Disclaimer: Any information provided in this article does not constitute financial advice. It is important to remember that there are inherent risks involved in participating in DeFi, and individuals should conduct thorough research and exercise caution when participating in DeFi projects.

The blockchain community has seen a surge in interest in RAM following a strategic move to stop RAM inflation on EOS, noting the limited supply of RAM and catalyzing a massive price increase - RAM's value has soared six-fold from all-time lows . During this wave of increased demand and rising prices, RAM became the cornerstone of the EOS network, critical to its operations and overall efficiency. This exploration will delve into the critical role of RAM, examining how its scarcity, dictated by node operators’ hardware constraints, enhances its intrinsic value. By leading a user-led RAM trading market, governed by the Bancor algorithm to maintain fair pricing and liquidity, we will illuminate RAM’s integral role in the EOS ecosystem and confirm its status as a critical network resource.

EOS RAM: The cornerstone of blockchain performance and efficiency

EOS RAM is critical to the operation of the blockchain, it is not just storage, it also saves the working state of the chain in physical memory to achieve performance goals. This state contains elements such as contract tables, account permissions, and structures that facilitate lightweight verification. EOS users are effectively "billed" through RAM for physical memory usage, such as operations such as adding new table rows. This process ensures efficient data access and transaction processing, which is critical for the seamless operation and growth of EOS applications. Conversely, less critical data, such as historical information or data not involved in protocol consensus, is stored on slower disk storage. RAM is not just a storage medium, but a fundamental component that supports the overall performance and functionality of the EOS ecosystem.

Bancor Algorithm: Enhanced EOS RAM Trading

EOS utilizes a free market system to allocate its limited resource RAM. Through the EOS system contract, users can use the blockchain’s native EOS tokens to buy and sell RAM. This process not only ensures liquidity in the RAM market but also helps discover the right price for RAM. As the availability of unallocated RAM decreases, the automated market maker (AMM) increases the price of the remaining RAM. This market operation is controlled by the Bancor Relay algorithm, which plays a key role in the dynamic pricing mechanism.

History of EOS RAM

In June 2018, the EOS blockchain was launched with 64GB RAM. A proposal was subsequently enacted to gradually increase RAM supply to support network growth and keep dApp and account creation costs reasonable. This has resulted in RAM being increased by 64GB per year over the years. However, as the supply of RAM began to exceed 400GB, concerns began to arise about oversupply, undervaluation, and hardware limitations. It is worth noting that higher RAM requirements will increase infrastructure costs for node operators, raise barriers to entry, and potentially hinder further decentralization of the network. These factors culminated in a proposal to stop RAM inflation, which reached consensus among an overwhelming majority of block producers on December 17, 2023.

EOS RAM: RWA powerhouse for Web3 economy

The blockchain ecosystem has witnessed a massive surge in interest in RAM following a proposal to stop RAM inflation on EOS, acknowledging its scarcity and driving RAM prices up six-fold from all-time lows. Increased activity from individual users, dApp developers, and new Inscription projects highlights the critical importance of RAM for blockchain operations, including account creation, which directly impacts RAM demand.

The EOS<>RAM market in particular has demonstrated extraordinary liquidity, dwarfing even the most liquid pair on Defibox (EOS). <>USDT, with 24 million EOS bilateral liquidity depth. This impressive liquidity, with a total value locked (TVL) of 12 million EOS in the pool, reflects a strong $16 million pool that not only generates a significant amount of fees for the network but epitomizes the liquidity owned by the protocol sex.

Every RAM transaction on EOS generates a 0.5% transaction fee powered by the Bancor Relay algorithm, resulting in a significant revenue stream. This mechanism prompted a massive inflow of more than 78,000 EOS fees into the EOS Resource Exchange (REX) in just one month, providing additional revenue opportunities for EOS stakeholders. The increase in transaction activity, coupled with significant growth in network revenue and growth in TVL, highlights EOS RAM’s transformation journey into a native web3 real-world asset (RWA), energizing the EOS ecosystem and economic framework.

In addition to the dynamics of RAM usage, the EOS EVM has been a significant player, generating over 308,025 EOS in fees in recent months. A portion of these fees was strategically used to purchase approximately 1.8GB of EOS RAM, enhancing the memory storage capabilities of the EVM and illustrating the intertwined relationship between RAM needs and dApp functionality.

Upland, a well-known dApp on EOS with a massive user base of 2.5 million as of May 2022, exemplifies the intensive RAM consumption within the EOS ecosystem, utilizing 6.7GB to keep it running. The heavy use of Upland and similar dApps further amplifies the need for RAM, reinforcing the critical role of RAM in the seamless functionality and expansion of the EOS network and dApps.

These developments encapsulate the multifaceted value of EOS RAM, from powering dApp ecosystems like Upland to supporting the EOS EVM to enabling account creation and transaction processing, cementing its position as an indispensable asset in the Web3 economy.

Diverse Uses of EOS RAM: Powering the EOS Ecosystem

EOS RAM is an integral part of the blockchain’s functionality, facilitating a range of operations from account creation to dApp execution. It is a user-managed resource that is essential for storing important data and ensuring that applications run smoothly on EOS Native.

EOS native RAM usage: driving digital innovation

EOS native inscription

Due to its high transaction capacity, EOS Native’s inscription potential is huge, exceeding EOS EVM by at least five times. Combined with minimal transaction fees, this makes EOS Native ideal for traditional data recording and unique inscription methods. Unlike EVM-based networks, EOS Native’s unique storage mechanism enables novel ways to store inscriptions, eliminating the need for off-chain indexers. The team at Greymass is exploring innovative ways to leverage these unique features of EOS Native to write data to RAM.

random access memory

RAMS began as a RAM-based inscription project on EOS and is a project that continues to evolve based on community feedback. Its development history is dynamic, with the community actively contributing ideas. As the price of RAM increased, the project gained more attention, leading to proposals for various features such as a native chain inscription exchange and a RAM trading market. Currently, the focus is on integrating RAMS with BTC L2 solutions on EOS. The minting of RAMS continues, as does its continued development and the active role of its holders in shaping its future. You can check out the original RAMS Scriber, or the alternative RAMS Minter built with Wharf

EOS EVM RAM usage: increasing demand

EOS EVM significantly affects RAM usage by fusing EOS's native resources with EVM's framework. Gas fees are paid in EOS tokens, cover computing costs including RAM, are EVM compliant, and are integrated into EOS Native’s token economy. This mix emphasizes the need to balance operating costs and transaction fee revenue.

As mentioned previously, the EOS EVM has generated a significant amount of fees in recent months, over 308,025 EOS, with a large portion (108,889 EOS) used to purchase approximately 1.8GB of EOS RAM. This activity directly increases RAM demand and emphasizes its scarcity, demonstrating the role of the EOS EVM in the EOS ecosystem’s evolving resource landscape.

NFT on EOS EVM: The new wave of digital assets

NFTs on EOS EVM are becoming significant RAM consumers, primarily through the ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards. While these formats support a wide range of digital assets from unique collectibles to utility tokens, they still require large amounts of RAM to operate efficiently. This consumption highlights the growing impact of NFTs on EOS network resources.

Projects like EZswap are at the forefront of the new NFT wave, driving increased RAM usage on the EOS EVM. As the ecosystem evolves, the emerging NFT scenario will further exacerbate RAM demands, highlighting the critical balance between digital asset innovation and the underlying blockchain infrastructure.

EOS EVM inscription

Inscription on the EOS EVM involves writing arbitrary data into the chain's history via the calldata field, thus reducing the cost of data transfer since it is stored in the history rather than the state. However, this also means that the data is not accessible within the smart contract, limiting its use in indexing and off-chain applications until it is written to the state. Check out the EOS EVM Inscription Advanced Guide.

Tokenized RAM: Revolutionizing EOS with bRAM

bRAM is a novel tokenized RAM certificate issued by Defibox that redefines resource allocation on the EOS blockchain. This innovative token offers unprecedented flexibility, allowing it to be transferred, traded, or used across numerous DeFi applications. bRAM holders can enjoy a range of enhanced features within the Defibox ecosystem, from participating in low-fee transactions on the Swap protocol, to using bRAM as collateral for the USN stablecoin or lending other tokens.

The tokenization of RAM and bRAM extends its utility beyond traditional boundaries, allowing it to be traded on EVM platforms like Noah and even centralized exchanges like Big.one. This broader market access not only democratizes the RAM market for a wider range of traders, but also expands the depth of liquidity across the ecosystem. The presence of bRAM on AMM platforms and centralized exchanges facilitates a dynamic arbitrage environment, coordinating prices between different pools and protocol-owned liquidity pools, thereby generating additional fees for REX stakers.

This multi-faceted approach to RAM usage through bRAM paves the way for more innovative and efficient use of blockchain resources, solidifying bRAM’s position as a versatile and valuable asset in the EOS ecosystem. For an in-depth exploration of bRAM and its applications, visit the Defibox website.

Further evolution of RAM on EOS

EOS is constantly evolving as a dynamic protocol, including aspects of RAM management. Current limitations of RAM, such as transactional storage management and resource cost balancing challenges, are being addressed. To address these issues, several proposals have been made to modify RAM functionality. These changes are designed to enhance the flexibility, efficiency, and overall usefulness of RAM within the EOS ecosystem. Below is a summary of these proposed changes, along with links to their respective GitHub issues for detailed discussion and insight. Each of these proposals offers a unique approach to optimizing RAM usage in EOS:

• Transferable RAM: Introducing free RAM transfers between accounts.

• RAM logging and notifications: Added inline operations to acknowledge bytes sent or received in RAM transactions.

• Destroy RAM: Allows users to destroy RAM from their account.

• Buy RAM for yourself: The buyramself action is recommended for enhanced security.

• Add operation return values ​​to RAM operations: intended to provide the exact amount of RAM affected by the transaction.

How to buy RAM on EOS

If you want to buy RAM on EOS, you have several options:

• Anchor Desktop: Direct in-app purchases

• Newdex: Execute trades on DEX

• bloks.io: Use their browser interface, see this tutorial

• EOS Authority: Use their browser interface

• Unicove: Use their browser interface

How to buy bRAM

bRAM is a tradable RAM resource certificate

• Defibox: Purchased through the Account Resources section

• NoahArk: Execute trades on DEX

How to check RAM prices

• Newdex

• EOS Authority

• Eoseyes

EOS RAM: The evolution of Web3’s intrinsic value

The dynamic evolution of EOS RAM, from its scarcity-driven value to its appeal as a native web3 RWA, marks a turning point in the evolution of EOS and on-chain value dynamics. An exploration of RAM’s market impact, its integration with a variety of applications, and ongoing community-driven enhancements provide a glimpse into the future of digital resources. For those keen to delve deeper into this fascinating aspect of EOS and its impact on the wider blockchain ecosystem, more detailed insights are just a click away.

About the EOS Network

The EOS network is the epitome of the blockchain 3.0 era, powered by EOS VM. EOS VM is a low-latency, high-performance, and scalable WebAssembly engine that enables nearly seamless deterministic transaction execution. The EOS network is designed specifically for Web3 and is committed to enabling the best Web3 user and developer experience. EOS is the flagship blockchain and financial center of the Antelope protocol, and uses the EOS Network Foundation (ENF) as a tool for multi-chain collaboration and development of public basic products to further improve the infrastructure and drive the rapid development of EOS.

EOS EVM

The EOS EVM is a simulation of the Ethereum EVM and resides within the EOS smart contract. The EOS EVM will provide functionality equivalent to other EVMs in the space, but with unparalleled speed, performance and compatibility advantages. EOS EVM connects the EOS ecosystem with the Ethereum ecosystem, allowing developers to deploy a large number of Solidity-based digital assets and innovative dApps on EOS. Developers can use the EOS EVM to leverage Ethereum’s battle-tested open source code, tools, libraries, and SDK while taking advantage of EOS’ superior performance.

About the EOS Network Foundation

The EOS Network Foundation (ENF) was born to create a prosperous, decentralized and future for the EOS ecosystem. By encouraging the active participation of major stakeholders in the EOS ecosystem, supporting community projects, providing ecosystem funding, and supporting the construction of an open technology ecosystem, ENF is setting off a new round of Web3 changes. As the center of the EOS network and a leading open source platform, ENF was founded in 2021 and has a stable set of frameworks, tools, and blockchain deployment libraries. Together we enable innovation in community building and work to create a stronger future for all.