Prices for RAM on the EOS[1] network have skyrocketed this week, reaching as high as almost 920 EOS (around $8,160[2] to press time) per 1MB of RAM, as data from MarketstackD.io indicates[3] today, July 4.
EOS Ram Buying Calculator. Source: MarketstackD[4]
EOS is a cryptocurrency token and an infrastructure for decentralized applications (DApps). As of press time it is the 5th largest coin at around $8 billion market capitalization, according to Coinmarketcap[5].
Although by today, prices have now lowered to around 480 EOS / 1MB RAM, the speculation frenzy could pose a real risk to the network’s intended function as an operating system for decentralized applications (DApps[6]), by making it unfeasible for developers to purchase critical memory resources for their projects.
Back in May, EOS developer Block.one[7] released[8] an update to the EOSIO architecture for DApps, dubbed ‘Dawn 4.0,’ which moved to a new market-based RAM allocation model, alongside other improvements. At the time, CTO Dan Larimer rationalized the decision in a Medium post[9] as being a way of financially incentivizing users to distribute their unused RAM by letting supply and demand govern the price.
Larimer did however concede at the time that this “may result in traders buying RAM today in anticipation of potential shortages tomorrow.”
This week’s frenzy - triggered by some EOS accounts hoarding and then trading their RAM at profitable spikes - prompted a “sudden revelation” for one reddit commentator, who suggested[10] yesterday that:
“I suddenly realised that RAM is the true EOS token, at least for the next couple of years. If RAM supply is to grow at max 20% per annum as Dan [Larimer] suggested,
