EOS, a blockchain-based platform used for the development of decentralized applications (DApps) is currently engaged in a bull-run that helped its price surge over 30 percent, ahead of an incoming token airdrop. The surge helped EOS become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
At press time, according to data from CryptoCompare, EOS is up by roughly 31 percent in the last 24-hour period, as it is currently trading at $8.37, up from little under $6. This means the cryptocurrency now has a $6.5 billion market cap, larger than Litecoin’s $6.3 billion.
EOS’ rally coincided with a surge in trading volume. Available data shows EOS was the second most traded cryptocurrency, with its 24-hour volume exceeding $2.4 billion. Its volume is second only to that of bitcoin, which in the last 24-hour period had a trading volume of over $5.4 billion.
What triggered the surge is somewhat unclear. Its timing coincides with an incoming token airdrop, that’ll reward EOS holders with eosDAC tokens. On April 15 – the 300th day of the EOS initial coin offering (ICO) – every wallet with 100 EOS tokens will receive an equal amount of eosDAC tokens.
Those who don’t have 100 or more EOS tokens will be able to manually claim their airdropped eosDAC tokens later on, likely when the cryptocurrency’s mainnet launches later this year.
Others point out that Antpool, a cryptocurrency mining pool owned by mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain, is applying to be an EOS Block Producer (BP). To them, Antpool is artificially pumping the cryptocurrency’s price.
In its application to be an EOS Block Producer, Antpool wrote (roughly translated):
“EOS Community Ecology advocates “freedom, equality, and respect”. AntPool and EOS have similar values. We deeply understand the responsibilities and obligations in this regard, and care about the prosperity and sustainable development of the entire EOS community.”
Both potential causes seem unhealthy for the cryptocurrency’s long-term rise. While an artificial pump is bound to stop when Antpool decides it reached its goal, a pump caused by an incoming token airdrop might see the cryptocurrency plummet right after the blockchain snapshot.
As covered, this has happened in the past. Zclassic (ZCL) saw its price drop over 80 percent after the blockchain snapshot that created Bitcoin Private (BTCP).
