From hard fork to decentralization: what's new with the EOS cryptocurrency (EOS)?
The EOS project (EOS) remains in the top 100 by capitalization in the crypto market and continues to be actively developed and supported by blockchain developers.
Updates to the EOS network and ecosystem
Over the past year, the EOS blockchain has undergone several changes to the protocol, including releasing a significant update to EOS System Contracts v3.4.0. As part of this update, the team implemented substantial changes to tokenomics: the maximum number (issuance) of EOS tokens was reduced from 10 billion to 2.1 billion.
The EOS team burned about 80% of all future tokens and thus reduced the fully diluted value (FDV) by the same value, which only increases the crypto asset's value.
Thus, the EOS Network Foundation (ENF) has proposed a fundamentally new tokenomics model, which the team says was designed to "ensure long-term stability and predictability" for both investors and average users.
In addition to token burning, EOS developers have implemented a halving mechanism in the blockchain, similar to that used in the Bitcoin or Litecoin protocols. The implementation of halving will result in the rate of new tokens being halved approximately every four years. Halving refers to deflationary mechanisms. This means that inflationary pressure on the altcoin will decrease, and even if demand remains unchanged, the rate of EOS cryptocurrency will only increase in the future.
In addition to token burning and integrating the deflationary halving mechanism, EOS has also updated its token-stacking algorithm to ensure the long-term security of the network. One of the key features of this update is introducing a new mechanism — the so-called "high-yield staking rewards", designed to stimulate the interest of validators in the long-term development of the EOS project.
To keep the community interested, the EOS Network Foundation team has set aside a unique pool of 250 million EOS tokens to be distributed to stakers annually. In addition to the new staking mechanism, the developers have increased the locking period for staked EOS tokens from 4 days to 21. This approach reduces the risk of speculation among validators.
The staking process in the updated EOS blockchain protocol has also changed: users wishing to stack their cryptocurrency do not need to vote for 21 validators (block producers) or appoint a proxy. Along with this, validators receive additional rewards in network commissions.
However, the updates to the EOS ecosystem don't end there: the team continues to expand the capabilities of its blockchain protocol by introducing new features and initiatives. One of the key developments is a new solution for scaling the Bitcoin network called exSat Network.
This solution extends the capabilities of the EOS ecosystem, creating a bridge to the most liquid and capitalized digital asset in the crypto industry, whose infrastructure continues to expand by integrating new protocols that extend Bitcoin's functionality.
Another significant event for the EOS ecosystem was the Savannah hard fork, completed in September 2024. As part of this hard fork, the average transaction speed was reduced from 6 minutes to 1 second.
The developers also:
- Improved the governance model of the EOS ecosystem, making it more decentralized, i.e., closer to a DAO;
- Improved the scalability of the blockchain network, as well as its efficiency, resulting in lower transaction costs and lower transfer delays;
- Improved defense techniques to secure the blockchain against potential attacks;
- Added support for more sophisticated and functional smart contracts to attract new developers to the EOS ecosystem.
EOS statistics
According to the monitoring service CoinMarketCap, 1.53 billion EOS are circulating on the market as of December 2024, about 73% of all existing tokens. Also, after the release of the EOS System Contracts v3.4.0 update, the number of tokens became fixed.
After the release of the EOS System Contracts v3.4.0 update, the statistics of this blockchain network have improved significantly; although it is not sure that the changes in the protocol influenced this, they probably played a role.
For example, over a year, the EOS rate increased by over 20% — from $0.8 to $1.02. At the same time, in July 2024, the cost of cryptocurrency EOS reached a two-year high at $1.37 but then rolled back amid the general decline of the crypto market.
EOS cryptocurrency also improved in terms of market capitalization: even despite the price correction, this indicator increased by more than 48% over the year — from $1.05 billion to $1.56 billion. The altcoin rose from 90th to 78th place in the overall ranking of cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketCap.
According to the analytical service Messari, the activity in the EOS blockchain network has increased significantly over the same period: the number of daily transactions increased by 33%, and the number of active addresses — by 5.5%.
Termination of USDT support in the EOS network
In June 2024, the issuer, Tether, issuing the largest stablecoin by capitalization, announced the termination of USDT support in the EOS network. The reason for this could be the low demand for USDT stablecoin in the EOS network: it simply became unprofitable for the issuer to support USDT in this blockchain. According to the issuer, this decision is part of a strategy to optimize its ecosystem and allocate company resources.
Experts point out that Tether decided to focus on Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and other ecosystems that are among the largest in the crypto market. EOS was not the first blockchain in which Tether stopped supporting the USDT stablecoin, reflecting a general trend: previously, the same thing happened with the Kusama, Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP), Bitcoin Cash, and Omni Layer blockchains.
Tether's departure from the EOS ecosystem is not a negative factor for the project team, investors, or users. This event potentially opens up new opportunities for issuers of other stablecoins looking for additional ways to attract liquidity for their digital assets.