Waves is just close to its previous all-time high (without surpassing it as of today). 

Bitcoin vs Waves, in terms of total supply, are also different. There are 104,744,554 WAVES available while just 21 million BTC that would be mined by 2140. Both virtual currencies are currently available in most cryptocurrency exchanges. 

However, as we could already expect, Bitcoin is now accepted in a larger number of places than Waves. This is related to the fact that Bitcoin has been operating for a longer period of time and that it has been adopted by several companies and individuals all over the world. 

Why is Bitcoin Important?

Bitcoin is important because it is the first cryptocurrency in the world allowing users to send and receive money across borders in a decentralized and permissionless way. Bitcoin became one of the largest virtual currencies thanks to the way in which it allows people and institutions to own real money. 

Individuals can easily own Bitcoin and protect their funds from devaluating currencies. In recent years, central banks have been printing large sums of money. This has created a situation in which inflation expectations are moving higher. 

Higher inflation could only be harmful to individuals and people that want to save money for their future. This does not happen with Bitcoin. The virtual currency can be used to avoid losing value. In the last ten years, a person that held USD in a bank account without receiving any income lost around 19% of its value. 

If these were the savings of a lifetime, then that person lost 20% of his life work due to inflation. A 2% increase every year does not seem to be “a lot of inflation.” Indeed, economists will tell that this is a great level because it is close to the target established by the central bank.

This does not happen with Bitcoin. Although the virtual currency has large price fluctuations in short periods of time, in the last 10 years, Bitcoin registered massive growth. Nowadays, with the expansion of the crypto market to institutions, it is possible to see BTC price moving even higher. 

Bitcoin is Money that You Really Own

Bitcoin is literally money that you really own and that no government can take you away. Banks and governments work together as strong allies. Politicians use banks to launder money while people are traced in order to understand which were their monthly expenditures. 

Banks, at the same time, are at the service of the governments. When governments require banks to freeze accounts, banks are always ready to do so. If we go to buy to the shop and we pay with a credit or debit card, not only the bank will know all about us, but they will also share our information with third parties due to different reasons. Additionally, they know our timetable, how we live and what we do. 

With Bitcoin, both banks and politicians lose power. Bitcoin holders (those that own their private keys) cannot be confiscated. Their work remains protected by code and by a decentralized network of miners. This does not happen with other digital assets and with traditional financial institutions. 

Other Reasons Behind Bitcoin’s Importance

Bitcoin is also scarce, divisible, useful, transportable, durable and unique. All these adjectives make Bitcoin superior to traditional fiat money. That being said, it is the market that values these things. 

BTC is scarce because there will only be 21 million coins ever in existence. It is divisible because each BTC can be subdivided into 100 million satoshis. A person can easily buy 1 BTC or 50,000 satoshis. It is useful because of the reasons that we mentioned before in the post.

Finally, it is durable and unique because BTC does not get old, 1 BTC will always be 1 BTC, and due to the fact that no BTC can be faked. 

Why is Waves Important?

Waves is important because it has allowed several companies to release tokens and other projects on top of its network. The most popular case is the one related to WhopperCoin. This was a cryptocurrency launched on top of the Waves blockchain network by Burger King in Russia. 

The goal was to reward clients that purchased at Burger King. Per each Whopper purchased at Burger King, buyers would receive 1 WhopperCoin. However, this was part of the expansion of the ICO market of 2017. 

In the beginning, the virtual currency (WhopperCoin) was well received. Later on, interest in it faded and it ended up disappearing from the market. 

Waves is now working in order to help the market become more efficient in the way it handles smart contracts. Let’s not forget that Waves is a competitor to Ethereum, the second-largest virtual currency in the world. 

This blockchain network could eventually be used to help Ethereum scale, offer better services to users and run new projects such as the one created by Burger King. Although the future is uncertain, there seems to have been some interest for Waves in recent weeks. 

Bitcoin vs Waves Challenges

Bitcoin vs Waves have both challenges in the cryptocurrency market. Although they have been operating for several years now, they are certainly far from having any challenges. Indeed, these challenges are very important for them to keep active and alive. 

Bitcoin Challenges

Bitcoin is now facing scalability issues. Although the Lightning Network (LN) is expanding, it should reach a larger number of users. This is taking longer than expected and it is not helping BTC in terms of adoption. 

At the same time, there are still some regulatory issues around Bitcoin. Governments are trying to better understand how to regulate Bitcoin without harming innovation. Nevertheless, this is not clear and they do not have a clear answer to that problem yet. 

Bitcoin is also less private than other blockchain networks such as Monero (XMR). However, it remains more private than debit or credit cards that hold all our information. Of course, there are other challenges such as costly and slow transactions. This should also be solved with the expansion of the LN. 

Waves Challenges

Waves has also some challenges to address. For example, there has been a fast expansion of alternative networks to launch and run digital currencies and projects. Some of these networks include Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX), EOS (EOS) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), among others. 

If Waves wants to remain a leader in the market, more projects should start working with Waves and embrace it as a useful network. Nonetheless, this seems to be taking longer than usual. Without an increase in the number of users and use-cases, Waves is at risk of falling below the 100 digital currencies in the market. 

Nowadays, Waves should show that it remains one of the most efficient blockchain networks and that it is ready to offer better services than its competitors. 

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