EOS Network participants should consider taking legal action against major investor Block.one (B1) for "broken promises" over its investment in the ecosystem, according to the founder of the EOS Network Foundation.

Yves La Rose said legal action is one of two possible ways to hold B1 to account for not investing the $1 billion it promised during the network's initial coin offering (ICO) in January 2018. The other option is a hard fork to exclude EOS tokens held by B1 to fully disassociate itself from its former backer.

"As a result of B1’s broken promises, the EOS Network is under-capitalized and the development of the EOS Network has been significantly stunted," La Rose wrote in a letter dated May 20.

EOS token holders purchased their tokens "relying on representations of ongoing investment in the EOS ecosystem," which never came leading one to conclusion that B1 never intended to make the promised investments, according to La Rose.

"If enough token holders are interested in making a legal claim, a class action lawsuit is a possibility. The EOS Network Foundation is prepared to assist in bringing EOS token holders together for the purpose of advancing a claim against B1," he wrote.

The EOS token is currently trading at $0.85 having slumped by 32% since April 14, it dropped by a further 2.5% over the past-24 hours, according to TradingView data.

EOS raised $4.1 billion in its ICO in 2018 but fell short of expectations, with community members blaming B1 for shifting its interests and capital to crypto exchange Bullish, which it unveiled in May 2021. The Foundation first muted legal action in February 2022 to seek $4.1 billion in damages.

B1 did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

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