April 8 What is a wormhole (W)?
education
Wormhole is one of the leading interoperability protocols designed to facilitate the seamless transfer of value and information across various blockchain networks. By connecting 17 high-value chains through a single point of integration, Wormhole improves the liquidity and accessibility of assets and data within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. Solana’s architecture allows existing projects, platforms, and communities to efficiently move tokenized assets across blockchains, taking advantage of Solana’s speed and low transaction costs rather than the blockchain or token bridge itself.
Wormhole’s utility goes beyond simple asset transfers, providing a versatile platform for a variety of applications such as cross-chain exchanges, governance, and gaming. Developers can significantly expand the pool of liquidity available to users by creating exchanges that accept deposits on any connected chain. In governance, collections of NFTs from different networks can utilize Wormhole to aggregate votes on selected chains, facilitating a unified decision-making process. Games built on high-performance networks like Solana can also distribute rewards across multiple chains, demonstrating Wormhole’s ability to connect diverse blockchain environments for a cohesive user experience.
Wormhole’s architecture consists of several key components, including on-chain elements such as the Emitter and Wormhole Core Contract, and off-chain elements such as the Guardian Network and Verifying Action Approvals (VAA). This architecture supports robust cross-chain communication, with guardians verifying messages issued by core contracts, ensuring safe and secure cross-chain transactions. This design demonstrates Wormhole’s commitment to security, highlighted by its core assumption that the network is protected by Guardian nodes that verify and sign messages, making it a trusted platform used by popular teams such as Circle and Uniswap.
Security and governance are at the heart of Wormhole’s operations. The protocol is powered by a network of Guardian nodes, which are responsible for validating and signing cross-chain messages, requiring an absolute majority for a message to be considered valid. Governance measures, subject to the same stringent security standards, require passage by a two-thirds supermajority of Guardians, demonstrating Wormhole’s rigorous approach to maintaining integrity and adaptability. Through ongoing audits, a substantial bug bounty program, and an open source governance system, Wormhole not only ensures the security of its platform, but also fosters innovation and community engagement in the evolving blockchain interoperability landscape.
What are W tokens?
The W token was introduced as a multichain native token, initially launching as the native SPL token on the Solana Network. This token is designed to embody the spirit of interoperability pursued by Wormhole, W Token’s platform. After launch on Solana, plans are in place to extend W’s capabilities to Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains via Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers (NTT) functionality. This strategic launch highlights the token’s ambition to foster a truly interconnected DeFi environment by facilitating seamless asset transfers and interactions across diverse blockchain ecosystems.
The token economics of the W token are carefully structured with a maximum supply capped at 10 billion tokens and an initial circulating supply of 1.8 billion tokens. W Tokens adopt both ERC20 and SPL formats, leveraging Wormhole’s native token transfer framework to ensure liquidity and accessibility across various blockchain networks. A significant portion, 82% of the total W supply, is subject to a four-year vesting schedule, representing the token’s long-term commitment to stability and growth within the cryptocurrency market.
W Token’s roadmap features a phased approach, starting with a launch on the Solana platform and expanding to Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains via Wormhole’s NTT. This strategy not only demonstrates the technical versatility of the W token, but also highlights the fundamental role of Wormhole infrastructure in enabling these cross-chain capabilities. The roadmap introduces the concept of token self-delegation, a pivotal feature of on-chain governance that allows W token holders to lock and delegate their tokens to actively participate in the governance process of both Solana and the EVM chain.
Wormhole’s governance system, based on the W token, introduces an innovative multi-chain governance model that operates on Solana, Ethereum mainnet, and EVM L2. This model gives W token holders the power to make key decisions that affect the trajectory of the protocol, including managing blockchain connections, upgrading smart contracts, adjusting fees, and expanding the Guardian set. This participatory governance mechanism not only democratizes decision-making within the Wormhole ecosystem, but also improves the utility of the token by closely aligning it with the evolution of the platform and the needs of the broader DeFi ecosystem.
W Token Economics
How to Buy Wormhole (W) on Bitfinex
How to buy W with cryptocurrency
1. Create an account by logging in or signing up for a Bitfinex account.
2. Go to the deposit page.
3. In the Cryptocurrency section, select the cryptocurrency you want to purchase W for and create a deposit address in your Exchange wallet.
4. Send cryptocurrency to the generated deposit address.
5. Once the funds arrive in your wallet, you can trade with W. Learn how to trade on Bitfinex here.
How to buy W with fiat currency
1. Create an account by logging in or signing up for a Bitfinex account.
2. Depositing fiat to your Bitfinex account requires full verification. Learn about the different certification levels here.
3. On the deposit page, select the fiat currency you wish to deposit from the bank transfer menu. Bitfinex has a minimum amount for fiat deposits. Learn more here.
4. Check your registered email with Bitfinex for remittance details.
5. Send funds.
6. Once the funds arrive in your wallet, you can use them to purchase W.
Plus, you have Bitfinex on your mobile, so you can easily buy W currency on the go.
(App Store) (Google Play)
W Community Channel
website | X (Twitter) | Telegram | discord | Github