WanChain Introduces Its Take On A Universal Crypto Adaptor

Are you one of the many individuals that finds the wild wild world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology nothing if not a bit confusing to understand? It's completely understandable, it's not hyperbole to refer to it as an almost ‘wild west' landscape; it has been one of those industries which has exploded in terms of scale and proportion in the eyes of developers and investors.

Compared to just the year before, there are now thousands of tokens using just under a thousand different blockchains. And each of them using some or a number of the numerous DLT solutions, alternative scaling solutions and beyond.

While this has allowed for the safe exchange of ERC20 or ERC721 tokens across a familiar path, users have to be sure not to walk off those dusty trails into a forest of other ERC derivatives such as TRX10 or TRX20 tokens. With the likes of BTC, LTC, even TRON and Tezos having their own networks, chains and wallets, along with their own ICOs. And that's not even including the fact that areas of the blockchain world see ICOs as slowly sinking into redundancy.

And that's not even going into the unfortunate act of those that send an Ethereum based transaction over to a Litecoin address or some other variation.

Out of any sort of variable out there, from religious denominations to electric sockets, there are likely to be more adaptions or protocols around blockchain than any of them. We're at least fortunate that there's something of a sort of universal plug for those looking for a bit more simplicity from this ever overgrowing forest, and that would be WanChain (WAN).

This particular adapter has the express purpose of attempting to unite this wider ecosystem of cryptocurrencies. The end goal being for allowing crypto traders to easily exchange different types of tokens from one system to another kind. More recently, Wanchain has announced that it will be releasing ‘WanChain 3.0‘, the latest version of its system. This solution in question allows users to have interoperability between Ethereum, ERC20 tokens and Bitcoin.

This wider announcement serves to conclude the earlier beta and alpha-stage trials for Wanchain 3.0, which has been reported on by a number of news outlets.

With the official launch of Wanchain, it aims to provide users with the ability to replicate Ethereum dApps, allowing for a far greater margin of interactions in and between other blockchain dApps. Allowing for the broader communications between Maker/Dai, 0xtokens and other exchanges.

“Considering that there's a major need for interoperability,” according to Oliver Birch, the Wanchain VP of Global Communications, which he penned in a succinct email. “We believe that this is one of the single greatest advancements that we've seen within the cryptocurrency space to date. It serves as the foundation for a crypto-based industry wherein assets and value can be easily and safely exchanged across different blockchain solutuons, while in a completely decentralized manner in situations such as DEX's, and cross-chain dApps.”

To put this new protocol to full use, traders will have to move Ethereum or Bitcoin to a corresponding smart contract address, one that is directly linked to the Wanchain blockchain. In doing so, these .can then be trustlessly exchanged for what is referred to as proxy tokens, these are a type of token denomination based on Wrapped Ethereum and Wrapped Bitcoin (WETH & WBTC).

These same tokens can then be traded or used easily within the Wanchain smart contracts. At the end of the interaction, users can then effectively redeem the tokens in a more streamlined capacity.

While this has been a major announcement for the Wanchain team, the company has not been so successful in increasing its company share value.

To date, it has slid downward over the last 24 hours of over 0.65 percent, falling to $0.31912. This still results in the project having a total of $33.88 million market capitalization, making it the 82nd largest cryptocurrency in the world.

While this is an interesting application of the Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), it certainly isn't the first or only one to use it. According to other news outlets, these wrapped Bitcoin operate as a variation of an ERC20 token which has been backed by a collateral of Bitcoin. While they share a name, the two have a significant degree of differences.

“There is a major range of difference between Wrapped Bitcoin and ETH, and the one that is being incorperated on WanChain,” as Johann Eid, the Technical strategist of Wanchain explains. “The aim of Wanchain long-term is to implement a solution which is completely decentralized, this is in order to solve the transfer of value across multiple chains. While Wrapped Bitcoin on ETH is currently serving as a more transitional entity such as a custodian.”

In other words, Eid argues that “WBTC” operates more like a Bitcoin backed tether than a decentralized solution, and it is one that would otherwise depend on the level of trust that is given to a single custodian, especially one that is based and otherwise bound to the remit of laws in the United States.

Wrapped Bitcoin, while providing a useful solution is not without its faults, however. The blockchain operates on a permission-based capacity, Eid concedes, but it's moving in the right direction when it comes to the concept of decentralizing.

While WanChain has provided a very interesting project, development is still ongoing for it, as Eid admits via an email conversation. The WanChain protocol intends to serve not just as a cross-chain support system, but as a means of unifying every blockchain.

“So long as a given blockchain is capable of using our sort of public or private key scheme,” Eid states, “We will be able to integrate the specific blockchain with a straightforward process that we are aiming to have become universal, at least as much as it is possible for the near future.”

According to the company, Ripple, Stellar, and EOS being some of those already under consideration.

Having a system like this would take an overgrown forest and give it a much needed cut back, making it far more navigable for the average user. This would allow for the dabbling investor would no longer have to worry about requiring six different desktop wallets. This universal blockchain adapter will allow for cryptocurrency, regardless of whatever way it is being used, to become more than easy to use.

168 +