What is EOS?

EOS, short for Enterprise Operation System, is launched by the blockchain development company Block.one, with the legendary figure Dan Larimer (also the founder of Steem and BitShares) behind it. The original intention of EOS is clear: to create a blockchain platform that supports large-scale commercial applications (DApps), similar to Ethereum in flexibility, but with faster speed, lower costs, and a more user-friendly experience. It aims to become the operating system of the blockchain world, allowing developers to easily deploy decentralized applications like developing apps.

The core feature of EOS

EOS was initially sought after by a large amount of funding mainly because it proposed several very radical and attractive design concepts:

1. Ultra-high TPS (Transaction Processing Speed)
   Compared to Ethereum, which can only process a dozen transactions per second, EOS claims to support thousands to tens of thousands of TPS, and does not charge a transaction fee for each transaction. This is undoubtedly very attractive for large DApp developers who want to build games, social media, and financial applications.

2. DPoS consensus mechanism
   EOS adopts the DeleGate.iod Proof of Stake (Delegated Proof of Stake) consensus, which allows coin holders to vote for representatives (Block Producers, abbreviated as BP) to be responsible for block generation. This design theoretically can significantly improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption by miners.

3. Free Trading
   On EOS, it is free for ordinary users to send transactions (essentially the concept of resource mortgage, such as CPU, NET, RAM), which compared to other blockchains that require Gas Fee, greatly improves the user experience.

The biggest ICO in history

EOS conducted a year-long ICO in 2017-2018, which was a highly unprecedented move at the time. Ultimately, it raised over $4.2 billion, setting the record for the largest blockchain fundraising in history. Why did so many people go crazy investing? Here are a few key points:

• Strong team background: There are heavyweight figures behind Block.one, with Dan Larimer's resume blessing.
• Narrative appeal: benchmarking Ethereum, focusing on commercial-grade DApp platform, very in line with the market trend at that time.
• Market sentiment is high: the bull market of 2017 has created a FOMO atmosphere throughout the market.

EOS is gradually heading towards loneliness

Ideals are full, reality is stark. After the mainnet launch, EOS has encountered various challenges and criticisms, including the following points:

1. Centralization Controversy
   Although DPoS can improve speed, it also concentrates the power of block generation in the hands of a few large nodes, leading to criticism from the community: This is no longer a blockchain, but a centralized server!

2. Lack of star applications
   Even though the technical performance is good, EOS has always lacked truly successful large-scale DApps that can go viral, unlike Ethereum with ecosystem hits like Uniswap and Aave, the application layer of EOS appears deserted.

3. Block.one operation controversy
   After raising funds, Block.one did not fully invest in development, but instead started buying large amounts of Bitcoin and making other investments, causing dissatisfaction within the community, such as: Why use our money to speculate on Bitcoin? This issue has become a long-standing concern within the EOS community.

EOS hard fork and newborn

In 2021, as the community's trust in Block.one waned, the EOS community initiated a hard fork and established a new governance organization called the EOS Network Foundation (ENF). Led by community leader Yves La Rose, they took over the development rights of the EOS network, rebooted ecosystem development, promoted fund transparency. This wave of community self-rescue actions has reignited hope for many old users. Between 2023 and 2025, EOS also successively launched upgrade plans (such as the Antelope protocol) and actively expanded its interoperability with other public chains (such as Ethereum Layer2).

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Summary

EOS, as a blockchain platform designed with the core concepts of high efficiency, low cost, and user-friendliness, once attracted high market attention with its innovative technology and strong team background, setting the record for the largest ICO in history. Despite facing challenges such as centralization controversies, lack of prominent applications, and team operation disputes after the mainnet went live, the EOS community has demonstrated strong self-adjustment capabilities, driving governance structure innovation and continuous technological upgrades. Today, through community-led new governance organizations and cross-chain collaborations, EOS continues to explore new directions for scalability and ecosystem development, bringing more possibilities to blockchain applications and laying a solid foundation for the decentralized world of the future.