blockworks.co
Yves La Rose, the CEO of EOS Network Foundation, the hub behind EOS Network — a layer one blockchain designed for large-scale decentralized applications — has urged community members to consider taking legal action against Block.One (B1) after the company failed to provide promised investments.
In an initial coin offering (ICO), B1 committed $1 billion of its proceeds to developers who would expand EOSIO, its own open-source protocol based on EOS designed to reduce transaction speeds and costs drastically.
The understanding at the time was that these investments would be made within the EOS Network itself, but it was apparent that this was not the case following a series of allegedly unfulfilled promises following the ICO, La Rose noted in an open letter to B1.
“As time has passed, it has become apparent that B1 does not have and has never had any intention of investing the $1 billion promised in EOS Network,” La Rose wrote in the open letter. “EOS token holders relied on B1 promises when they purchased the initial ERC-20 tokens and later when they purchased EOS Tokens for use on the EOS Network.”
La Rose has prompted community members to take matters into their own hands, proposing to either take legal action against the private company or consider a hard fork to exclude B1-owned tokens, fully separating from the company.
Due to the lack of clarity provided by B1, La Rose notes that “we can only conclude that B1 never intended to make the investments it promised.”
“If enough token holders are interested in making a legal claim, a class action lawsuit is a possibility. The EOS Network Foundation is prepared to assist in bringing EOS token holders together for the purpose of advancing a claim against B1,” he said.
Hard forking the network to separate EOS Network from B1 completely is also on the table.
“This would have the effect of decreasing the outstanding volume of EOS tokens. More importantly, it would have the effect of fully separating the EOS Network from its association with B1, driving further confidence in the EOS Network,” he said.
Although a final decision has yet to be made, La Rose notes that a decision should be made as soon as possible.
EOS Network Foundation and Block.One have not responded to Blockworks’ request for comment in time for publication.