“IOTA Rebased is still delayed – but Starfish Theory published.”

IOTA Rebased continues to keep us waiting, but Starfish theory published

The rebranding of IOTA under the working title IOTA Rebased is still awaited. Instead, the IOTA Foundation now provides a so-called Starfish theory. But critics rub salt into the wounds as project progress drags on.

The IOTA Foundation never tires of conveying optimism for its projects and presenting itself as a buzzing high-tech company on social media. But at the developer level, delays pile up and become a crucial obstacle to making concrete plans for the future. Now, IOTA presented the “Starfish theory” at a developer conference in Germany. With the theory, the Madrid-based startup wants to demonstrate its leading role in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi). At the same time, the term “IOTA Rebased” was repeated, originally linked with the relaunch of IOTA 2.0 (known as “Coordicide”). This long-promised version of IOTA envisions, among other things, doing away with the central coordinating node, the Coordinator.

But in detail, the update was already highlighted in mid-August that the planned launch of “IOTA Rebased” would take “a few more months” than expected. As a result, IOTA 2.0 is not anticipated for 2023, and optimistic calculations use spring 2024 as an approximate date for its release. Consequently, the current IOTA protocols under version names like Stardust and Shimmer continue to shape practice, without reaching the goals some hope for in “IOTA Rebased.”

On this occasion, so-called Stardust brings IOTA under a legal framework according to the Swiss DLT Act, which is crucial for future DeFi use cases. With Shimmer, IOTA has a separate layer where additional features and tests are run parallel to the main network without risk and are now indispensable for developers. Yet, without a subsequent launch of IOTA 2.0 and “IOTA Rebased,” the ecosystem appears, figuratively speaking, only as a mock-up or blueprint.

The so-called Starfish theory, presented as a marketing highlight of IOTA, is symbolic and stands for a network architecture where no single participant can dominate. The illustration of a starfish, which can regenerate by itself if a tentacle or part of its body is injured or severed, is quite appropriate. However, the background of decentralized organization and decentralized autonomy driving away centralized servers as a security threat should not be forgotten. This additional level of IOTA is basically already being achieved with dApps and smart contracts on Shimmer – although many analysts and investors know full decentralization, as with Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), etc., remains a medium-term vision for IOTA.

Meanwhile, some voices in the community and industry keep harping on IOTA Rebased, which has not materialized yet, thus remaining hard to market for its massive gap between intention and realization. These voices say that the project delays undermine confidence and trust in the foundation’s Promises.

Critics also rail on the funding, wondering why millions of dollars, euros, or other currencies are pumped into an altcoin that, after years, still cannot provide clear incentives or achievable visions. From a financial perspective, IOTA continues to rely on expensive advisors and consultants who shape strategies but cannot deliver corresponding outcomes. An update dated June 2023 states that essential development work should have been completed by the summer of 2023; now, it looks like it will take until 2024. IOTA-community remains loyal, yet disillusioned developers migrate or jump off – “agile development” has barely shown an impact on IOTA over the years.

Additionally, there are few current strategic partnerships emphasized. The largest IT partnerships with Dell Technologies, Jaguar Land Rover, and Zebra Technologies do remain part of the conversation, but concrete results, such as the much-vaunted adoption leap, are lacking.

The current situation is frustrating for many, yet some industry observers reassert that the scenario for “IOTA Rebased” remains enticing if and when successfully implemented. Such a conclusion suggests that patience is still warranted, but skepticism about another, possibly too ambitious, rollout in IOTA history cannot be fully ignored.