What is WAXP? An introduction to the WAX blockchain

WAX (Worldwide Asset eXchange) is an environmentally-friendly blockchain purpose-built for e-Commerce through dApps (decentralised applications), NFTs, gaming, virtual worlds, and unique collectibles. On the WAX blockchain, creators and brands can easily build, launch, and distribute NFTs to a global user base.

An illustration of WAX’s vast digital economy — The WAX ecosystem makes it easy for creators and collectors to participate in its digital economy (Image source)

Brands building on WAX

Brands that have launched NFTs on WAX include Topps (Major League Baseball), Capcom (Street Fighter), Atari, Funko, Lionsgate and many more. WAX has also released official NFT collections for individual films such as The Princess Bride and Saw, and entertainers including William Shatner, Deadmau5, and Weezer.

Deadmau5’s NFT music collection on WAX — Deadmau5 has an NFT music collection on WAX through RAREZ (Image source)

And whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a smaller developer, the WAX Blockchain Developer Hive is the all-in-one platform to start building on WAX. Featuring powerful APIs and a smart contract quickstart, these tools make it easy for developers to launch on their NFT marketplaces and reach a massive global audience.

How is WAX different from other blockchains?

WAX uses a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism in which token holders vote on delegates that act as validators for new blocks.

Token holders may delegate their tokens to someone else, giving them the power to validate transactions on the network. DPoS is a modified version of the traditional Proof-of-Stake model, making it more democratic by allowing anyone to delegate their coins. Furthermore, voting power is weighted on a proportional scale relative to the number of tokens staked.

With DPoS, a delegate validates a block that is then confirmed by other delegates in the network. The transaction is approved and consensus is reached within seconds, allowing all participants to earn their staking rewards.

A graphic of WAX’s Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism compared to traditional Proof-of-Stake and Proof-of-Work — Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) is a modified version of traditional Proof-of-Stake (Image source)

DPoS is significantly more energy efficient than Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW), in which miners validate blocks and earn their rewards by solving complex mathematical equations. The required computing power for PoW is quite high and makes it an energy-intensive process. While Bitcoin can consume up to 72 TW per year, WAX uses just 0.00023 TW.

Through initiatives like WAX Labs, token holders are also given the power to vote on which developer proposals will be the next projects to launch on the blockchain.

An environmentally-friendly blockchain for NFTs

As a certified carbon neutral blockchain, WAX leaves a smaller environmental impact than other blockchains. Besides having an energy efficient consensus mechanism, WAX is also slashing emissions with their digital storage of physical items through their virtual in-real-life (vIRL) NFT marketplace.

vIRL NFTs are virtual in-real-life items that users can buy, sell, trade, or redeem for physical collectibles. Each item can be traded many times digitally but only redeemed once in the physical world. This helps the network to cut down on environmental waste, since items can change hands multiple times virtually before ever involving shipping and logistics.

WAX is a climate-friendly blockchain and NFT ecosystem thanks to its DPoS and vIRL NFTs — WAX's DPoS and vIRL NFTs make it among the most climate-friendly blockchains and NFT ecosystems (Image source)

“WAX was designed from the beginning to be incredibly energy efficient,” said WAX Co-Founder William E. Quigley . “That is why WAX NFTs use a tiny fraction of the energy of Ethereum and Bitcoin. In fact, WAX is 125,000 times more energy-efficient than Ethereum and WAX is already carbon neutral.”

Quick WAX facts

15M transactions daily
6M user accounts
30K dApps
60M+ unique NFT assets
3.77B total WAXP supply
Created by William E. Quigley and Jonathan Yantis

Where to buy WAXP

$WAXP is the native token of the WAX blockchain. By owning WAXP you can start collecting NFTs and participate in the global WAX ecosystem.

MoonPay is the top on-ramp for the WAX ecosystem, making it easy to buy WAX (WAXP) directly or through your WAX Cloud Wallet with a credit card or bank transfer.

MoonPay has made the buy flow significantly faster and we now offer a fixed quote, guaranteeing the amount of crypto you will receive.

Due to regulatory reasons, WAXP purchases are available in every state except Hawaii, New York, Rhode Island, and the US Virgin Islands.