On the surface, EOS and Steemit have little in common. One is a decentralized application platform while the other is a profit-sharing media platform.

The truth is, however, that both services are trying to redefine how business is done in their respective spheres. EOS is arguing that with superior code and by rewarding stakeholders, you can have a faster, cheaper, safer ecosystem for running industrial-grade dapps. Steemit is seeking to break down the "publisher takes all" format of advertisement revenue by creating a means that readers and publishers alike can monetarily credit content creators and moderators.

This article will compare the two platforms from an investor's point-of-view.

Tales of the Tape

	EOS.IO (EOS)	Steemit (STEEM)
Utility	Ultra-fast, transaction fee-free decentralized application platform	Steemit network store of value, social network reward token.
Number of Holders	Unsure. Due to EOS's unique distribution scheme, where 90 percent of the platform's tokens will be distributed over a 350-day period, the number of purchasers is in flux. Additionally, as there is no public block explorer, the number of wallets cannot be confirmed.	500,000+
Community	Large (based on Twitter followers, Facebook presence)	Large
Market Capitalization (2017)	$6,994,699,385	$940,021,504
Daily Trading Volume (High, 2017)	$925,685,000	$3.987,600
One-Year Performance (2017)	1,237%	4,835%
Public Awareness	Low	Low

Good News Spreads

EOS is far from the only competitor in its sphere. A decentralized application platform, EOS is butting heads with the would-be king, Ethereum, and a large array of sibling patterns. EOS, however, seeks to distinguish itself by claiming to eliminate all transaction fees on its network and having transaction speeds measured in milliseconds.

EOS seeks to achieve this by developing EOS.IO, the proposed world's first decentralized operating system designed specifically for the running of decentralized applications. EOS.IO would be multi-threaded, dependent on delegated proof-of-stake for its consensus protocol, and reflective of its token allocation for determining bandwidth access and storage on the blockchain. What this means is that a node owning five percent of the available EOS will control five percent of the EOS.IO's blockchain bandwidth and storage.

Enthusiasm for this technology has EOS surging when the rest of the market is sagging. EOS is rumored to be pursuing joint ventures and is up for listing on several exchanges, per online discussions. One such venture partner, FinLab AG, has announced a $100 million venture fund with Block.one, EOS.IO's developer, for the development of EOS software.

While there is building enthusiasm surrounding the use of the Steemit platform to promote censor-free media, this enthusiasm has yet to translate into increased speculation. While Steemit has a superior year-to-year performance, EOS's daily transactions, at a seventh of the coin's market capitalization, demonstrate extreme investor interest. Despite the coin's opaqueness regarding certain details, the excitement surrounding the coin currently is offering a reprieve from the bitcoin bear market most of the market is currently experiencing.

This could change soon, however. The news about Facebook allowing outside organizations to mine its user data without the consent of the users may drive content creators and moderators away from Facebook and toward profit-sharing content platforms like Steemit.

"I feel like I'm in the Stone Age when I'm on Facebook or Twitter," David Kadavy, an American writer posting on Steemit, said to the Toronto Star. "They have no value without what you're contributing to them. If Facebook doesn't respond to this, things can change very quickly. They should be very concerned."

The Takeaway

Though altcoin investment is inherently risky, both EOS and Steem have some momentum in the market and may be attractive to some investors.

It is important that you realize the risks involved in engaging in any altcoin activity before investing. As always, due diligence is key.

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