Introduced in 2017, the EOS project has raised a record-breaking $4 billion through its initial coin offering (ICO). The Block.one platform’s version 1.0 source code is now officially “open-source” and will offer users a decentralized operating system suited for enterprise-level applications.
EOSIO 1.0 can now be accessed on GitHub. Cryptocurrency miners and exchanges that support the platform have all been taking snapshots of the ERC-20 based EOS tokens. These snapshots will reveal how many Ethereum based tokens will transfer over to the newly released blockchain.
The token migration process to the newly designed EOS wallets also started as the updated source code was released. A blog post recently published by Block.one about the platform lists the key features that will be offered.
These include Web Assembly designed smart contracts, asynchronous messaging and scheduling of applications through its decentralized operating system, “inter blockchain communication”, ability to integrate “biometric hardware secured keys”, and a number of other network management tools.
Dan Larimer’s EOS project also promises a blockchain scalable to process millions of transactions per second, while eliminating fees. According to data from CryptoCompare, the price of EOS has surged over 13 percent in the last 24-hour period, as the token surged to over $14.4 after spending most of the day trading at $12.5.
Major Vulnerabilities Exposed
Notably, critical vulnerabilities were detected and reported by Chinese cybersecurity researchers Yuki Chen and Zhiniang Peng from Qihoo 360. Chen, who documented the vulnerabilities throughout the month of May, found a “buffer out-of-bounds write” issue in functions being invoked by EOS nodes that process smart contracts on its network.
The researchers claimed that the bug could be exploited to basically take over the EOS network and gain access to the billions of dollars worth of digital currency on the platform. Larimer responded by claiming that the bug had been fixed and that the vulnerability only existed in the code from third-party libraries. The cryptocurrency’s developers have also offered a $10,000 bounty to any programmer who finds “major” vulnerabilities on the platform.
Heavy Criticism
EOS, which promises horizontal and vertical scaling of decentralized applications (dApps), has managed to gain the attention of numerous cryptocurrency devotees, but it has also been heavily criticized. Dogecoin founder Jackson Palmer stated in April:
So all these people who are excited about “EOS launching soon!” somehow don't understand that “launching” simply means the code will be available for use. There is no “network” being launched that you can then go and use, or redeem EOS tokens on. Yikes people, read for once.
— Jackson Palmer (@ummjackson) April 12, 2018
He added that the EOS ERC-20 based token would not offer any utility and labeled it “useless”. He backed this claim by noting that the project’s FAQ page basically states this.
Cryptocurrency exchanges have halted EOS withdrawals and deposits due to the platform’s mainnet token migration process. However, Bitfinex and OKEx have clarified via their official blog posts that EOS trading will not be stopped during the token swap. OKEx also warned users that depositing EOS on its exchange during the token migration could lead to a loss.
Recently, Block.one announced a partnership with UK-based blockchain investment firm SVK Crypto to launch a $50 million fund which is set to help speed up the ongoing development of EOS related.The fund will reportedly be managed by SVK Crypto’s founders and management team who are experienced in investing in various successful tech startups.
The funds will go toward projects expected to launch on the EOSIO blockchain and will mainly involve the development of DApps designed specifically for social media, supply chain and logistics solutions, and several other IT projects that involve processing a large amount of data.
