The momentum pushing cryptocurrency markets worldwide isn’t slowing. As the inherent value of crypto assets and blockchain technology, the industry’s growth trajectory is accelerating.
However, as increasing numbers of digital currencies launch and build value in the network, the need to manage this growth becomes more pressing. This is one reason why there has been a rapid proliferation of new asset management applications recently. At a time when distributed models are seen as a more efficient and secure approach for the emerging digital economy, most of these exchange applications operate according to a centralized model.
Wanchain, an innovative digital platform curated by the Chinese firm Wanglu Tech, shows promise as a framework for building a decentralized financial market. Wanchain’s model for distributed financial infrastructure allows the exchange of assets across different blockchain networks; the native cryptocurrency, “Wancoin,” will serve as an intermediate currency for the exchanges.
A major driver of Wanchain’s open-source project is the Singapore-based Wanchain Foundation, a non-profit organization serving the broader crypto ecosystem. The foundation’s primary objective is to raise operating funds for the Wanchain community, while offering support to enterprises, organizations, individuals and other key stakeholders.
Cross-Chain Transactions
Wanchain’s long-term vision is ambitious. It aims to establish a distributed, digital-asset-based financial infrastructure which will allow institutions and individuals to run their own “virtual teller,” where service offerings such as loan origination, asset exchanges, credit payments and transaction settlements are based on digital assets.
Thanks to blockchain technology, Wanchain is decentralized and permits transactions without the need for trusted third parties. However, the platform’s core value comes from the fact that it can transfer assets using a decentralized cross-chain mechanism and protocol. Multiple blockchains will be connected for the purpose of transferring value across networks.
Wanchain not only serves as a link between blockchains; the platform will also function as its own internal blockchain with smart contract functionality, Turing completeness and privacy protection for all network transactions.
The Wanchain model comes at a time when myriad applications are being developed across the financial industry. These include:
Wanchain aims to be a more efficient distributed-asset trading network utilizing a framework similar to those used by traditional financial institutions, including companies involved with asset-backed securities. By capitalizing on Wanchain’s innovative infrastructure, individuals and businesses will be able to access a wider range of financial services, while maintaining greater control over their assets and asset appreciation strategies.
Jack Lu, CEO of Wanglu Tech and founder of Wanchain, organized a team to curate Wanchain’s development after completing a cross-chain transaction and privacy protection verification and prototype development during the latter part of 2016. The platform is set to go live in November 2017.
Lu previously launched Factom in 2014, a company whose initial coin offering (ICO) campaign successfully raised over $9 million. Factom now sits as one of the top 30 cryptocurrency markets in the world, with an estimated value of over $200 million.
Besides Lu, who leads the company’s engineering team in the U.S. and China, Wanchain boasts a number of world-renowned software engineers and cryptographic experts. Many of the developers have matriculated from Peking University, one of the top institutions of higher education, not only in China, but in the world. Applied mathematics expert U.S.-based Zane Liang, who leads the scientific team at Wanchain, is responsible for theoretical solutions and verification of the blockchain encryption algorithms.
Wanchain’s ICO crowdsale has been starts on September 6, when the publicly-offered digital tokens will be in the form of Wanchain ERC-20 tokens. The total supply of Wancoins is 210 million. At the conclusion of the crowdfunding venture, tokens will be distributed to users’ Ethereum wallets, through which transfers are possible. This process resembles that of smart contract tokens on Ethereum.
Wanchain has reported over Twitter that due to China’s new ICO regulations, its September 6 token sale has been postponed. You can stay update by following them on Reddit, Twitter or joining the conversation on the Wanchain Slack channel.