CWC Newsletter #34 (July 6, 2020)
By Taylor Ryker, Analyst
A Value Proposition of EOSIO, Part 3
Before I begin, please check out these news outlets for the past weekly updates and announcements in the EOS and EOSIO space: EOS Nation's Hot Sauce, EOSWriter's Twitter Review, Crypto Peter's Moran Post, and EOS Go's What Happened This Week on EOSIO. I am also excited about the Voice global launch that happened over the past weekend.
This post is part three of "A Value Proposition of the EOS Mainnet and EOSIO Ecosystem," and check-out part one and part two. The focus of part three is a value proposition of the EOSIO software: (1) Performance and (2) Scalability.
EOSIO is the software that powers the EOS mainnet and EOSIO sisterchains (Telos, WAX, and UX Network, to name a few). For more information on the differences, see Jack Tanner's helpful breakdown between EOS and EOSIO.
Why is performance and scalability important within the EOSIO ecosystem and the larger blockchain space?
A big problem within other blockchain communities, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, is scalability. Bitcoin can only process 7 transactions per second and Ethereum can process about 20 transactions per second. Ethereum is in the process of upgrading its software to Ethereum 2.0 in order to solve its scalability bottleneck. But, Ethereum 2.0 won't be completed for at least a year or two.
Other blockchains, such as Cardano and Avalanche, are hoping to solve the scalability issue of Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, Cardano is still in its testnet phase with its mainnet launch in the uncertain future, and Avalanche is launching soon so their claims of faster transactions per second is in theory.
EOSIO provides a solution to the scalability question in addition to high performance. With the EOS mainnet in existence for more than 2 years, its strong performance and fast scalability is a reality.
Performance and Scalability Strengths of EOSIO:
1) EOSIO can handle millions of transactions per day. Blocktivity, a site that tracks the performance of top blockchains, indicates that the EOS mainnet's record is 115 million operations in 24-hours. The EOS mainnet tops the charts is far superior to other alternatives. Coming in second is Telos, an EOSIO sisterchain, with a record of 32 million operations in a day. Currently, EOS and Telos recorded 68 million and 4 million operations for the past 24-hours, respectively.
In comparison, Ethereum's and Bitcoin's record stands at 1.3 million and 1.17 million operations in a day, respectively. And Ethereum and Bitcoin processed 899 thousand and 731 thousand operations in the past 24-hours, respectively.
An academic paper published recently by researchers at Imperial College London and University College London erroneously claimed that EOSIO processes 34 transactions per second.
2) EOSIO software allows for 0.5 second confirmation times, which is an important milestone. This is significant because the faster the irreversibility of confirmed blocks, the stronger the inter-blockchain communication, which allows for blockchains to connect with each other. In comparison, Ethereum's confirmation time is currently at 9 minutes and Bitcoin's confirmation time can take up to 3 hours.
3) Performance and scalability on EOSIO supports many decentralized applications (dApps) to run smoothly on its different platforms like WAX or the EOS mainnet. Currently, EOSIO has shown to be a robust software that can handle the scalability for blockchain gaming and the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In light of the increase volume of gaming transactions and active users on EOSIO blockchains, Ethereum's DeFi dApps have discouraged Ethereum blockchain game users due to prohibitive gas prices.
4) Developers praise the performance and scalability of EOSIO software in their development of dApps on the EOS mainnet.
Dexaran, a blockchain developer who created the ERC-223 token on Ethereum, has voiced his strong approval of EOSIO over the current state of Ethereum. For starters, Dexaran believes that EOS's feeless transactions allows for the development of better smart-contract games.
Dexaran demonstrates that EOS dApps are superior because they are censorship-resistant, EOS is a strong distribution platform, built-in monetization, and EOS can solve the issue of transparency for application developers and users. In addition, it is much easier to upgrade smart contracts on the EOS mainnet and does not require substantial hard forks (unlike Ethereum which does require hard forks).
Dexaran also pointed out the fact that on EOS, users will not be able to lose their funds unlike Ethereum. Dexaran highlights the fact that on Ethereum, the wide adoption of insecure standards (ERC-20) allows for users to mistakenly lose funds if they send it to a wrong address.
Lastly, Dexaran has shown that EOS's C++ language is far better than Ethereum's Solidity. Dexaran cites that Solidity has disadvantages like (1) development for the sake of development, (2) waste of development resources, (3) major security flaws, and (4) disrespectful attitude towards developers.
Another developer, Eyal Hertzog, co-founder of Bancor and CEO of deWeb, has also shown his support for the EOSIO software on the EOS mainnet. Hertzog tweeted: "I was asked today why we built deWeb on EOS, given EOS's 'reputation.' I explained that I'm not a technologist--I build consumer services that utilize blockchain tech, so I only care about: (1) Transaction Cost, (2) Liquidity to Fiat (Coinbase), and (3) Programmability. EOS wins by [a] large margin."
Kurty, the creator of several dApps in the EOSIO ecosystem, spoke about his upcoming dApp messenger called Chirp. When a community member asked Kurty "Why [are] you moving to EOS mainnet?" on Telegram, Kurty responded, "My answer is I'm a technologist and I'm not a shill for any technology, I freely like and dislike any tech I want to at any time and don't need your permission. That's the beauty of crypto [and EOSIO]."
Some developers are aware of the strong performance and scalability of the EOSIO software, but more outreach needs to be done to educate other blockchain developers.
5) Block.one, the creators of the EOSIO software, have continuously released upgrades to EOSIO over the past 2 years in existence.
Block.one's past upgrades in the past 6 months to the EOSIO source-code include: Introduction of EOSIO 2 in January 2020, EOSIO release recap in late March 2020, and another EOSIO release recap in mid-June 2020.
Documentation of EOSIO needs to be more robust but it will take time for developers to document everything and new releases will require more documentation. In addition, Block.one needs to solve its multi-signature issues that have hampered development, but they have indicated that it is one of their top priorities.
6) Due to scaling issues on Ethereum, EOSIO is able to assist in the scaling of Ethereum smart-contracts and dApps. Syed Jafri, an EOSIO developer and CEO of EOS Cafe Block, coded eosio.evm, which is a way for Ethereum developers to port their dApp onto EOS with no modifications to leverage faster transactions and scalability.
In addition, Telos has made it possible for Solidity smart contracts to use the Telos blockchain, a sisterchain of the EOS mainnet, via the eosio.evm code.
7) Lastly, LiquidApps' DAPP Network, a middleware on top of the EOS mainnet, allows for more scalability and better performance at cost-effective rates. Take a look at their "Universal Guide to the DAPP Network" and their latest offering called LiquidBrinX, a frictionless cross-chain data transfer.
Conclusion
The performance and scalability of the EOSIO software is a strong selling point for dApp developers. And I want to leave you with a quote from Dexaran from last Fall 2019: EOS "at the moment is the most advanced platform for the development of smart-contracts. It seems that it will retain its status for several years, because I don't see any competitors who would offer something viable to compete with EOS from a technical point of view."
However, Block.one and EOSIO developers should not pause their advancement of the EOSIO software because it can still be better, more robust, and modified to meet future needs.
Disclaimer: KJ Kingsley is not a financial advisor and holds the digital tokens or cryptocurrencies represented in the content above. This content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this post constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by myself to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the author’s employers.