EOS blockchain is a relatively new project in the cryptocurrency space. Officially launched in early June 2018, this is a platform similar to Ethereum which is designed for creating decentralized applications (dApps).

EOS fans call the project “Ethreum killer” and they have some serious reasons for such bold statements. Indeed, this blockchain has a number of unarguable benefits compared to Ethereum and has the capacity to become the new industry standard which will bring blockchain mass adoption to the new level.

Who stands behind EOS

The project’s chief developer Daniel Larimer already has a number of successful blockchain projects under his belt. Before EOS, he has founded Steemit, an online blogging platform that allows authors to make real money on their content, and a decentralized exchange Bitshares with several million USD of the daily trading volume.

According to Blocktivity.info, before EOS these two projects had been consistently holding top positions by the number of transactions made in the network. In only 2 months since the launch, EOS was already making up almost 10% and now it’s more than 70%.

Blocktivity.info: Larimer’s 3 projects, Steemit, BitShares and EOS, make up the lion’s share of the overall blockchain activity

Also, EOS is considered to be one of the most successful ICOs having raised more than 4 billion USD in a 1-year-timeframe. Amidst the overall ICO market decline, this is a good indicator of success.

Such imperfect Ethereum

EOS was created in the first place as an alternative to Ethereum that had revealed too many flaws by the time the idea came to Daniel’s mind. When Ethereum network was launched in 2015 it was a great innovation as apart from decentralized payments it offered a platform for dApps’ development that could be freely utilized by developers all over the world.

But as its popularity grew and more Ethereum dApps and ICOs were launched with its help, the system revealed its flaws as it simply was not designed for such a big audience. Among Ethereum’s main deficiencies are the following:

Low capacity: Ethereum network allows to process 19 transactions per second at the maximum (VISA processes several thousand in the peak hours).

Ethereum network allows to process 19 transactions per second at the maximum (VISA processes several thousand in the peak hours). Transactions fees: This is a stop-factor for ETH mass adoption since they scare off unprepared users and are difficult to calculate.

This is a stop-factor for ETH mass adoption since they scare off unprepared users and are difficult to calculate. Centralized: 51%+ of Ethereum’s voting/mining power is in the hands of only 3 entities. This puts the whole system under the risk of the so-called “51% attack”. If these 3 entities come to an agreement, they can reverse transactions, make double-spends and eventually put down the whole network.

Arewedecentralizedyet.com: only 3 entities control more than half of the voting/mining power

Based on Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm: The biggest issue with this mining method is the electricity consumption that only increases over time. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s creator, declared his plans to switch to Proof-of-Stake in 2015, but there is still no positive news.

The biggest issue with this mining method is the electricity consumption that only increases over time. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s creator, declared his plans to switch to Proof-of-Stake in 2015, but there is still no positive news. Not user-friendly: Even with all the tools such as Metamask that try to facilitate Ethereum usage, this cryptocurrency is still not very convenient for regular payments.

Even with all the tools such as Metamask that try to facilitate Ethereum usage, this cryptocurrency is still not very convenient for regular payments. No way to reverse a transaction: If your funds are stolen or lost due to an issue in the code there’s no one to make a refund.

After the DAO hack in 2016, when 50 mln USD worth of Ether was stolen Vitalik had to undo all the transactions on the network up to the point of theft under the community’s pressure.

What makes EOS different from other blockchains

Dan Larimer created EOS with the purpose to overcome all these Ethereum’s issues and now one can say that he has succeeded.

Unlimited capacity: Currently, the maximum registered TPS on EOS equals almost 4,000. In theory, this number can be scaled immeasurably (see eosnetworkmonitor.io).

Eosnetworkmonitor.io: all time high TPS on EOS equals to ~4,000

No fees: EOS network comes with absolutely free transactions.

EOS network comes with absolutely free transactions. Most decentralized of all the current crypto projects: There are 20 active block producers plus one more that constantly changes being selected from the reserve pool of ~150 producers. If any of the active block producers tries to unmake transactions or do any harm to the network he will be instantly replaced.

There are 20 active block producers plus one more that constantly changes being selected from the reserve pool of ~150 producers. If any of the active block producers tries to unmake transactions or do any harm to the network he will be instantly replaced. Based on the Delegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) algorithm: With this algorithm, there’s no need to excessively consume electricity to produce new blocks. Token holders vote for block producers by delegating their rights according to the share of EOS tokens they have.

With this algorithm, there’s no need to excessively consume electricity to produce new blocks. Token holders vote for block producers by delegating their rights according to the share of EOS tokens they have. Easy-to-use: There are no hideous wallet addresses. Instead, you create an EOS account with a legible name that you can easily share with any interested parties to send you money.

There are no hideous wallet addresses. Instead, you create an EOS account with a legible name that you can easily share with any interested parties to send you money. The possibility to reverse a transaction: If your funds are hacked you can file arbitration to EOS Core Arbitration Forum (ECAF) to get a refund.

EOS ecosystem

Although it’s been less than a year sine EOS mainnet was launched, there are already many EOS dApps that make up its ecosystem. You can check the full list at eosprojects.org. In this article, we’d like to mention to the following services:

Scatter — EOS wallet, a browser extension.

EOS account creator — the online tool facilitating account creation

Zeos — similar to the previous one

Note: there are still some issues with these tools since they all are relatively new. For example, when creating a wallet on Zeos, you have to provide 2 public keys and it’s not clear where to get them at first glance. You should go to your Scatter and generate 2 pairs of keys there, then copy-paste them to Zeos.

But once you pass through all these obstacles you will get a convenient tool to log in to EOS-based apps with one click of a mouse.

Conclusion

There are already many projects that aim to resolve current blockchain issues. Waves, Tezos, Tron — they all beat Ethereum on the network capacity and other indices. EOS platform occupies pride of place in their line and has good chances at the long perspective.

The nearest couple of years must be crucial for the project. If developers manage to overcome the issues, the platform has all the chances to get a good share of the dApp market.