The EOS RAM token has emerged as one of the best-performing digital assets in crypto, driven by a community decision to put a halt to the inflation of its supply.
The consequent supply shock has acted as a tremendous tailwind for RAM, catapulting it into official “moon” territory as one of the fastest-growing tokens in the entire crypto industry. Since the middle of February, when RAM’s inflationary mechanism was removed, its value has shot up by an astonishing 1.111.4%, from 0.00010884 EOS to 0.00131849 EOS at the time of writing.
RAM is now sitting pretty with a market capitalization of $317,961,184, and there are many reasons to think it won’t stop there.
What is EOS RAM?
RAM sits at the heart of the EOS ecosystem, facilitating how the blockchain’s resources are allocated to dApps on its network. It’s essentially a kind of tokenized DRAM, or dynamic random-access memory, which is used for computing tasks like storing data and machine code. DRAM is a temporary form of storage that’s used to process whatever current tasks the computer is doing - switch the computer off, and whatever data was stored in the DRAM is erased.
In the EOS ecosystem, developers are required to obtain DRAM by purchasing RAM tokens, so their dApps can perform tasks on the EOS blockchain. Wallet account balances and smart contract data are the most common kinds of information stored as RAM on EOS, and this means it’s an essential resource. With its inflationary supply cut off, it’s also proving to be increasingly valuable, as there is now only a limited amount of it.
RAM’s rapid rise stems from a December 2023 vote that saw the EOS community adopt the BP MSIG proposal to stop RAM inflation. That was finally implemented in February, and the token has been boosted by multiple developments in the EOS ecosystem since then.
The EOS RAM system received some significant upgrades via the system contract v3.3.0 update in March, which introduced concepts such as “Transferable RAM”, enabling network participants to swap RAM without incurring any fees, plus a new RAM Logging & Notifications feature that made it possible to determine the exact amount of bytes a single RAM token provides when purchased, as opposed to just its cost in EOS. System contract v3.3.0 also introduced a burn mechanism for RAM, adding to its price pressure and paving the way for more secure transactions via Buy RAM for Self.
EOS Community Drives Demand
At the end of May, EOS announced it will allocate 350 million EOS as a “market enhancement”, with the bulk of those funds being used to purchase RAM on the open market to ensure it has sufficient supply available to sell to developers.
There’s also increased demand for RAM, both from dApp developers and the EOS Network itself. A January blog post revealed the EOS EVM’s insatiable thirst for RAM, noting how it purchased around 1.8GB of EOS RAM during the most recent block to boost its memory storage capabilities to support ecosystem growth.
Developers are equally thirsty. The incredibly popular Upland metaverse is one of the most recognizable apps on EOS. It currently utilizes 6.7GB of RAM per block to sustain its vast user base of more than 2.5 million players. Another phenomenon is the rise of “Inscriptions” on EOS, such as the RAMS project that’s focused on bringing a BTC Layer-2 solution to the EOS network, to improve interoperability between the two blockchains. NFTs on EOS EVM, based on the ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards are also consuming massive amounts of RAM, driven by the success of projects such as EZSwap.
The EOS Network ecosystem continues to evolve and expand and the supply cap has made RAM an extremely valuable resource, as it’s essential requirement for dApps to store data on the blockchain and execute transactions.
So long as EOS itself is able to maintain its growth, demand for RAM looks sure to increase. EOS RAM has made incredible gains already this year, and there may well be many more to come.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
