What is Tezos (XTZ)?

Deep Dive

1. Core Innovation: On-Chain Governance

Tezos pioneered a self-amending system where stakeholders propose and vote on protocol upgrades. Changes are implemented automatically after a four-phase process:
- Proposal Period: Bakers (validators) submit upgrade ideas.
- Exploration Vote: Stakeholders vote; 80% approval moves to testing.
- Testing: Upgrades run on a 48-hour testnet.
- Final Vote: Successful proposals activate on the mainnet.
This avoids contentious hard forks, as seen in Bitcoin or Ethereum.

2. Liquid Proof-of-Stake (LPoS)

• Consensus: Validators (“bakers”) stake at least 8,000 XTZ to secure the network.
• Delegation: Users can delegate tokens to bakers without transferring ownership.
• Rewards: Bakers earn XTZ for validating transactions and voting, shared with delegators.

3. Ecosystem and Use Cases

Tezos prioritizes real-world utility:
- DeFi: Layer-2 solutions like Etherlink (EVM-compatible) host tokenized assets and yield products.
- Digital Art: Partnerships with museums (e.g., Museum of the Moving Image) and NFT platforms.
- Enterprise Adoption: Collaborations with Google Cloud and Ubisoft for developer tools.

Conclusion

Tezos is a blockchain that evolves through stakeholder consensus, prioritizing security and adaptability. Its governance model and focus on institutional-grade applications position it uniquely in decentralized tech. Can Tezos’ community-driven upgrades outpace competitors relying on centralized development?