EOSIO, the blockchain of popular crypto asset EOS, may already be one of the leading smart contracting chains, but its development hasn’t stopped.
On Monday afternoon, Block.one, the Hong Kong-based industry development firm, unveiled more details about EOSIO’s first massive upgrade — EOSIO 2. Here’s more information.
Introducing EOSIO 2: a faster, simpler, and more secure way to build on #EOSIO https://t.co/R6PGAUb8bs
— block.one (@block_one_) October 7, 2019
EOS Blockchain Version 2
Much like Ethereum and other cryptocurrency projects, the EOS blockchain has long been working security, speed, and simplicity.
The project is about to move one step closer to this goal with the aforementioned upgrade.
According to a blog post on the matter published by Block.one, this upgrade, should it be in its currently proposed form, will include four major components:
- EOS Virtual Machine (VM): A “high-performance WebAssembly engine” built for blockchain applications will allow for more “efficient use of system resources” for substantial performance gains.
- EOSIO Quickstart Web IDE: “A powerful, new, self-contained, web-based integrated development environment for building EOSIO smart contracts and associated web applications.” This will help lower the barriers to entry to EOS development.
- WebAuthn Support: EOSIO will have WebAuthn Support, which enables transaction signing without browser extensions, making it easier for users to make use of dApps.
- Lastly, Weighted Threshold Multi-Sig Block Production Support: This is a secure solution that allows block producers – special nodes of the network – to sign blocks “on primary and backup block production hardware.”
Short-Term Upgrades
While a fully-fledged upgrade to EOSIO 2 isn’t impending just yet, the blockchain has undergone some short-term upgrades to better facilitate smart contract development and dApp usage. In late-September, the platform completed its first-ever consensus hard fork for its v1.8 upgrade. The new version brings “major enhancements” to the blockchain in hopes of “paving the way for a more secure and scalable future.”
According to block producer EOS Authority’s breakdown of the upgrade, v1.8 will help users in four ways: provides the ability to bill network resource usage to external accounts, faulty (“deferred”) transactions are more easily rectified, using dApps will cost less than before, and the security of the network has been “enhanced.”
v1.8 is purportedly key in allowing Block.one to launch its next flagship project, Voice. Voice is billed by Block.one as a next-generation social media platform that promotes healthy online behavior.
The latest update enables one key feature Voice needs to go live: Now, dApp developers—including the team behind Voice—can opt in to pay for network resources, like RAM and CPU, on behalf of users for smart contract interactions.
Photo by Simon Abrams on Unsplash