[Vlog] Thoughts on EOS London Meetup - raw and uncut!
Pulling a crowd
So I've just come back home from the EOS London meet-up. I had a choice of going to the post Meetup drinks in the pub or coming home and doing a post/ vlog, I choose the latter.
What can I say about this meet-up.
Firstly the turn-out was very impressive. There must have been around 200-300 people in the venue. And why not. EOS has been on a tear (price-wise) recently. On top of that, there was free alcohol . Although it was a ticketed event, I was able to get in without my ticket, so I imagine there were a fair few people there to take advantage of the free booze.
That said, most people stuck about for the talks.
Short commercial break
The first speaker was actually the event sponsor. He chatted about some crypto-trading solution his company were offering. Naturally they were doing an ICO... at which point I switched off.
Major Player
The most intriguing talk came from Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Bitfinex. Things I found out that I didn't know before
- Bitfinex were an early investor in block.one
- 'apparently' Bitfinex block producer candidacy is because 'it is fun for them'; and they're happy not to be a block producer (and presumably disband their 'military grade' data center) should it be a problem for the community... hmm let's see.
- EOSfinex development will start in August 2018
- Bitfinex plan to open source their UI within the next year
- Bitfinex will not use customers EOS to vote for themselves. They will create a voting tool to allow people that hold EOS on their exchange to vote for any of the top 30 Block Producers.... Psst - don't leave your money on exchanges!
- Bitfinex are hiring C++ devs and are willing to contribute to EOS core
It seems (for better or worse), Bitfinex will be a major player in the EOS ecosystem. Whether this is a good thing or not will hinge (for me) on EOSfinex and whether they build out a genuine decentralised Exchange that is fast, user-friendly, can scale and have little/ no fees.
Legal disclaimer
Next up was Ian Grigg and Eva Stowe. I've heard Ian speak on governance before, at the last EOS meetup I went to last year. They spoke about the unreliability (for businesses) of 'unpermissioned' chains like Bitcoin and the walled gardens of 'permissioned' blockchains. With EOS being the middle ground; a blockchain for business with rules and free entry (using DPOS).
Personally I wouldn't oversell the governance of DPOS. While it is nice to know that in principle "the community" decides on block producers, stake-weighed voting means that (de facto) large token holders hold the keys to block production. While it is amusing to listen to Block Producers conduct hustings to anyone that will listen, ultimately to be a block producer you need to appeal to whales if they want to be in the top 21 witnesses. Whilst I think the year long token distribution will produce decent spread of holders; invariably EOS will have whales, like any other token. Those whales will decide on block producers based on whoever they feel brings the most value to their investment.
EOS thermometer
I like going to meet-ups and being a fly on the wall, gauging the temperature of a coin. I have to say there is a buzz around EOS. The talks could have done with being a bit more sexy. Block Producers and Governance are not sexy. They are the 'back office' to the applications that will either make or break the platform.
I guess we're going to have to wait until after the launch to find out what EOS is really about however judging from tonight it is definitely one to watch.
EOS is currently doing well. What a great meet-up there. We also had EOS meet-up here in Lagos, Nigeria last week. It's was a great event too and the turn out was great
I totally agree on that. Though it looks like its going to do well, we will still need to wait till its lunched.
I still believe Steem is superior to any other coin
We did EOS meet up here in Nigeria which is also cool and i must say Eos might end up been a gr3at coin in the near time @nanzo-scoop
This date is practically tomorrow, there is a lot of expectation about this project and I think there is an interesting group with a lot of faith in it, I would love to be part of it and as he says to be aware of all the movements.
The Eos waves is moving heavily around the world with alot of people waiting eagerly for the full lunch of the Eos blockchain. Because it is going to solve alot loopholes that the rest blockchain systems lack
Hmmm I'm still not convinced by EOS just yet. Share many of the concerns that critics have around centralisation. BUT there's no denying how well the price has performed, and how passionate its supporters are.
I think people conflate centralisation with concentration.
EOS/ DPos is as decentralised as any PoW/ PoS blockchain. There is no single point of failure. There is no ability to censor/ restrict access without consensus. Indeed, with DPoS, stakeholders get a say over who secures the network so incentives between holders and miners tend to be more aligned then say Bitcoin as there is a measure of accountability.
The issue with anything of value is that humans have a tendency to want to concentration wealth, power, hashpower, tokens or whatever. I don't have a problem with it. Part of being decentralised is that anyone can claim as big as stake as they wish. Large stakeholders/mining pools have to weigh up the size of their stakes and public perception of undue influence over a decentralised system. It's a dance that will ultimately play out in the court of the free market.
At this point, the technology needs more products that can actually be used and scale to the masses. And yes that means data centers to handle the throughput. As Ian Grigg mentioned last night, the only non-blockchain related products cryptocurrencies have to show for a $400bn marketcap is Steem and Cryptokitties! If EOS can help redress the balance it would be a very significant player in the space.
I have to say there is a buzz around EOS....Lets see....What it is capable of.
Looks interesting to me too. I gonna dive through the available data of it. Hope wont be disappointing..
Eos seems to be a great project and everyone talks about it, I don't handle the world of crypto in a special way, I think I've been tempted to invest in Eos but I would like to know a little more, you would be investing in this project??
I bought all the EOS I wanted about 8 months... so just checking in on what the feeling on the ground is.
Yes, adding value first is the best strategy engaging with the EOS community It is comical how people are currently promoting themselves. Thanks for the report from London Meetup.
I think EOS is going to be a big winner. It is the largest holding in my portfolio. I'm expecting great things once the platform goes live.