The Independent Republic

EOS is built on the ERC-20 Ethereum block-chain technology. Like many second generation blockchain companies it launched via Initial Coin Offering (ICO) by collecting crypto currency in exchange for the new coins in July 2017. Following a blistering rise it now sits valued at $10 billion placing it as the 10th largest crypto coin by market cap.

More exciting, EOS has seen a 100% rise in token price in just the last five days since the recent market sell-off on the fake news of South Korea mentioning possible ban on crypto trading. As we now know, the ban is looking less likely by the day with petitions now over 100k signatures and a call for the finance minister to resign. Markets have recovered on the latest developments with EOS seeing outsized gains compared to the broader market.

Yesterday came the first official meet-up of EOS with announced big news during the event. The meet-up was announced via the official EOS Twitter feed with little warning and quickly registrations followed. The event reached maximum capacity and was broadcast on Youtube for those unable to attend. Rumors ran wild and the price of EOS briefly touched $20 in anticipation which moved EOS up to a valuation in excess of $12 billion. What followed took some time to digest as it was so much news all at one time.

Richard Jung joins Block.one

Richard Jung is the former CEO of Bithumb, the largest crypto exchange in South Korea. The EOS announced his addition to the Block.one team. This is important as South Korea is the largest crypto market in the world. Mr Jung brings contacts and expertise from that market to the EOS team. By itself, the announcement is quite interesting but the next announcements would make clear the importance of Mr. Jung’s addition.

Venture Capitalist Block.one

Perhaps the biggest news from the event was $1.1 billion raised during the ICO and how it would be deployed. Block.one is moving to form venture capital (VC) relationships. The goal is to start deploying ICO funds to build investments in next-gen blockchain companies. EOS becomes the first team to make such an announcement to redeploy ICO funds to build investments.

More importantly, EOS is turning that ownership stake over to EOS holders via an airdrop fashion. It was termed “precedent setting” and while we do not know if this is the standard going forward what we can say is EOS registered holders will be awarded on a 1:1 ration tokens in the new project called Everipedia and a token called IQ. It will be airdropped via ERC-20 smart contract although the date has yet to be announced.

Partnering with VC Firms

As if the addition of Mr. June and re-deployment of funds from the ICO to Everipedia were not enough we also got word EOS is forming relationships with VC firms to identify new blokchain companies to add to the network. EOS holders hope new investment follows the IQ path of airdrops to registered owners. This allows a return on the initial investment made in purchasing the EOS tokens via the ICO and provides a possible path to growing EOS.

With Mr. June on the team at Block.one this also provides an expert on getting coins listed on large exchanges in the largest crypto-market of South Korea. The hopes are new airdrops will be listed on exchanges much faster than traditional small ICO listings. EOS is now one of the first next-generation blockchain companies to have a clear path to turning investment to holders much like Ripple (XRP).

Where EOS goes from Here

In anticipation of the announcement EOS tokens ran up to $20 per token before retreating to the current price of $15.63 at press time. It is hard to know how future ICO airdrops will affect the price of EOS. If successful with a new coin getting to an exchange with some appreciation there could be a rush to purchase and register EOS tokens. As coins boom and bust on news we also know within the next 2 week will see an announced partner with a VC firm for future investments. It is quite possible that a VC relationship is already in place and may come with another ICO/airdrop announcement. Stay tuned for more news.