Tezos: smarter smart contracts

Tezos is an open-source, decentralized blockchain to create “smarter smart contracts.” According to the Tezos website, “Tezos is an open-source platform that addresses key barriers facing blockchain adoption for assets and applications backed by a global community of validators, researchers, and builders.” In a nutshell, this could mean that the project aims to offer seamless and improved blockchain adaptation to real-world applications. This is done by working on scalable and flexible protocol with core values of participation, democracy, and seamlessness. 

The compact history of Tezos

According to the developers, “Tezos” is ancient Greek for “smart contract.” The creation of the project dates back to 2014 when it was initiated by a husband-and-wife team, Arthur and Kathleen Breitman. Later in 2017, a non-profit Tezos Foundation was founded in Switzerland to support the Tezos development, followed by the initial release in 2018. The project’s initial coin offering managed to raise a whopping $232 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum, which was one of the biggest initial coin offerings at the time. However, the project suffered some hiccups subsequent to the coin offering due to disputes over the project's leadership, leading to lawsuits settled in 2020. 

Tezos software trivia

The Tezos network is based on a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, and hence the coin cannot be mined. The PoS consensus mechanism is known to be more energy-efficient than proof-of-work mining used by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Constant development and evolution are crucial to Tezos and to avoid hard fork updates. For this, the protocol utilizes an on-chain governance model to ease the upgrade process. The protocol can be amended, preventing the need for sometimes disrupting hard fork upgrades.

Tezos is known for its different approaches to governance, as Tezos aims to immerse democratic decision-making into the network of users. This differs from most blockchains, as they commonly rely on development teams and mining communities when voting occurs. Incentivizing the participation, Tezos has made user participation democratic and luring. This way, users can actively participate in the blockchain by evaluating, proposing, or approving amendments to the protocol. As a result, Tezos can adapt to different challenges faster than many of its rivals with these values. 

Tez (XTZ), the token

Tezos’ blockchain’s native cryptocurrency is Tez, with its ticker being XTZ. The token has also earned a few nicknames, one of which is “tezzie.” As mentioned before, XTZ cannot be mined but can be acquired through purchasing it on one of the crypto exchanges. At times, the token has raised its value significantly, making it an interesting investing instrument. By staking XTZ, holders receive rewards in the form of XTZ.

The future of Tezos

Despite a few hiccups during its lifetime, Tezos has been subject to much interest in the crypto world since its very promising initial coin offering. As a whole, Tezos has been very competitive, surviving the cryptocurrency bear market and raising its value over the years, even quite significantly at times. Also, on the marketing front, Tezos seems to do well. For example, the logo is visible on world champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Formula 1 racing car.

The demand for smart contract-based solutions will likely persist in the future, and if Tezos manages to remain relevant and up-to-date, it will likely remain a strong player in the field. This far, the eager development indicates that it might be worth it to keep an eye on Tezos.