Both for salvaging my original investment into WAX, as well as for the new income opportunity presented, yesterday I completed the most complicated conversion I have yet experienced. Specifically, the now familiar path for a new "crypto" beginning life as an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token, then "growing up" and "moving out" to its very own blockchain.
The new WAX (Worldwide Asset eXchange™) token, however, is in a class that is brand new to me. Rather than building their own blockchain from "scratch," they have elected to build theirs on top of EOSIO. Sound familiar? It should, as it provides the blockchain foundation for EOS.
Making no claim to being a blockchain developer / programmer, I nonetheless have some programming and system experience. My initial impression was very favorable. I think they elected to save themselves a lot of time and expense by building their blockchain with a fairly proven set of developer tools, that has a huge "resource pool" behind it for delivering future improvements.
- Note: For more info on WAX - "The safest and most convenient way to create, buy, sell, and trade physical and virtual items - to anyone, anywhere in the world" - here is its whitepaper on GitHub and here is a CNBC video clip featuring CEO William Quigley.
I would like to introduce you to the income opportunity represented by conversion, dear reader. As well as share my impressions from the conversion experience.
So ... First I would like to briefly cover my conversion experience.
WAX ERC-20 Token Conversion
The conversion process I followed was first "ready to go" on June 30th. For a variety of reasons, I only got started into it earlier this week. Given the complexity and technical glitches encountered, this was not the smartest decision I ever made ...
With my WAX ERC-20 tokens safely "tucked away" in two different accounts in MyEtherWallet's Ledger-backed website wallet since April 2018, I wasn't in a hurry to change that. The combination of how well this interface works, along with the safety and security it provides are hard to beat.
So ... Right out of the gate, I faced two concerns with this looming conversion:
- Was the new blockchain's wallet Ledger-backed?
- Was this new wallet capable of supporting two or more accounts?
For helping those who faced getting through this conversion process, Team WAX put together a pretty respectable blog on the details.
At least when I initially glanced through it, that was my impression. When I saw this below ...
... and satisfied myself that the answer to Concern #1 was Yes!, then I set the task aside for a "rainy day," since I had a lot of other higher priorities. Besides, since I had been through this process a number of times prior, how hard could it be? I was belatedly going to find out ...
Starting into the project, I read through all of the documentation and watched the related videos. All reinforced that this was going to be a pretty simple, straightforward process. It was not like that, at all ...
Unlike any other project of this type I had previously been through, there was not just a wallet, but also a completely separate account. Getting them properly linked together was an essential part of the conversion success, as (a brief outline) follows:
- The Scatter Meteoric wallet is a lot more than just a wallet, as is becoming more and more the case with a number of cryptos. Further, it is not just supporting WAX tokens. In fact, WAX is only one of many cryptos supported, the primary crypto being EOS!
Set-up utilized my Ledger Nano S, which displayed multiple public keys, much as one would find using the awesome MyEtherWallet interface. Should be no problem setting up multiple accounts, right? 😊 Wrong ...😧
Source: Scatter Meteoric Wallet Website - To complete the conversion process, the Scatter wallet had to be linked to a WAX AllAccess account and it had to be completed in an exact sequence, for conversion success.
The good news was set-up provided a robust method of establishing log-in credentials, including a mandatory F2A step. Good security! That was pretty much the end of the good news ...
Source: WAX AllAccess Website - Key to success was getting the exact sequence of steps figured out. Nothing (if it exists somewhere, it is certainly well hidden ...) in writing told you what these were and, to inquiring minds, why. Complicating matters further were multiple YouTube-based videos to watch. Which provided somewhat conflicting information. My success was based on watching a particular one. Which had no sound ... 🤔
The WAX AllAccess account set-up steps are providing to the Scatter wallet your account name on the EOS blockchain and ensuring it is linked with an essential "unique to you" conversion address. It is to this address you send your WAX ERC-20 tokens for successful conversion to the new WAX mainnet ...
- So ... With the sequence established and successfully getting the first account's tokens converted and functioning properly, it was easy to get the second account set up, right? No ...
This last part was the showstopper for me. I waited days for repeated rounds of inadequate (once it finally showed up in the first place) tech support to help me solve the problem of creating a second account. With the "clock ticking," I was desperately trying to avoid my "last resort" option - dumping all of my previously separate WAX ERC-20 tokens into the same account
In the end I solved the problem on my own, given I have a pretty extensive systems background, with some programming experience. Meaning simply I have a general "feel" for what to try and why it might work, although you never know ... My solution involved going to a separate computer, starting from scratch as though going through this the first time, with the exception of picking a different public key from the list my Ledger Nano S provided.
Well, now everything was just fine, with it being easy to work with the different accounts, right? No ... This is what it takes, to manage two different WAX accounts, with the current version of the Scatter wallet:
- Create a back-up file, for each account, every time there is a new transaction in the wallet.
- To change accounts, you have to click past the "scary" skull & cross bones symbol & destroy reference to reset the wallet.
Scatter Wallet Interface - Next restore from the previously mentioned back-up file. This requires entering your password again. Twice!
Tip: Don't depend on your memory or perfect alertness to simply type this in over and over again. Copy & paste from the source of wherever you are keeping your passwords safe and secure. - Good to go!
Thankfully, this was a "one and done" experience which I will not have to go through again.
- Note: In my limited experience thus far, I have found really no use to utilizing the WAX AllAccess Account for either checking on my GBM Rewards balance or anything else. Bloks.io just provides a much better interface to accomplish the same objectives.
So ... Overall, a "piece of cake" right? Yeah well, in any case, I got through it, so on to how to make some additional income off of this investment!
Income Opportunity
With the move to their mainnet, Worldwide Asset eXchange™ introduced an opportunity to earn staking and voting income:
As we very familiar with on our Steem blockchain, the most important part of the details is the requirement to stake your WAX tokens. Excerpts from there:
- "WAX Token holders who stake their tokens and then vote with them will earn additional WAX Tokens. These earnings are called WAX Staking Rewards and are issued directly from the WAX Blockchain."
- "Stake a fixed amount of your WAX Tokens to vote for guilds. For example if you stake 1,000 WAX Tokens, you may assign 1,000 votes each for up to 30 different guild candidates."
- "Stake your WAX Tokens to vote for proposals that are put forth by other WAX Token holders (proposal submission and voting will be live after the mainnet launch)."
- "A set number of WAX Tokens will be set aside each day for WAX Staking Rewards. The number of tokens that each individual WAX Token holder receives daily depends on their stake weight, relative to other stakers."
Formula: Stake Weight = Staked WAX Tokens X Vote Strength
- "Vote strength: is a number anywhere between 0 and 1 (e.g. 0.08, 0.25 etc), with 1 being full vote strength. If you vote weekly, you maintain the highest possible vote strength. If you do not vote weekly, your vote strength will decay. Your stake weight will be 0 when the WAX Blockchain mainnet launches and will remain at 0 until you vote, at which point it will increase to 1."
"For example, if you vote in any given week, your vote strength is then 1. If you do not vote again, then your vote strength will decay until it approaches zero. You can increase it back to 1 by voting."
Source: WAX Blog on Staking Rewards - Genesis Block Member program (GBM): "... holders of the ERC-20 WAX Tokens will be able to swap their tokens for the new WAX Protocol Tokens between June 30 and August 30, 2019."
"Each staked Genesis WAX Protocol Token will produce one WAX Protocol Token as a GBM reward over the course of 3 years (i.e. one staked Genesis WAX Protocol Token will produce 1/1096 of a WAX Protocol Token each day for 1,096 days)."
- Similar to our Steem blockchain Witnesses: "The WAX Blockchain is designed with 21 WAX Guilds who earn rewards for producing blocks. These WAX Guild Rewards are granted based on the number of blocks produced by each WAX Guild."
- "After mainnet launch: Transfer agents and WAX Marketplace are other ways to earn WAX Tokens. Both will be introduced at a later date."
While it was not necessary for me to maintain my own investment into WAX, to receive any additional staking rewards, I was impressed by the effort made to incentivize current and future WAX token HODLers. Of course, I won't be turning away the opportunity to double my "stack" as a proud GBM program participant!
WAX Conversion Experience Highlights
While the details of my conversion experience above may not suggest it, overall I had a positive impression left with me of what WAX is trying to do. And the various components of what a WAX token holder has to work with, in moving forward with implementing their vision. Here are some highlights:
WAX Blockchain Highlights
- Bloks.io is one of our blockchain explorer options for the WAX blockchain. It is far and away the most impressive explorer I have yet to experience. It combines features of both a blockchain, as well as a wallet, linking up with the Scatter wallet to execute transactions via your linked Ledger!
It also supports a number of tokens built on EOSIO, as shown below:
Source: Bloks.io Interface As part of its wallet functionality, tied to your Scatter wallet, it can handle all your reward claiming requirements:
Source: Bloks.io Interface - With the creation of your WAX AllAccess account, you have now created an account in an impressive online marketplace - OPSkins - "Where gamers buy, sell, and trade games, pc components, electronics, merchandise, collectibles, and more!"
Source: OPSkins Interface In glancing through it, I was impressed with how well designed it was. That is, it appeared it would be a very attractive place to shop for these types of items, if so inclined.
Steem Blockchain Considerations?
- WAX has a financial incentive built into it to vote. And not just "one and done" either! They want you voting every week, for rewarding the most efficient producers! Your financial incentive tapers off, if you fail to deliver ... Wow. I like it!
What are your thought on this idea? If there was sufficient interest, I assume this would require a future hard fork to facilitate the details.
Wrapping up, I thought I would quote William Quigley, CEO of WAX:
"WAX is the onramp for mass market cryptocurrency adoption."
Hmmm. Is that so? While I am not so sure about that, if you chose to investigate further, dear reader, I think you may agree with me the credentials of the executive team Worldwide Asset eXchange™ has assembled is impressive. And they certainly appear to have an exciting start on an "ecosystem" being built to go for it!
Very much looking forward to how they do, while I collect my staking rewards over the next 3 years!
Closing
The deadline for converting my WAX ERC-20 tokens was 5:00 p.m. PST, 31 August 2019. After which these tokens would be destroyed and any value they represented going "poof" ... Gone! I am pleased to report I had finished converting my 2nd account tokens at 12:24 p.m. - "breezing in" a comfortable 4-½ hours ahead of the deadline ... 😏
Seriously, I regret not paying more attention to announcements like these in the past. Had I realized in June what they were tying in to the conversion in proposing with the GBM program, I almost certainly would've added considerably to my investment. As it was, by the time I realized what the details were, it was too late!
We live in fascinating times, dear reader, and I know there are many other income-producing opportunities in this asset class. Rather than simply be a HODLer, it is an area which I intend to give more attention to in the weeks and months to come.
I trust you have found this post to be of value to you. I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.
Until "next time," all the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all work together to build up our Steem Communities and increase the value of the Steem blockchain! 👍 😊
Respectfully,
Steemian @roleerob
Posted using SteemPeak and “immutably enshrined in the blockchain” on Saturday, 31 August 2019!
Interested in reading more of my “technical aide” posts? Great!
- Welcome to the Steemisphere! Getting Off to a "Flying Start," Version 1.0 – Covers the full spectrum of what a new Steemian needs to know to get off to a “flying start.”
- User's Guide to the Steemisphere, Version 1.0 – Covers the recommended apps and tools a new Steemian needs as they begin to engage with our Steem blockchain.
- Tech Aide: Investing in the Steem Blockchain on Binance and Bittrex - Covers investing in STEEM and SBD - both sending and receiving - on these popular exchanges.
- Tech Aide: Added Security Steps for Downloading Open-Source Software - Covers additional security steps you can take when downloading and installing open-source software.
- Tech Aide: Ledger and the new Binance DEX - Covers details of the conversion process, from ERC20 to BEP-2, for the BNB token and transferring it from the Ethereum blockchain to Binance's new DEX blockchain.
- Tech Aide: Set-Up of New Ledger Nano X! - After long anticipation, provides details of my "less than optimum" experience with Ledger's new product.
- Tech Aide: 👌 FIRST Exchange Transaction on Binance DEX! 👍 - My very first decentralized exchange transaction on Binance DEX.
SteemPeak: An awesome interface for our Steem blockchain.
Check it out!
