In some cases, EOS has even been referred to as the Ethereum Killer because its features are so advanced and there is a rivalry of sorts regarding who will dominate the D’app market as it expands.
Their rivalry aside, EOS is an extremely ambitious project that is positioning itself to be the go-to for decentralized app developers thanks to its security, scalability, ease of use and community focus.
Overview of EOS
It is very clear from their operating structure that EOS prioritizes the development of decentralized applications. The blockchain platform has taken on some of the most efficient aspects of other blockchains such as cloud hosting, scalability (EOS is famous for being able to conduct thousands of transactions per second) and authentification.
EOS, along with platforms like Ethereum, is part of the growing movement of decentralized application and smart contract development in the blockchain industry. While some believe that EOS improved upon certain aspects of D’app development that Ethereum does not, Ethereum has claimed a majority of the D’app market. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has not been very humble about this and in February 2019, referred to EOS, among others, as a ‘Centralized piece of crap’ He has also criticized EOS’ on-chain governance system, in which users are able to vote on which delegates will take major decisions regarding the blockchain. The ecosystem also makes use of the delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus which while it distributes mining power based on existing stake, only 21 block producers are able to verify transactions and these are voted for by the community. This system means that there is little risk for hard forks or developer disputes which have occurred in major cryptocurrency ecosystems such as Bitcoin.
EOS uses the consensus over events system, which means that while the blockchain takes longer to verify transactions, there is little limit to how many transactions can be verified. EOS management has stated in the past that its goal is to process a million transactions per second which would be an unprecedented level of scalability within the industry.
Purposes of EOS
Naturally, one of the biggest purposes and selling points of EOS is its decentralized application development. EOS offers user authentication at various levels which means that teams can outsource their D’app development unto the platform and delegate various levels of development authority while also sharing data between users. It also comes with cloud storage which means that developers do not need to store data in their own systems.
Besides being used as a platform for developing smart contracts and decentralized applications, the EOS token can be held as both a cryptocurrency or an investment tool depending on the state of the crypto market. The EOS token is not mined but makes use of the proof-of-stake system in which mining power is distributed based on the existing stake in the block. This means that should you hold EOS tokens, it acts as a voting tool for the 21 block producers who will verify transactions. One advantage that EOS holds is the fact that the system features no transaction fees and this has been instrumental in drawing in developers to the platform.
Future of EOS
For EOS, like many other blockchains, one of its most pressing issues has been scalability. In January 2020, the EOSIO 2 was unveiled which allows users to set up development environments in minutes and also offers more scalability. As the rivalry between EOS and Ethereum is not ending any time soon, the demand for decentralized applications is also remaining steady and as such, the EOS platform will see even more use.
EOS has also worked to secure some strategic partnerships such as one with Everpedia which will see the two team up to ensure that information can be dispersed to people around the globe regardless of government restrictions.
In 2019, Buterin admitted, to great criticism, that the Ethereum platform was never built for scalability and this means that there is a weakness that EOS could capitalize on. As far as many are concerned, whoever can win the scalability war wins the D’app war because should Ethereum become full, developers will flock to other platforms like EOS, seeing as EOS is their biggest competition.
There are roughly 100 decentralized applications built on EOS and it has been observed that a good chunk of the decentralized applications being developed is related to gambling. In terms of decentralized applications, EOSbet has been designed to compete with various Ethereum-based gambling apps.
The EOS project has a lot of capital to work with as they famously raised over $4 billion in a 2018 ICO that was riddled with controversy. This included a fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States as well as criticism from the public for being fined $26 million which was considered a small amount. Since then EOS has been trying to move past this and expand on the project and only time will tell how successful their efforts will be.
In terms of their native token, the EOS token has been mostly stable in terms of price and this will likely continue into the future.
