EOS Declares Independence with Consensus Upgrade to Antelope Leap 3.1
Today, the EOS Community declares independence, stepping into its own destiny. From the verge of dissolution, we have emerged stronger and more united than ever. Where we go from here, is up to us.
Today, we are liberating the code. The code that embodies our collective aspirations for a resilient public blockchain network. We liberate the code, not for a privileged few, but for an open future, built on open-source foundations.
Today, we step forward into history, the first of a committed coalition of networks undertaking its migration to the newly forged Antelope Framework. An open framework to unite us all.
As we take this major step towards self determination as a network, we understand it is only the first step. Yet without this single step, nothing else will be possible.
合抱之木, 生於毫末.
九層之臺, 起於累土.
千里之行, 始於足下.
A tree as great as a man’s embrace springs from a small shoot;
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles starts under one’s feet.
—Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu – chapter 64
A New—Independent EOS—Against All Odds
By now the story of the EOS community uprising has been told many times. The network that became cognizant of its DAO-ness, reclaimed its sovereignty from a derelict leadership, and empowered a new foundation, forged from its own community. The EOS Network Foundation, that rose to champion the interests of EOS stakeholders and secure the long term viability of the ecosystem. The influx of talent, and the explosion of development that has followed. The formation of multiple public chains into a coalition that share a common codebase, and the leap to Antelope. The miracle of EOS, is the reclamation of its own destiny, against all odds.
For a deeper dive into the backstory that led to this, start here:
More retrospectives will surely be written, but the history of these monumental events are fairly well captured here, on the ENF blog itself. If you want the most complete story available at present, simply begin at the beginning.
The EOS Hard Fork—TLDR Version
The original maintainer of the EOSIO code upon which the EOS Network relied, produced EOSIO 2.1 and a release candidate for EOSIO 2.2; however, simply put, the changes introduced in these releases broke several history solutions and were deemed to be overall not beneficial for the many public networks that relied upon the code.
With an EOSIO codebase containing thousands of unresolved issues and all but abandoned by the original maintainer; EOS community engineers, led by the ENF, rallied and forked the stable EOSIO 2.0 code repository into a new codebase which was then improved upon to eventually create Leap 3.1, the C++ implementation of the new Antelope protocol. Improvements in Leap 3.1 include several useful features backported by OCI from EOSIO 2.1 and EOSIO 2.2 but also includes several new features including transaction lifecycle improvements, upgraded crypto primitives that power EVM-related cryptography functions, block and SHiP pruning, and more.
On Wednesday, September 21, 2022, EOS block producers executed a coordinated hard fork to Leap 3.1. Anyone running a node should now have upgraded their nodes to continue syncing with the network. This is the second hard fork, or in the case of EOS, a non-contentious consensus upgrade, activating new features that are not backwards compatible with previous versions of the code.
Daniel Keyes gives a great high-level summary here:
Today, We Think Forward, and Look to the Future
EOS Independence is a choice. It’s not a state, but a perennial act of becoming. The blockchain industry never stands still, and neither can we. With our further resolve to expand DAO tooling and infrastructure, in our work to unite multiple chains through Trustless IBC, through our efforts to develop the most performant EVM to date, by our massive partnership with industry leading engineers, our insistence on developing a DeFi focused liquidity incentive and rewards program, and renewed efforts to expand engagement through community ideathons and hackathons, we are advancing on several fronts simultaneously, and the pace is not slowing.
A Community of Champions
None of our efforts would be possible without an extensive, united community. The EOS community is unlike any other in the blockchain space. Battle-hardened, big-hearted champions who have persevered against all odds.
We close with some additional quotes from members of the community who responded to our question, “what does EOS Independence mean to you?” To the rest of you who answered, in an effort to keep this somewhat brief, your words will yet grace future articles or social posts from the ENF. Thank you for your contributions!
It’s been an incredible voyage, and we’re just getting started! We are honoured by the opportunity to serve the EOS community, to see it grow and evolve over time. There’s still much work ahead. Let’s go together! Go EOS!
—Yves La Rose and Zack Gall
EOS Network
The EOS Network is a 3rd generation blockchain platform powered by the EOS VM, a low-latency, highly performant, and extensible WebAssembly engine for deterministic execution of near feeless transactions; purpose-built for enabling optimal web3 user and developer experiences. EOS is the flagship blockchain and financial center of the Antelope framework, serving as the driving force behind multi-chain collaboration and public goods funding for tools and infrastructure through the EOS Network Foundation (ENF).
EOS Network Foundation
The EOS Network Foundation (ENF) was forged through a vision for a prosperous and decentralized future. Through our key stakeholder engagement, community programs, ecosystem funding, and support of an open technology ecosystem, the ENF is transforming Web3. Founded in 2021, the ENF is the hub for EOS Network, a leading open source platform with a suite of stable frameworks, tools, and libraries for blockchain deployments. Together, we are bringing innovations that our community builds and are committed to a stronger future for all.
