Whats the difference?
Great question, well, there’s a lot that’s different about Koinos because it was built totally from scratch, but here are a few of the big things that distinguish Koinos from EOS.
TL;DR
1. Totally different codebase
2. Totally different resource model
3. Totally different account system (free accounts)
4. Totally different consensus and governance (more decentralized, No DPoS)
5. Far more upgradeable (modular upgradeability)
6. Far better multi-language support (typescript smart contracts coming soon)
7. THE TEAM!!!
8. No ICO, No Pre-mine
1. Totally different codebase. As the former core developers of the Steem blockchain, we know the underlying codebase powering EOSIO better than anyone else, which is precisely why we chose not to use any of it and build something entirely from scratch without any of its flaws. So Koinos doesn't have any of the technical debt and bad engineering baked into EOSIO like those that make running an EOS node inaccessible. Koinos nodes will not be “RAM hogs” so everyone with modern computing hardware will be able to run a full node. This also is why we were able to build Koinos as the first blockchain with a microservice architecture for maximum accessibility, upgradeability, and scalability.
- https://hackernoon.com/microservices-and-microservice-architectures-a-deep-dive-into-the-fundamentals-pl36347t
2. Totally different resource model that disconnects the cost of using the network from the price of the token while making it easier to build dApps AND deliver pleasurable user experiences. Instead of having different resources with different market dynamics, on Koinos there is only one resource that developers and their users need to worry about called “mana.” The reason why we chose that term is because we’re aiming to deliver a blockchain user experience similar to that in a video game. You don’t have to stake KOIN to get mana, in fact, staked KOIN will not have mana and therefore not be useable for fee-less transactions. The mental model we use is one in which each liquid KOIN token has a certain amount of mana within it that can be consumed when a user consumes network resources. As a KOIN holder performs transactions, Koinos consumes the mana “inside” their tokens based on how much network resources were consumed and regulated through a system-owned automated market maker. Once any mana in a token is consumed, that token is automatically locked until the mana regenerates at which point they can either liquidate that token or continue using the mana to perform transactions. This minimizes cognitive load and creates that "video game" experience where you just use the platform and consume mana (aka health, stamina, etc.) which regenerates over time. Mana can be delegated to other accounts so that developers can allow their users to perform transactions without having to acquire any KOIN at all. This is what allows developers to build truly free-to-use dApps that don’t require them to eat a whole bunch of costs.
- https://hackernoon.com/how-were-building-a-fee-less-blockchain-yi1634f3
3. Totally different account system. Koinos features standard, Bitcoin and Ethereum-style hexadecimal, addresses so accounts can be created for free. These accounts also decrease state consumption which provides additional network performance dynamics.
4. Totally different consensus and governance. These designs have not yet been released, but the consensus algorithm will not be DPoS. Anyone will be able to participate in block production (making it more decentralized) and because system upgrades can be made without hard forks, the role of block production in governance is greatly diminished.
5. Koinos was architected with an obsession around minimizing the need to hard fork which is what led us to create a fundamentally new way of building blockchains. The Koinos blockchain framework contains a kind of “proto-blockchain” microservice with the most basic feature implementations imaginable which can then be reprogrammed entirely through smart contracts running in the VM. This capability is what we call "modular upgradeability" and Koinos is the only blockchain framework that has it. This doesn’t just make building blockchains far easier, but since Koinos smart contracts can be upgraded without a hard fork, this means that individual system features can be upgraded and patched without disrupting the network and while creating an on-chain record of all system changes and governance decisions.
6. Koinos was architected and developed with a focus on multi-language support which means that developers will, over time, be able to write microservices and smart contracts in any programming language that compiles to WASM. We are aiming to have Typescript support around mainnet launch (end of year 2021).
- https://hackernoon.com/turbocharging-multi-language-support-on-koinos-fv1c33l6
- https://hackernoon.com/meet-the-rosetta-stone-of-blockchain-0b1033zj
7. THE TEAM: Most importantly, Koinos is built by an amazing team with unparalleled blockchain experience that is both well-known, and well-regarded in the space. We are accessible, down-to-earth people who want to fuse the ethos and philosophy of Bitcoin with a general purpose platform that is actually capable of onboarding ordinary people because what we want more than anything is to bring blockchain technology to the masses.
8. No ICO, No pre-mine. How you launch matters. If you want to build a platform that is truly neutral and open to everyone, you can't start things off by giving insiders special access and control. That's why KOIN tokens were distributed through Bitcoin-style PoW mining on the most used decentralized platform in the world, Ethereum, for maximum accessibility. There was no pre-mine and both a CLI and GUI miner were provided in advance to ensure that anyone who wanted to participate in the mining process was able to.
Thanks for the great question. There’s a lot more that distinguishes Koinos from EOS so we hope you’ll check it out and feel free to ask any more questions you might have!