WAX, standing for Worldwide Asset Exchange, is a blockchain network and protocol, is specifically designed as a decentralized marketplace and dApp development platform for digital collectibles such as NFTs, video games, and virtual worlds. It uses Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism. It has a specialized infrastructure that developers can use to build “digital goods”, which includes video game items and tokenized consumer products.
The two main components of the blockchain are — the WAX protocol and a microservice layer. A microservice layer is an autonomous software-building mechanism in which services are clubbed to provide the needed infrastructure for developing other decentralized applications on the network.
How does WAX work?
WAX was released in 2017 to make e-commerce transactions more convenient, faster, and secure. It was founded by William E. Quigley, a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley and the company’s current CEO, along with Jonathan Yantis, an American blockchain expert, and the company’s current COO.
According to the DPoS consensus mechanism used by WAX, WAX token holders can stake their tokens to vote for a maximum of 30 WAX guild candidates. WAX guild candidates are the nodes that give consensus for adding a block. The strength of the vote depends upon the number of tokens staked. Staking and then block generation by the guild are rewarded in WAX tokens. Finally, 21 WAX guilds are chosen for a given period.
On the chain, blocks get produced every 0.5 seconds, and at a time, any guild is authorized to give consensus. If the guild does not produce the block at a specific time, the block will be skipped for the transaction to be recorded in the next block. Furthermore, to discourage block skipping, the guilds are not entitled to any WAX Guild Reward if they skip 50% or more of their scheduled blocks.
The microservice layer: In the microservice layer, the network provides a host of blockchain-based tools and services that enable developers to build various projects on the network. It also allows the developers to make dApps and create NFTs. The services present in this layer are —
WAX All Access, SSO, and OAuth for e-commerce operations.
WAX Cloud Wallet: For the storage of tokens, rewards NFTs, and other collectibles.
WAX NFT Creator: This tool enables creators and digital artists to create NFTs on the network platform, without any fees.
WAX ExpressTrade: For free of cost peer-to-peer trading across the network.
WAX Marketplace: A marketplace for NFTs and has additional APIs to create more marketplaces on the network.
WAX Explorer: For a real-time experience of products traded on the network with a 3D visual representation of every item.
The WAX token
There are 3 variants of WAX coins — WAXP, WAXE, and WAXWG. WAXP is the network’s native utility token that can be used to carry out transactions and buy and trade NFTs. WAXP is the token the can also be referred to as WAX. For example, price analysis of WAX means price analysis of WAXP only.
WAXE is an Ethereum-to-WAX bridge token used to convert WAXP into ERC-20 tokens. The conversion rate is 1000 WAXP to 1 WAXE. WAXE is generated by burning WAXP through the Ethereum bridge. Then WAXE tokens can be staked on the Ethereum Distribution Contract to get ETH.
WAXG is the governance token of WAX based on the ERC-20 token. WAXG can be earned by staking WAXE. It is used for voting for WAX Guilds, voting for any new proposals, etc.
Becoming the “King of NFTs”
In a short time, the network has emerged to be dubbed the “King of NFTs”. It’s because of the huge popularity among the NFT ecosystem and online gaming community. The platform’s one of the greatest strengths is that it charges zero transaction fees. No gas fees aid in attracting creators and collections to the network.
The network records, on average, 23 million transactions for 15 million different users daily. More than 30,000 dApps operate on it. The gaming community sees more than 700,000 daily active users, spending hours each day on the network. It hosts all of the top 10 blockchain video games. In May 2023, the platform surpassed 3 million active accounts.
WAX was specifically built to handle heavy traffic transactions for NFT collectors and blockchain gamers. While writing the article, WAX was trading at 0.05342 USD, a 26% raise over the last 24 hours. The 24-hour trading volume is 1,129,681 USD.
The blockchain is one of the most preferred platforms for trading NFTs and online blockchain video games, given the highly efficient WAX Protocol and zero gas fees. It also increases NFT utility as the digital collectibles that can be traded on the network include in-game items and virtual real estate. Players of video games can also trade in-game currencies, trademarks used, weapons, artillery, clothing, vehicles, etc.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/10/23/wax-blockchain-a-frontrunner-for-gaming-and-nft-ecosystem/