Blockchain token platform, WAVES recently raised over 5000 Bitcoins ($2 million) in less than a week from its ICO campaign. Once released, WAVES will allow anyone to issue their own custom tokens on the WAVES blockchain rather than using the Bitcoin blockchain like Counter-Party.

Kicking off their ICO with a massive 5000 BTC total in the first week, WAVES is off to a good start in attracting potential users. At the end of the campaign, a total of 85 million WAVES coins of the total number of coins will be distributed to the crowdfunding participants based on individual donations thanks to Ethereum’s smart contracts.

While services such as Counter-Party also offer custom tokens, it is built on Bitcoin’s blockchain which can experience delays due to block size. Waves on the other hand, offers their own blockchain and the ability to establish crowdfunding campaigns, trading and aims to merge fiat and fintech.

With fiat integration, WAVES’ wallet will have the ability to hold fiat currencies such as USD, Euro and Yuan in the form of tokens along with other WAVES-based tokens without the need to download the blockchain.

Unlike Ethereum which allows you to program the blockchain, WAVES will simplify the process by offering plug-ins to add functions to the blockchain which will be easier to use than to program, making it friendly towards all developers and users alike.

Fiat token support

“We will be supporting fiat tokens, tied to major world currencies. They will be backed by existing financial institutions, who will provide market making for the assets, compliant with their KYC/AML. The structure is similar to Ripple gateways, it is not a market-peg, but a full backing by a third-party entity.” stated Sasha Ivanov, founder and CEO of the WAVES project in his Bitcoin Talk thread.

Unlike traditional blockchain tokens which are not backed by fiat currencies, WAVES has the potential to break the barrier between traditional fiat systems and decentralized banking with this new form of digital token.

“One of the goals will be also to create a protocol for token/asset transfer between blockchains. Imagine you have a token on NXT, ETH platform and would like to move this token to BTC colored coins or Waves blockchain.” said Ivanov in a blog post.

So far, the WAVES team is working on a lite client that does not require the download of the blockchain which should be available at the end of the ICO but only testnet WAVES is allowing the trading of WAVES tokens on exchanges before the mainnet launch.