Background: EOS’s Historical Predicaments and Transformation Drivers
In March 2025, EOS Network, once dubbed the “Ethereum Killer,” officially announced its renaming to Vaulta and initiated a strategic transformation toward becoming a Web3 bank. This move not only involves a rebranding effort but also a reconstruction of its token economic model, a technological architecture upgrade, and a deep integration of traditional finance with DeFi, marking a counterattack by EOS after years of stagnation.
EOS Network once attracted market attention with its record-breaking $4 billion ICO in 2018, but its subsequent development hit a bottleneck. Data from 2023 showed that the daily active addresses on the EOS chain were less than 50,000, and its TVL (Total Value Locked) was only $320 million—far below that of Solana ($45 billion) and Ethereum ($280 billion) during the same period. Core issues included:
- DPoS consensus mechanism efficiency decay: the concentration of power among 21 supernodes led to rigid governance and stalled development;
- Ecosystem incentive failure: an early inflation model resulted in token sell pressure, and the developer reward mechanism lacked sustainability;
- Increasing regulatory pressure: the U.S. SEC listed EOS as an unregistered security, restricting institutional fund participation.
Technical Architecture: Fusion of the Bitcoin Ecosystem with a High-Performance Chain
Vaulta retains EOS’s core smart contract architecture and cross-chain interoperability (IBC), while integrating exSat’s Bitcoin digital banking solution. Using UTXO data indexing technology, exSat transforms Bitcoin into a “productive asset” capable of generating yields, supporting staking, delta-neutral strategies, and instant payment functions. This design makes Vaulta a bridge connecting the Bitcoin ecosystem and DeFi, enabling users to track real-time cross-chain liquidity changes between BTC and Vaulta tokens via JuCoin.
Token Economic Model: From Inflationary Predicaments to Value Capture
Vaulta’s token swap plan is scheduled to launch at the end of May 2025, with the original EOS tokens exchangeable for new tokens at a 1:1 ratio. In the new economic model, 26.6% of tokens will be allocated for continuous community incentives, 13.5% will be assigned to early stakeholders such as Paradigm, and 6% will be reserved for the foundation’s budget to support compliance initiatives. Notably, Vaulta introduces an “on-chain banking reserve” mechanism that requires ecosystem partners to deposit 20% of their revenues into a decentralized reserve pool, ensuring transparent profit distribution through smart contracts.
Strategic Partnerships and Compliance Path
Vaulta’s Banking Advisory Committee comprises senior executives from institutions such as Systemic Trust, Tetra, and ATB Financial, aimed at promoting the integration of traditional banking with Web3 technology. Its partner matrix spans three key areas:
- Custody and Clearing: Collaborating with Standard Chartered and Ceffu to develop compliant asset custody solutions;
- Insurance and Risk Control: Blockchain Insurance Inc. designs on-chain insurance products for its DeFi protocols;
- Real-World Asset Tokenization (RWA): Spirit Blockchain assists in onboarding assets such as real estate and bonds onto the chain.
Industry Controversies and Challenges
Despite Vaulta’s claim that “Web3 banking will reshape global finance,” there is continuous market skepticism. The EOS token has historically dropped by over 98%, and some in the community view this transformation as “old wine in new bottles.” On-chain data reveals that 75% of transactions on the Vaulta testnet are still invalid operations, and supernodes remain dominated by exchanges and institutions, challenging its decentralization promises. Furthermore, the SEC’s historical $24 million fine against EOS’s parent company Block.one may become a potential obstacle for its U.S. IPO.
The success or failure of Vaulta may define the survival rules for the next generation of blockchain projects—in the balance between technological idealism and business reality, only by building a compliant, sustainable, and user-driven financial infrastructure can true value be anchored in the Web3 era.
Neason Oliver
