Update (March 20, 10:43 pm UTC): This article has been updated with a sentence clarifying that Block.one is no longer affiliated with Vaulta.
The EOS Network, a blockchain that launched in 2018 amid the initial coin offering boom, has rebranded to Vaulta and will pivot to focusing on Web3 banking.
The switch to Vaulta is tentatively scheduled for the end of May and will include a new token and the establishment of an advisory group known as the Vaulta Banking Advisory Council to help with the firm’s new direction, the company said in a March 18 statement.
In a separate statement, the firm said the network’s EOS (EOS) token will transition to the Vaulta Token, which will be available on the nearly 140 exchanges where EOS trades and through a swap portal available in May. It added that the token’s ticker and technical details will be revealed at a later date.
Source: EOS Network
Vaulta will also inherit EOS Network’s underlying infrastructure, including integration with the Bitcoin digital banking solution, exSat, which complements Vaulta’s BankingOS system, offering a suite of financial services through partnerships with Ceffu, Spirit Blockchain and Blockchain Insurance Inc.
EOS Network’s rebranding to Vaulta marks a significant course correction for the blockchain. Block.one, which now isn’t affiliated with the network, launched the blockchain to great fanfare in June 2018 off the back of a year-long and largest-ever $4.1 billion ICO.
EOS was a top 10 project by market cap for several years following its launch, but its value has been in steady decline and is now just inside the top 100, sitting at 95, according to CoinGecko.
There’s a range of opinions about where EOS went wrong. Some who volunteered to assist in developing the network say there was a lack of support and direction from Block.one.
Related: Tracing the evolution of Blockchain, with Eos Network Foundation exec
Block.one made a $24 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2019, and some commentators argued that the firm’s focus then shifted from EOS’ base tech to other projects — like the social app-turned-NFT marketplace Voice and the crypto exchange Bullish.
Goodblock CEO Douglas Horn believes EOS investors were misled from the start, telling Cointelegraph Magazine in 2023 that “Block.one did a deceitful ICO, whether that was planned from the beginning or not.”
Magazine: Whatever happened to EOS? Community shoots for unlikely comeback
