Waves 1.3 Jumeirah release paves the way for new-gen DeFi

The highly-anticipated Waves node update — version 1.3 — has been released on the testnet and can be used by developers for building innovative decentralized apps. Historically, all major node versions are named after beaches, such as Waves 1.2 Malibu, and version 1.3 was named Jumeirah after one of the main beaches in Dubai, which, in turn, has become an important place for the crypto community in 2021.

Over the past year, the blockchain industry has substantially grown — mostly, thanks to a boom in decentralized apps (dApps) in the segment of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Since the very launch in 2016, the Waves blockchain has been meant to be a tool for dApp development, and it’s come in handy for the new trend, becoming a basis for such apps as Swop.fi, Neutrino and Waves.Exchange.

The main metric for Waves’ success as a protocol for DeFi apps can be the total value locked (TVL) in those dApps, which has reached an impressive figure of $1.8 billion!

This success is mostly due to Waves’ key advantages, such as the smart contract language Ride, no gas, fixed transaction fees, adequate developer experience and a low entry barrier.

Version 1.3 will make the Waves user-friendlier, also offering unique opportunities to app developers in the DeFi space: gasless smart contracts with a cross-dApp call functionality.

dApp-to-dApp invocations

To implement cross-dApp invocations, a range of new features has been added. A full description of them is available on the documentation page. Apart from minor improvements, including an update for the structure of invocation and callable functions’ return value, three major improvements should be specifically discussed.

The Ride language’s invoke and reentrantInvoke functions

In the Ride smart contract language’s standard library v5, functions for calling smart contract functions directly from a dApp, written in Ride, were added.

Strict variables

This new type of variables ensures that its value is calculated as soon as script execution reaches it, and, subsequently, the next variable is calculated. Coupled with cross-dApp invocations, the logic of using strict variables looks as follows:

Raising maximum complexity of callable functions

Once the functionality for creating more complex DeFi apps has been added, a need for raising the complexity limit for smart contracts becomes evident. In version 1.3, the maximum complexity for a callable function of a dApp script was raised to 10,000 and the total complexity of all callable functions and asset scripts in one transaction should be under 26,000. Moreover, the maximum number of attached payments was raised to 10, which leaves more opportunities for creativity in building dApps.

New standard library for Ride: v5

In addition to functionality that is directly linked to cross-dApp calls, the update has other features for developers, implemented in the Ride language. Their full list is available in Release Notes.

The most highly anticipated are the following improvements:

• leasing operations in smart contract code (Lease, LeaseCancel, calculateLeaseId)
• Any data type, which simplifies the logic of creating code
• The BigInt type for support of large numbers with a set of math operations.

The Ride language is constantly evolving, enabling developers to implement wider logic on the blockchain. Now, leasing transactions can be executed through smart contract calls.

The release of Waves 1.3 Jumeirah heralds a new era for DeFi apps, as it introduces unprecedented opportunities. In the coming months, users will see breakthrough dApps, the first of which is likely to be a lending protocol on Waves, facilitating the lending and borrowing of crypto assets. An increase in the number of Waves-based DeFi apps and their broader functionality will drive up TVL in the ecosystem’s products and demand for the WAVES token.

For developers, the new release comes as an opportunity to build a unique app on the protocol, contributing to the development of the DeFi space. You could start with building an app in Ride, and enthusiasts can take advantage of an education course on Coursera. Developers who have already built a dApp and attracted users to it, are eligible for grants from the Waves Association.