Waves (WAVES)
Waves is a crypto platform, and other blockchains with their own utility tokens can be built upon the Waves platform. The Waves client software also includes access to a decentralized crypto exchange functionality, which lets you trade various cryptoassets while retaining ownership of those assets in your own wallet, rather than having to temporarily store them on a centralized exchange somewhere.
Mining/Staking
Waves use a proof-of-stake algorithm in which the Waves you own (or that have been leased to you) reflect your forging power. The more you own, the higher your chances of processing the next block and receiving the transaction fees as a reward. Essentially it's a form of interest on your balance. The current maximum staking awards amount to approximately 5% per annum.
Development Team
The development team for Waves is fairly small, and based out of Moscow. The team is heavily weighted in terms of actual developers, rather than advisory/marketing.
Criticisms, Caveats, and Competitors
There has been some criticism of Waves' association with the Coinomat entity (which was originally founded by the Waves CEO, Alexander Ivanov), and the potential that Coinomat is now defrauding customers.
Additional Resources
The project's main website: https://wavesplatform.com
Link to Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waves_platform
Link to Reddit Community: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wavesplatform
Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wavesplatform
Link to Team information: https://wavesplatform.com/company
Link to data on Live Coin Watch: https://www.livecoinwatch.com/coins/WAVES
Whitepaper: https://blog.wavesplatform.com/waves-whitepaper-164dd6ca6a23