WhaleAcademy takes a deep dive into Wanchain. Come join us!
What does Wanchain do?
The two-liner: Wanchain is a digital currency-agnostic platform enabling the global interoperability of multiple blockchains. It allows cross-chain communication protocol, enabling data transfer between otherwise unconnected blockchains.
What do they envision?
The goal is to use Wanchain to allow institutions and individuals to set up their own virtual teller window to provide services ranging from loan origination, asset exchanges, credit payments and transaction settlements based on digital assets. In other words, it wants to become a distributed super-financial market based on blockchain.
What do they use?
Wancoin (WAN) is the native token of the Wanchain network. For cross- and intra-chain transactions, WAN is used for execution, and is also used as the security deposit for cross-chain verification nodes.
What real world problem does Wanchain seek to solve?
2.5 billion people around the world have no access to banking services and are separated from the global economy, and high service fees prevail for those who do.
Blockchain came as a great respite. It allowed the switch from credit authorization by institutions to inviolable mathematical laws for recording the exchange value. Furthermore, digital currencies have allowed safe haven for countries that underwent massive devaluation of fiat money.
In fact, blockchain is also helping the refugee situation. On a personal level, some refugees choose to convert their fiat savings into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which highly decreases the risk of cross-border theft. It is very common for corrupt individuals to charge exorbitant fees to allow refugees safe passage, and cryptocurrency is one way to overcome this issue. At the international level, the United Nation’s World Food Programme directed resources to thousands of Syrian refugees by giving them cryptocurrency-based vouchers, and successfully recorded and authenticated transfers for about 10,000 individuals. It was implemented by Parity Technologies, a startup led by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and blockchain big data firm Datarella.
However, more can be done; not just for the refugee situation but also to generate more use cases by overcoming some issues that exist across cryptocurrencies.
Against the backdrop of these uses, blockchains and digital assets have been created at dizzying pace in recent years. Unfortunately, there still lacks an efficient and decentralized way to exchange value between them. Currently, one has to own numerous wallets and use centralized exchanges. This creates a lot of counterparty risk and hassle. Though decentralized exchanges exist, there is still much room for improvement.
Therefore, the main goal of Wanchain is to solve the issue of value transfers between different ledgers.
What are the implications of solving the issue of value transfers between different ledgers?
1. Costs will be kept down
2. The elimination of single points of failure
3. Help the world’s unbanked population by providing easier access to financial services
How did Wanchain come about?
Wanchain started as a fork of Ethereum. Currently, it is an independent and separate blockchain. As of July 23rd, 2018, Wanchain 2.0 is live, with some upgrades including its interoperability with Ethereum.
This means that any dApp built on Ethereum can be run on Wanchain without changes to the code structure. At the same time, the dApp can take advantage of new features on Wanchain, for instance privacy protection and cross-chain transactions.
Below is a pictorial overview of its architecture.
What are some key features of Wanchain?
The crux of its technology lies in its cross-chain communication protocol. This allows data transfer between otherwise unconnected blockchains. It has 3 core modules.
1. The registration module records the chain from which a transaction starts, and keeps track of any asset transfers
2. The cross-chain transaction data transmission module initiates any cross-chain transfer requests. It then checks the response of a validator node, and processes the transfer from the validator node to the original chain
3. The transaction status query module acts as a monitor for all cross-chain transactions
This can be visualized in the figure above from Wanchain’s Whitepaper of how a transfer takes place.
Wanchain takes privacy very seriously.
As mentioned, any Ethereum dApp can run on Wanchain. Applications that do can be strengthened with Wanchain’s APIs, and leverage on its benefits such as privacy protection. Wanchain also offers private transactions and are considered a pioneer in implementing this feature within smart contracts. This is done with ring signatures and a One Time Address (OTA). Users and receivers can sign off without compromising privacy. Then, Wanchain breaks down transaction inputs to a standard denomination, which acts as the third layer of privacy.
Wanchain will also join Ethereum in moving towards a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm instead of the current Proof-of-Work. It will also adopt solutions such as Plasma, and Raiden Network.
Other technical features include node consensus verification, smart contract virtual machine, and locked account generation scheme.
Verification nodes: Wanchain employs 3 categories of verification nodes.
1. Vouchers (cross-chain transaction proof nodes): verifies transactions between initiator and designated Locked Account where the original asset is deposited. To participate on the network service, vouchers must first provide a deposit in WAN.
2. Storemen (Locked Account management nodes): executes Secure Multi-Party Computation (sMPC) functions responsible for the keyshares of locked accounts.
3. Validators (general verification nodes): provides Storemen information on the status on Locked Accounts and work to verify all transactions that occur in the network.
How it works: for instance, ETH sent to Wanchain are stored in a cross-chain Locked Account on the Ethereum network, generating an equivalent amount of proxy tokens called WETH.
The private key of this Locked Account is divided into key shares among a series of Storemen nodes.
Then, these nodes utilizes sMPC to produce a smart contract, securing the asset on the original chain. This distribution is decentralized, preventing any individual node from accessing the funds.
Subsequently, the equivalent WETH tokens are released on Wanchain, becoming tradeable. When a WETH holder wants to move assets back to Ethereum, the corresponding ETH is released via a Storeman node and the equivalent portion of WETH is burned.
Timeline
The github for Wanchain can be found here: https://github.com/wanchain
As mentioned earlier, Wanchain 2.0 is already live. One exciting feature is its interoperability with Ethereum. What this means is that Ether is now cross-transferrable to the Wanchain Platform, from Ethereum’s blockchain. It is accurately represented 1:1 as the WETH (Wanchain’s Ethereum Mapping Token) token. This was the result of smart contracts, secure multi-party computing, as well as threshold key sharing.
Wanchain is the first interoperable network to use secure multi-party computation (sMPC), threshold key sharing, and locked accounts mechanism.
Token Economics
Hard cap: 210,000,000 WAN (ICO is 51% of total token supply)
Conversion rate: 1 WAN = 0.34 USD (000113636 ETH)
Total circulating = 106,152,493 WAN ; Total supply = 210,000,000
Market Cap: $109,116,571
ERC20 token: Yes
Token distribution date: Tradable in Q4 2017
Meet the team
Wanchain boasts some of the top software engineers and cryptographic experts on its team. Many come from the prestigious Peking University. Overall headcount stands at 32 employees and 12 advisors. In late 2017, Wanchain joined the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance, which stands for the unified goal of promoting interconnectivity between separate blockchain networks through research and collaboration.
What else is in store for Wanchain?
On October 1st 2018 Wanchain’s official Medium page posted about the next step for Wanchain. Its 3.0 beta testnet was finally opened and precedes the Wanchain 3.0 launch in Q4 this year. At this stage, the goal is to integrate with Bitcoin. Upon launch of Wanchain 3.0, any dApp, protocol, DEX or other projects built on Ethereum will be able to “break down the wall” between their network and the entire Bitcoin community.
Use cases include DEX offering Bitcoin trading pairs, which will increase trades and liquidity. Cross-chain crypto loans will also be possible. However, WanWallet 3.0 will be required to access new features like Bitcoin cross-chain transactions.
Overall, Wanchain has been delivering ahead of time with their strong team. This is a promising sign of their commitment.
Looking forward, what is expected to come in the next months and 2019 from Wanchain are:
Interoperability with other ERC20 tokens
Wanchain 3.0 (Bitcoin interoperability)
Developer Tools
Enterprise Blockchain Solutions.
Government Pilot Projects.
Proof of Stake Consensus.
Wanchain Developer Community.
Increased Marketing and Branding.
Community Development (Online and Offline)
Videos and Comments From Our Executive Team.
Technical Updates.
Opening Storemen Node Groups.
Voucher Nodes.
Scalability Solutions.
However, Wanchain is not the only contender solving interoperability amongst blockchains and dApps. Why do they still stand out then?
First of all, they are currently the only interoperable blockchain with secure multi-party computing. With Wanchain 2.0 live, we expect this trailblazer to also have a certain level of first mover advantage compared to its peers. Secondly, whilst most of their peers attempt to solve one or two issues, Wanchain wants to solve them all — cross-chain communication, application platform, and anonymity. The team is strong in technical, and strong in their connection networks.
One thing to note is that they have teamed up with 2 major competitors and peers, Aion and ICON, to form the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance. Investor confidence is also high, with huge interest in their ICO.
It is also important to see how Wanchain is doing compared to its peers in the search for interoperability solutions. WhaleAcademy will take a closer look at their latest updates.
The first peer is Blocknet, which is working on decentralizing exchanges. The four components of an exchange are deposits, order broadcasting, order matching, and actual exchange of coins. Blocknet wants to decentralize all of these components.
This is the latest roadmap from Blocknet. The latest wallet version 3.10.5 has been released. On the marketing end, they have been invited to a selective European blockchain roundtable event to assess EU policy and future of blockchain, with more details to be released in due time. They have also won the Altcoin Magazine poll for most recommended masternode. Their Blocknet Protocol currently supports 92 blockchains and a full list can be found on their Coin Hub, which includes current prices, rankings and market cap of these assts. There are 28 blockchains unannounced and 127 in progress for error resolution and finalization. They are listed on Block DX, Bittrex, Cryptobridge, UPbit, Coinswitch, and Cryptopia. The next update is due 30th October.
Aion is another close competitor that aims to send data and value across any Aion-compliant blockchain and Ethereum. It is also targeting scalability and spoke — to allow the creation of customized public or private blockchains that maintain interoperability with other blockchains, but allow publishers to choose governance, consensus machanisms, issuance and participation. As of 1 month ago, the launch of Aion to Ethereum Token Transfer Bridge was live. As of yesterday, WinMiner announced their intention to launch the WinMiner token on the Aion network. WinMiner allows users to start mining digital currencies easily with payouts to utilize their unused computer power for profit. However, a quick search through some user forums indicated that users were having problems downloading the desktop wallet for borh Windows 10 and Mac users. Token swaps were also often the topic of questions raised in their Reddit forum.
ICON is a korea-based cryptocurrency and has one of the highest market cap of all projects working on comprehensive interoperability. They are building an application platform and interchain communication protocol. The focus is on a blockchain-based ID verification system that may just be the solution for a unified account across healthcare, university and other social systems. Their whitepaper boasts up to 9000 transactions per second on testnets. They have been hitting their milestones and forming valuable partnerships thus far, making them a company to watch out for.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, in the race for mass adoption, one important trend is obvious: the best man may not always win. In other words, it is not the best technology that may emerge with the lion’s share. The secret is this: the technology does not have to be perfect, it just has to be good enough, and reach critical mass first. Compared to ICON and Aion, Wanchain is primarily dominant in China, and will need to expand beyond that in order to be top dog. On the bright side, its partnership in the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance will benefit them, and even likelier is it that the difference caveats and niches each of these interoperability providers have established will allow them to co-exist and flourish.
References
https://wanchain.org/files/Wanchain-Whitepaper-EN-version.pdf
https://www.investinblockchain.com/what-is-wanchain/
https://cryptobriefing.com/wanchain-wan-token-progress-report/
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610806/inside-the-jordan-refugee-camp-that-runs-on-blockchain/
https://info.binance.com/en/currencies/wan
https://www.investinblockchain.com/wanchain-ethereum-interoperablity/
http://www.blockdiscover.com/icos/wanchain-ico-analysis-review/
https://www.investinblockchain.com/blockchain-interoperability-projects/
https://medium.com/wanchain-foundation/wanchain-continues-rapid-progression-wanchain-3-0-94c780a11fdf
https://medium.com/wanchain-foundation/a-letter-to-our-community-8bba64ff1cc0https://www.coinbureau.com/review/wanchain-wan/
https://www.reddit.com/r/wanchain/
https://medium.com/blocknet/word-on-the-block-15th-october-d406ac13c6a7
https://cosmos.network/roadmap
https://www.reddit.com/r/AionNetwork/
https://bitcoinist.com/winminer-one-click-mining-solution/
https://wsimag.com/science-and-technology/17968-great-whale-gatherings
All care has been taken to ensure that credit where relevant is acknowledged. If there is any source not credited that has been used, please reach out to us to correct that immediately. Further, all care has been taken to confirm the accuracy of the information presented; however neither the authors, editors, or publishers can be responsible for errors or omissions or for any consequences from application of the information given. It is not meant to be financial advice and you are advised to do your own due diligence.
