LONDON (Bywire News) - “As it stands, EOS has been a failure of monumental proportions on various levels.” That’s the startling statement – not from one of EOS’s many critics, but from one of the key figures in the EOS community – Yves La Rose. In a brutally honest post, he has acknowledged the problems EOS has faced, but in the EOS Foundation, Yves and Zack may have found a magic bullet, one which has got the community buzzing.
Announced in August, the EOS Network Foundation will use inflation earnings from the EOS cryptocurrency to invest in projects which further the goals of the EOSIO blockchain technology. It gives EOS creators something they’ve been crying out for ever since it launched – genuine support and a real incentive to contribute to the growth of the network. But, more than that, this is a well overdue and earned thank you for a community that has self-financed almost to the point of no return.
A bumpy road
Throughout its life, EOS has been like a multi-million-pound football (Soccer) signing which never lives up to its billing. The potential has always been there, but the delivery was missing. At its launch with a $4.7bn ICO, EOS was hailed as the ‘Ethereum killer’. It was touted as the most powerful tool for decentralised applications available and would essentially do what Ethereum did – but faster and on a much bigger scale, while being environmentally friendly, and with zero gas fees.
EOS would provide an improved platform with faster transactions, better performance and a host of tools for developers to work with the blockchain. Big name backers got involved and developers flooded enthusiastically onto the platform drawn by the scale of the launch and the prospect of real backing from parent company, Block.one.
Three years later, though, Ethereum is still very much alive and kicking. EOS made a lot of noise, but never followed through with its potential. Those who were waiting for Block.one to deliver the support they expected, are still waiting. Indeed, Block.one found itself the object of a lawsuit from the Crypto Assets Opportunity Fund for failing to deliver the promise of decentralisation.
EOS went from being one of the hottest properties in the crypto sector to the subject of a host of ‘where did it all go wrong articles.
For La Rose, the answer is simple. As he explains in his blog, EOS failed to adapt and keep pace with the market. Competitors emerged offering the same promise of a third generation blockchain as EOS.
“Since the network launch in June 2018, we’ve seen other Gen3 blockchains emerge with their own solutions for cost, speed, and scale that simply didn’t exist when EOS was in its infancy.”
In other words, things move quickly in the crypto sector and those who can’t keep up tend to be swallowed up. EOS had been first to market, but it had been swamped by newer competitors taking advantage of technology which didn’t exist when they had started out. They had failed to keep their finger on the pulse of innovation, and now risked being left behind.
The comeback king
The good news is that EOS is not dead – far from it. Long live the king. The network still has plenty to offer, but it still needs something to take it onto the next level. The EOS Foundation, along with Eden on EOS looks like the innovations we have all been waiting for.
“With the inception of the EOS Network Foundation (ENF), the EOS community took a major step forward in the right direction,” he continues. “Until now, EOS has lacked the ability to coordinate resources or to have a means to invest in itself with the EOS token holders’ best interests at the forefront of every decision.”
La Rose has been working on the ENF since he stepped down from EOS Nation. For months he’s been talking to stakeholders, trying to address what’s been going wrong and how things can be put right. He has done so with the support of Dan Larimer who was quick to issue his unwavering support of the initiative.
The Foundation is their big shot at injecting what was missing. That – until now – has been any sort of backing for the developers who create value for the network.
Zack Gall on the Everything EOS podcast explains the problem.
“I bought Into EOS because it was going to empower the community to build on EOS but I haven’t seen it.”
That lack of support has led to a number of underwhelming projects and a brain drain of some of the network’s brightest talent. Earlier in the year, we heard about one of the frustrations of DAO Bull, the winner of this year’s hackathon. Despite their success, they were disappointed by the lack of support from Block.one and were eying up alternatives to EOS. The result was that they, and other leading lights, turned their attention elsewhere.
“What incentive has there been to build on EOS? Yes, we have the biggest market cap, yes, we have liquidity on decentralized exchanges. None of that matters if you can’t incentivise developers to put food on the table,” he went on to say. “I see the foundation as filling the voice we all expected Block.one to fulfil.”
The frustration of developers was almost deafening. With the announcement of the ENF, though, the mood music has changed. For the first time, there is a real sense of energy pulsing through the community. Developers on EOS are feeling a sensation they had almost forgotten – optimism.
Bywire’s own Michael O’Sullivan sums up the feeling.
“Trust is earned when actions meet words, and the EOS Foundation's actions are screaming to the world that the genesis of EOS is now. The synergy of resources, builders, regulation, and the most innovative and technologically advanced blockchain ever created is about to redefine the entire Web 3.0 eco-system,” he says. “The EOS Foundation has demonstrated to the community that the true value of freedom is held in the hands of independence, and never subjectation, never dogmatism. By design, independence has been restored, and the EOS community is about to fulfil its outrageous potential.”
Expectations are high, so how will the funding take shape?
-
Investing in the community
Investment is already taking shape. The earliest moves came with a grant to EdenOnEOS their new democratic process which builds a community of people working together to make a bigger impact in the world. Their upcoming election on October the 9th is a chance for community members to pitch their ideas and proposals for creating value for EOS and other members of the EOS community. They hope this new election will identify the next generation of leaders and creators who will drive the platform forward.
-
Recognition grants
There is a real willingness to recognise those creators who have stuck around and proved to be a success. This involved projects which were already well-known and had a good track record within the community.
In total, 34 will be chosen to receive $100,000 – each of which selected based on reputation and what they had done on and for the EOSIO network and community. None of them submitted an application. Grants will be made in a series of bi-weekly rounds starting with media, NFT, and community projects.
We’re delighted to say that Bywire is one of them. Our news platform is decentralised via the IPFS and hashed to the EOS public blockchain. Our user account system leverages full EOS accounts that provide gamification, rewards, boosting and eventually forms of democratic oversight.
The others include:
- EOS Go: Launched in 2017, it is the most consistent news source for the EOS community publishing content in English and Chinese.
- Atomic Assets: The place to go on EOSIO for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). They allow users to generate NFTs which can be bought and sold in Atomic Assets.
- World: A cryptocurrency mascot for a multi-chain community driven NFT collection.
- Koreos: An early DAO and one of the first South Korean EOS communities. It bridges the gap between East and West by translating EOS content into English.
- EOS Microloan: an ambitious project which aims to build a new economy based on liquidity and opportunities for businesses and customers.
Future rounds will include categories such as auditors, wallets, tooling, social, gaming, defi, and interoperability. The first of these will be coming in a couple of weeks covering 11 projects totalling. $1,100,000. More Recognition Grants will continue rolling out on a bi-weekly basis until all 34 have been announced.
Applying for future grants
This is just the start. Soon the application process and crowdfunding platform Pomelo to be rolled out. Once live, this will allow anyone seeking funding through the EOS community or the ENF to apply. The platform is modelled on Ethereum’s Gitcoin and uses a mechanism known as quadradic (QF) funding to support projects. QF magnifies the funding of not for profit and public goods in a democratic community where the number of contributors matters more than the amount funded.
As well as the grant matching using QF, the ENF will fund proposals on Pomelo directly on a case-by-case basis. This can represent a key part of their plan going forward. Identifying existing talent and creators has been the easy bit. They have been beavering away on EOS for years and the best are already well known in the community. In the future, they will be looking to filter out the most talented prospects from the EOS community. Having this application process will let talent come to them and widens the potential talent pool for the whole community.
A better tomorrow
This is the most exciting development to hit EOS since its 2018 launch. There have been plenty of false dawns, but finally it looks as if it is implementing the key ingredient that was missing – funding and real support of the creators.
Much of the media may have written EOS off – and therein lies its biggest challenge. As La Rose admits, their search for partners has run into obstacles as some potentials have been reluctant to work with EOS, largely thanks to the negative branding. That’s a toxic hangover of years of overpromising but under delivering, but EOS is now at the start of the road. Already, partners in the West and China are willing to help take them forward on an accelerated program of development.
“The EOS Network Foundation is only a month old and with the EOS ecosystem playing from behind, running at least twice as fast as the competition is the only option available if we want EOS to be successful,” he explains. “We are showcasing this belief through our actions and willingness to deploy capital to the existing and future value creators within the EOS community.”
Challenges will remain and it would perhaps be wishful thinking to believe that there won’t be a few bumps along the road, but for the first time the leadership team look like they understand the problem and have a clear vision of the future.
(Writing by Tom Cropper, editing by Michael O’Sullivan)