EOS Network Foundation Statement: The tokens in the Block.one account have not been confiscated, but no further EOS will be issued to that account

Source: EOS Network Foundation Blog

Compiled by: Hu Tao, Chain Catcher

On December 8, news emerged that EOS nodes had voted to freeze the EOS balance of the Block.one account, bringing EOS back into the mainstream view of the cryptocurrency industry and sparking much discussion, though the specific reasons and processes were not clear.

Today, the EOS Network Foundation (hereinafter referred to as ENF) published a blog detailing the event, stating that it was not actually a freeze or removal of EOS tokens from the Block.one account, but rather a cessation of further EOS distributions to that account.

ENF stated that over the past year, the speed and quality of code output from Block.one for EOSIO had significantly declined. The decline became evident as many senior developers, who were original code creators, began to leave, including founder and former CTO Daniel Larimer and other original core contributors. The few senior developers remaining at Block.one were reassigned to Bullish.

Over the past three years, the EOS community has frequently discussed whether Block.one fulfilled the promises made during the token sale, as B1 earns approximately 27,400 EOS daily from the allocated tokens, roughly equivalent to the total income of all about 60 nodes combined. Regardless of opinions, these unfulfilled promises include: no implementation of any type of blockchain interoperability (IBC) solution, failure to achieve the promise of "one million transactions per second," launching over 1,000 dApps, decentralized social media platforms (i.e., Voice), etc.

"Block.one's failure to provide ongoing core code development has not only disappointed EOS but has also disappointed all other EOSIO iterations and applications and businesses built on or around these ecosystems," ENF stated.

These concerns peaked in early November when Block.one released a press release announcing that they had sold 45 million EOS tokens to Brock Pierce to launch Helios VC.

"In itself, this is not a concerning issue," ENF stated, "the problem lies in the fact that of the 45 million tokens sold, only 8 million tokens have been reallocated, while 37 million tokens will be distributed over the next approximately 7 years. This means Block.one attempted to sell assets they do not own without consulting the legitimate owners."

Subsequently, ENF had multiple discussions with Brendan Blumer and Brock Pierce, hoping Block.one would respond regarding the EOSIO IP (which had previously been transferred to Bullish) and its return timeline, but B1 did not provide a clear response.

On November 30, nodes deployed an on-chain proposal that included multi-signature (MSIG), which contained code execution to stop granting tokens to Block.one.

On December 7, over 20 top-ranking BPs publicly proposed on-chain to express their stance, providing due process for EOS token holders. This allowed token holders the opportunity to focus on the ongoing negotiations and cast their votes. As Block.one still failed to respond by the deadline, the MSIG was executed at 12:55 PM Beijing time on December 8.

ENF stated that stopping the granting of tokens to Block.one was a determined action by the network to express the seriousness of the situation and the resolve of the BPs, highlighting the power of the blockchain and enabling the community to stand against corporate interests that are inconsistent with its direction. This represents the spirit and purpose of the blockchain.

"There was no confiscation, no tokens were taken from the Block.one account, the account was not changed, and the keys were not modified. The EOS network will no longer pay Block.one from the eosio.stake account, and that is all," ENF stated.

Finally, ENF expressed its welcome to new investors, developers, businesses, and individuals, stating that the organization will continue to lead the EOS network as the representative of the world's largest DAO.