EOS Network: EOS[1] is currently the 5th largest cryptocurrency with an $8 billion market capitalization according to Coinmarketcap[2]. Not only is EOS a token, it is also, more importantly, an infrastructure for DApps[3] or decentralized applications.
The EOS Network: What are DApp’s?
DApps are decentralized applications which are running on the EOS open-source network. These applications range from wallets to games and the EOS network currently host 140 of them.
Some dApps are tied directly to EOS, for example, an EOS wallet provider or coin index, but others are simply using the EOS open-source technology to launch their own projects.
In May of this year, an update to the EOSIO architecture on which these DApps run was released by the EOS developer Block.one[4]. This update was called EOSIO “Dawn 4.0[5]” or mainnet, and along with some network improvements, it also moved the system to a new market-based RAM allocation model. But what does this mean?
RAM and DApps
Simply put, RAM is needed by every DApp in order to run on the network and specifically in the setting up of new user accounts.
The intention of the RAM allocation model was to make transactions free; EOS CTO Dan Larimer explained that this shift was a way of financially incentivizing users[6] by “selling” any of their unused RAM. The price of RAM would be dependant on a simple supply and demand model.
However, this week saw the start of a problem that Larimer did not foresee at the time; there has been an overzealous buying of RAM[7]
