EOS (EOS) network has outstripped its key competitor Ethereum (ETH) in terms of transaction volume. However, the surge was driven by what appears to have been a spam attack.
EOS surpassed Ethereum and Steem (STEEM) on Sunday, climbing to the number two spot on Blocktivity’s transaction volume chart. As of Monday, the relatively-new network was already above the previous leader BitShares (BTS).
The huge and fast-growing volume, almost double that of BTS, is apparently fueled by a crush of spam from a smart contract called Blocktwitter, according to token sale data provided by EOSSCANNER. Blocktwitter, which is not related to Twitter, is creating hundreds of transactions every second that include a message saying “WE LOVE BM.”
EOS has not addressed the issue yet, nor has it acknowledged the issue in an official statement. Apparently, however, the network is handling the volume without any impact on operations. EOS is currently employing just 0.68% of its total capacity, according to Blocktivity’s Capacity Utilization Index. Meanwhile, ETH was experiencing congestion with its transaction volume, utilizing 100% of the maximum capacity for its blockchain and having almost 24,000 unconfirmed transactions.
Blockchain peer NEO (NEO) was also spammed with free transactions on Friday, resulting in full blocks and a slow, congested network, as well as the temporary halt of the blockchain-based Switcheo exchange, NEON wallet and Effect Force platform. The company assured users that their funds remained safe. And while in the case with EOS the transactions are clearly intentional and evident of a spam attack, NEO noted that “it is unknown at this time whether this was caused by a bug in a contract’s code, or was performed with malicious intent”.
EOS has been the subject of controversy recently over the perception that it runs a more centralized model of blockchain governance. However, the project has recently gained some credit for its transaction speed. Earlier this month, the EOS network was recorded to have handled 3,097 transactions per second at one point. To compare, Bitcoin (BTC) handles around seven transactions per second, almost permanently, and ETH usually has 13-20 transactions per second.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
