EOS was one of the fastest-growing projects in the blockchain world, promising high speed, near-zero costs, and a robust infrastructure capable of handling millions of users simultaneously. Since its sensational launch in 2018, EOS has become a platform that has attracted attention with both its technical architecture and community. Offering a wide range of solutions from smart contracts and games to DeFi protocols and enterprise applications, EOS remains one of the first names that comes to mind when talking about "high-performance blockchain." Let's take a look at what EOS offers and why it has been a hot topic for years.
Note: As of May 2025, the EOS network and token have entered the process of being rebranded as Vaulta (a swap option of 1 EOS = 1 A token has been announced).
EOS Definition and Origins
EOS is a high-performance and scalable blockchain platform. Like Ethereum, it supports smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps), but what sets EOS apart is that it charges no user fees and is designed to process millions of transactions per second. To this end, EOS operates like an operating system, providing on-chain functions such as account management, authentication, a database, and asynchronous communication. The result is a blockchain technology that allows developers to quickly and easily create applications, eliminates transaction fees, and offers high scalability.
The EOS project first emerged in 2017. Block.one, the company behind the project, published the EOS whitepaper that year and conducted an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) that ran from June 2017 to June 2018. This ICO, the largest in history, raised over $4 billion, and the first open-source version of the EOSIO software was released on June 1, 2018. A week later, the global EOS community used this code to launch the EOS mainnet. Initially distributed as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network, 1 billion EOS tokens were migrated to the EOS blockchain with the mainnet launch. The project's founders include well-known figures in the blockchain world: Block.one's CEO Brendan Blumer and CTO Daniel Larimer, who laid the foundations for EOS. Larimer, who previously worked on projects like BitShares and Steemit, is known for being the originator of the Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism.
EOS History: Major Milestones
Below are key developments throughout EOS's history:
- 2017: Project announcement and ICO launch – EOS's whitepaper was published in 2017, and in June of that year, Block.one launched its year-long ICO. During the ICO, Ethereum-based EOS tokens were distributed to investors, raising a record $4.1 billion. This was the largest funding round in cryptocurrency history to date.
- 2018: Mainnet launch – The developed EOSIO software was released as open source on June 1, 2018, and the independent EOS network was launched shortly thereafter. A total of 1 billion EOS coins were released into circulation at the time of launch. Once the EOS network launched, its market capitalization rose rapidly, placing it among the top five cryptocurrencies. During this period, the price of EOS also rose rapidly, reaching an all-time high of over $20 by mid-2018. However, the early days of the mainnet experienced governance issues; the rules in the EOS network constitution and the implementation of an arbitration board called ECAF (EOS Core Arbitration Forum) sparked debate within the community. In the following months, users succeeded in changing this initial governance system through referendums and removing the controversial rules. This allowed EOS to quickly revise its governance model based on community feedback.
- 2019: Regulation and milestones – In 2019, the EOS project faced a significant regulatory development. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that its $4 billion ICO constituted an unregistered securities sale. Block.one settled the process by paying a $24 million fine in September 2019, a settlement agreement with the SEC. This fine represented a very small portion of the funds raised and did not require any token returns or restrictions. 2019 also saw Block.one announce side projects like the social media platform Voice, but they failed to attract the expected interest in the EOS mainnet.
- 2020: A period of stagnation – 2020 was a relatively quiet year for EOS. Its market capitalization and rankings began to decline due to the emergence of competing smart contract platforms. The EOS coin price fell to a few dollars, falling from its 2018 peak, and the hype surrounding the project waned somewhat. During this period, Block.one began focusing on other ventures (such as the cryptocurrency exchange Bullish) rather than making direct investments in the EOS network. Criticism arose within the community that Block.one had not sufficiently reinvested the substantial funds raised in its ICO back into the EOS ecosystem.
- 2022: Hard fork and rebirth – The EOS community took a radical step in September 2022. Instead of maintaining the EOSIO software developed by Block.one, community-led teams forked the EOSIO code and transitioned to a new protocol called Antelope. This hard fork was a turning point not only for the EOS network but also for other EOSIO-based networks (such as WAX, Telos, and UX Network). Thanks to the Antelope protocol, EOS's code development was completely taken over by the community, and new features began to be added. During this period, EOS experienced a virtual "rebirth," taking significant steps to overcome past criticisms of centralized control.
- 2023: EVM integration and revitalization efforts – 2023 was a year in which the revitalization efforts for the EOS network accelerated. The EOS EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), developed under the leadership of the EOS Network Foundation, was launched on the mainnet in April 2023. EOS EVM aimed to attract developers and users from the Ethereum ecosystem to the EOS network by enabling Ethereum-compatible smart contracts to run on EOS. Yves La Rose made an ambitious introduction by stating that EOS EVM would be significantly faster than all other EVM networks, with over 800 swap transactions per second. This way, EOS aimed to demonstrate its high-performance capacity while also building a bridge to the Ethereum world and win back its former developers. Furthermore, in 2023, the EOS Network Foundation launched grant programs for projects on the network and announced that it would offer developers financing ranging from $10,000 to $50,000+. All of these steps were strategic steps taken to give EOS, once considered almost expendable, a new lease on life. Indeed, starting in mid-2023, the total value of assets locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on EOS began to increase, and the number of daily transactions and active addresses on the network began to trend upwards again.
- 2024 and beyond – As of 2024, EOS continues its path, having learned from past mistakes. For example, with the Savanna update implemented in 2024, blockchain finality time was reduced to approximately 1 second, further improving performance. Also in 2024, the EOS-based Bitcoin scaling solution "exSat" launched, becoming a significant project connecting EOS to the Bitcoin ecosystem with over $800 million in locked assets within a few months. By 2025, EOS continues to evolve with the support of the global community, remaining a decentralized and innovative blockchain.
- May 2025: EOS changed its name to VaultA. As of November 2025, the price of VaultA (A) or EOS (EOS) is changing hands around $0.2.
Why is EOS Important?
EOS stands out with its use cases, particularly its token economy.
Use Cases
The primary reason for EOS's popularity is its high efficiency and free-to-use model for decentralized applications. The absence of transaction fees on the network makes it economical even for applications based on microtransactions. For example, while even small transactions on networks like Ethereum incur gas fees, on EOS, users don't pay direct fees; instead, developers or applications reserve network resources (CPU, NET, RAM) by staking EOS tokens. This model allows for frequent and small transactions, such as in-game purchases or social media interactions, to be completed at no cost to users. As a result, EOS provides a scalable and user-friendly environment for dApps targeting everyday users.
EOS's technical capabilities allow for a wide range of use cases. The gaming industry is one of EOS's strongest areas, as its capacity for thousands of transactions per second and fast block confirmation times (average 0.5 seconds) are ideal for supporting interactive games. Indeed, popular EOS-based games like Upland have reached thousands of daily active users by offering a virtual real estate metaverse of real cities like San Francisco and New York. Upland players buy and sell virtual land in the form of NFTs on the EOS blockchain and even have the opportunity to earn real money. Similarly, games like EOS Knights and Crypto Dynasty have demonstrated EOS's success in the gaming arena, reaching tens of thousands of users, particularly in the Asian market. These games have brought the concept of true digital property to life on the blockchain in a fun way.
DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is also a developing field on EOS. Platforms like Defibox have achieved multi-million dollar volumes by offering a range of financial services on the EOS network, such as token swapping, lending, and stablecoin generation. Thanks to EOS's speed and low cost advantages, DeFi transactions can occur almost instantly and cost-free, improving the user experience. A resource-leasing platform called EOS REX allows for the leasing of unused network resources, providing passive income for token holders and flexible resource usage for dApp developers. In addition, there are decentralized stablecoin projects running on EOS, such as EOSDT, which functions similarly to MakerDAO by issuing USD-pegged tokens against EOS collateral.
Another notable use case for EOS has been content platforms and social applications. The Everipedia project, in particular, was developed on EOS, aiming to be a blockchain-based, censorship-resistant version of Wikipedia. By distributing the token IQ over the EOS network, Everipedia rewards users for knowledge creation and attempts to protect content from censorship by central authorities. This aim even aims to make knowledge accessible even in some countries that block Wikipedia.
EOS also has appeal for enterprise and business solutions. Its high transaction capacity and predictable cost structure encourage large-scale companies to experiment with blockchain applications on EOS. For example, in use cases such as supply chain management, identity verification systems, or financial reconciliation applications, EOS's ability to provide transaction finality within seconds and eliminate uncertainty in transaction fees offers significant advantages. With EOS, a business can benefit from the transparency and reliability of blockchain while also controlling costs despite operating on a public network.
All of these use cases are a result of the core features that make EOS so popular: high scalability, low latency, no transaction fees, and an enhanced user experience. With these features, EOS pioneered the industry and inspired many subsequent projects. For example, EOS was one of the first major projects to popularize the Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus model. Thanks to DPoS, a democratic element has been introduced to blockchain governance, and the network's energy consumption has remained significantly lower than traditional proof-of-work mechanisms. This makes EOS an environmentally friendly and sustainable option. Indeed, a 2021 study noted that EOS has a lower environmental impact than most major cryptocurrencies.
EOS Token Economics
EOS's native cryptocurrency, the EOS token (EOS coin), is central to the network's operation and has various economic uses. First, the EOS token provides access to network resources: Developers and users stake EOS tokens to reserve resources such as CPU processing power, network bandwidth (NET), and storage memory (RAM). Thus, unlike the "paying transaction fees" logic found on other platforms, the EOS token acts as collateral for transaction processing. For example, by staking EOS tokens, a user acquires a certain amount of CPU and NET capacity; with this capacity, they can perform as many transactions as they want on the network. When finished, they can unfreeze their tokens and redeem them. This model offers predictable costs to application developers while eliminating the need for end users to pay direct fees for their transactions.
Another critical function of the EOS token is governance and voting rights. The EOS network is operated by 21 block producers, who are elected by the votes of EOS token holders. Each EOS coin holder has voting power proportional to the number of tokens they hold, and by voting for candidates they deem trustworthy, they determine who will govern the network. In this way, the EOS token functions as a governance share. Block producers create new blocks and confirm transactions, and they also have a say in decisions such as network protocol updates and fund distributions. EOS token holders participate in these critical decision-making processes through voting. This democratic structure is one of the key elements that makes the EOS network decentralized and community-controlled.
To ensure the security and continuity of the network, the EOS protocol awards new block producers EOS tokens through inflation. Initially, EOS was designed to have an annual token inflation rate of 5%. 1% of this inflation was distributed to block producers as block rewards, while the remaining 4% was accumulated and pooled in a savings pool to fund future community projects. However, the community later decided to burn the tokens in this pool after several referendums, reducing the annual inflation rate. For example, the 2019 vote permanently destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of EOS coins accumulated in EOS savings accounts. This reduced the circulating EOS supply, alleviating inflationary pressure and bringing the annual inflation rate to a more sustainable level.
The EOS token is not only a medium of exchange for resources and votes, but also used for economic activities within the ecosystem. Users can use their EOS coins to swap tokens on decentralized exchanges on the network, provide collateral in DeFi protocols, or earn interest income. For example, an EOS holder can lock their tokens on the EOS REX platform and earn returns in return; this return comes in the form of a share of the revenue generated by renting CPU/NET resources to others. Similarly, EOS assets can also be utilized in DeFi applications such as yield farming. Furthermore, in-game purchases in EOS-based games or applications can be paid with EOS, and there are other use cases such as rewarding EOS for contributions on content platforms. All these examples demonstrate that the EOS token is a versatile utility within the ecosystem.
In summary, the EOS token economy is based on three pillars: resource reservation, governance, and value exchange. Thanks to this structure, EOS token holders benefit from the network's technical capacity, participate in governance, and engage in economic activities. Because its community-driven decision-making mechanism provides the flexibility to make changes to the token economy when necessary, EOS has been able to update its economic model over the years. For example, Block.one's massive EOS treasury is frozen by community decision and channeled towards ecosystem development, while the inflation rate is also reduced by community decision. This dynamic structure makes the EOS token economy vibrant and adaptable.
Who are the Founders of EOS?
In its early years, the EOS project was led by Block.one; the team led by Brendan Blumer and Daniel Larimer developed the EOSIO software, transforming it into one of the most ambitious blockchain initiatives of 2017–2018. However, after the mainnet launch, Block.one's contribution gradually diminished, broken promises fueled community dissatisfaction, and Larimer's departure in 2021 accelerated this shift. This process marked the beginning of EOS's evolution from a single company to a community-driven governance system.
At the center of this transformation is the EOS Network Foundation (ENF), established by the community and funded by block producers. The ENF has become the network's governing body, responsible for protocol development, strategic coordination, developer grants, and communications. Today, EOS's leadership structure is fully decentralized: the network is operated by 21 block producers elected by the votes of EOS token holders. Initiatives such as EOS Labs and EOS Network Ventures also play an active role in project financing and growth within the ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Below, you can find some frequently asked questions and answers about EOS:
- What is EOS?: EOS is a blockchain platform that supports smart contracts and offers high scalability. It operates with a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) mechanism and can process thousands of transactions per second with low latency. Users pay no transaction fees; resources are managed through a staking model. The EOS coin is used for both governance and network transactions. It was rebranded as VaultA in 2025.
- What does EOS do?: EOS offers developers a fast and cost-effective infrastructure on which to build dApps. Gaming, DeFi, social media, and enterprise applications can run on EOS. Its fee-free transaction model is particularly advantageous for projects requiring frequent microtransactions. Platforms like Everipedia also make censorship-resistant information and content creation possible.
- Who are the founders of EOS?: EOS was developed by Brendan Blumer and Daniel Larimer at Block.one. Larimer is the inventor of the DPoS mechanism and previously created projects like Steemit and BitShares. After launch, global developer contribution increased thanks to the open-source model. After 2021, project management largely shifted to the community and the EOS Network Foundation.
- How does EOS work?: EOS uses the DPoS mechanism, operated by 21 block producers voted on by token holders. Block producers create blocks sequentially, and underperforming ones can be replaced by voting. This allows the network to operate quickly, energy efficiently, and uninterrupted. Fundamental security relies on validator selection and community oversight.
- What is the EOS coin price?: The price of EOS constantly fluctuates depending on the market and can be tracked live on exchanges. In 2018, it reached an ATH of approximately $22 and has traded lower in recent years. As of 2025, its price is generally below $0.3. How to buy EOS: EOS can be purchased on major exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and OKX. After opening an exchange account and verifying your identity, you can purchase EOS by depositing fiat or crypto. You can keep the purchased tokens in your exchange wallet or withdraw them to your personal wallet. Using a hardware wallet is more secure for larger amounts.
- Is EOS decentralized?: EOS has a decentralized structure thanks to the DPoS model, where 21 block producers are determined by a community vote. With the end of Block.one and the introduction of ENF, governance has become entirely community-based. Every protocol update is approved by a vote of the block producers. Despite criticisms, EOS has a model that strikes a balance between performance and decentralization.
You can continue to learn about the blockchain world by checking out our other cryptocurrency guides in the JR Kripto Guide series!