What happened
The WAVES (WAVES -2.69%) token is giving back its recent gains today. The token at the heart of the Waves decentralized application platform was down 18.7% lower in 24 hours as of 1 p.m. ET. A different cryptocurrency in the Waves ecosystem is struggling these days, which raises questions about the whole Waves system and the viability of the WAVES token.
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So what
The Neutrino USD (USDN) stablecoin is supposed to provide a platform for exchanging value between real-world U.S. dollars and digital tokens in the Waves system. As the name suggests, this particular version of Neutrino is expected to be worth approximately $1.00 at all times, stabilizing its value through automated transactions and staking of the central WAVES token.
Unfortunately, Neutrino USD hasn't lived up to its stablecoin moniker this week. The token lost its firm attachment to the U.S. dollar and fell all the way down to $0.69 per token last night. That move triggered a sharp correction of the WAVES token as well, as investors lost some of their trust in the Waves platform as a whole.
Now what
Critics on various social media platforms argue that Waves insiders have been inflating the token's price by artificial means lately. The insiders point to short-sellers driving the narrative and putting undue pressure on the Waves and Neutrino platforms. Time will tell who's to blame, and the WAVES token will probably swing wildly until the matter is settled.
Waves is a sophisticated platform, but it might have too many moving parts and seems to need some tweaking already. Decentralized app builders have many alternatives to this Ethereum-compatible development platform, making it easy to walk away if it turns out that the system isn't working. The same is true for investors, who can invest in Ethereum itself or a plethora of so-called Ethereum killers instead.
