The upcoming WAX Token Generation Event

What we know, what we don’t know, what you need to know.

4 min readMar 19, 2019

Q1 of 2019 is nearing its end. Thus the public launch of the WAX main net that is scheduled for Q2 is closing in rapidly. Considering all possible options to handle the distribution of the new protocol token, a genesis snapshot seems to be the most viable solution.

First of all, no, we do not have a date yet!
If you want to be the first to know, make sure to follow the WAX twitter account and Telegram announcement channel.
No clue what I’m talking about? Read my ELI5!
And since people keep asking, yes the new token will be distributed on a 1:1 basis. So for every WAX you own now, you will get one of the new protocol tokens that are based on the WAX main net.

As per the WAX Telegram channel:

In preparation for the upcoming protocol token release (Q2 2019), please make sure that all of your existing WAX Tokens are in a wallet that you own the private keys for. More details will be released on this as we approach the release.

What does owning the private key mean?
Owning the private key means, that you control the wallet your funds are in.
This wallet may be Coinomi, Jaxx, Trust Wallet, or just MEW/MyCrypto in combination with Metamask. Anything is ok as long as you have access to the private key. Remember, you should always have a backup of your key or seed phrase safely stored away!

What about Hardware Wallets?
I always strongly recommend, to use of hardware wallets like Ledger Nano S or a Trezor. The purpose of hardware wallets is, to keep your key separate and thus safe. Usually, you can access your hardware wallets private key.
So, for now, I would keep the coins on your hardware wallet.
But there is one thing I would recommend to consider. We don’t know yet, how the protocol tokens will be distributed. If we have to import our private key into the WAX Wallet, this would compromise the safety of your hardware wallet. So unless we get told differently, I would take my WAX off my hardware wallet and store them on a key only created for this purpose shortly before a possible snapshot.

The matter of Exchanges
Plain and simple, if your WAX are on an exchange, you do not own the key.
So you will not be able to claim your protocol tokens. Besides storing your crypto on exchange always being a risk, in this case not having your WAX on an exchange is particularly important. As we know, WAX does not discuss anything that relates to exchanges. So unless an exchange announces that they will support the airdrop we have to expect them not to do so.

But for XYZ I did not have to withdraw my tokens!?
The main difference between WAX and a lot of other main net token releases is that WAX is not a swap, so after the TGE there will be two different tokens, with different names, prices, and callsigns. This means exchanges will have to list the new token in addition to the old one. So even if an exchange supports the airdrop, you might not be able to access your tokens for quite some time.

And by the way… Bridging tokens!
Another thing to consider are the bridinge tokens.
If we take EOS as an example, all later tokens got airdropped based on that one genesis snapshot. So even if an exchange supports the protocol token distribution. It might not support all following airdrops.

In any case, stay safe.
Store your tokens where you own them!

Because as always: Not your keys, not your coins!

The upcoming WAX Token Generation Event

What we know, what we don’t know, what you need to know.

Written by Kaefergeneral