Tezos (XTZ) is a cryptocurrency and a decentralized computing platform that aims to overcome fundamental hurdles to blockchain adoption for assets and applications. The Tezos blockchain network, which is supported by a worldwide community of validators, researchers, and builders, seeks to deploy complicated smart contracts for asset settlement and decentralized apps (DApps). Tezos aims to make it simple for developers to create advanced tools and products while new users may experience NFTs, DeFi, gaming, and other features across hundreds of Tezos-powered DApps. The network aims to enable high-value use cases both at protocol and application layers facilitating formal verification, a practice popularly used in mission-critical enterprises, spanning from nuclear and aviation to semiconductors and more.
According to the whitepaper, Tezos is described as a self-amending crypto ledger. Tezos claims this self-amendment and upgradability as one of its unique features. Through an in-protocol amendment process, Tezos upgrades itself without the requirement of a hard fork. A fork occurs when a community modifies a blockchain’s core set of rules or protocols, whereas a hard fork drastically changes the code without backward compatibility. As a result of performing upgrades in a self-amending manner, Tezos seeks to speed innovation, minimize the possibility of contentious splits, and promote long-term coordination of stakeholders within the Tezos community. Simply, the network evolves by modifying its own code.
According to the website, the Tezos platform is made to adjust, adapt, and add features through on-chain upgrades. The platform also aims to provide certain features for its users:
Tezos, powered by a decentralized network of nodes or participants, provides the computing resources required to ensure the network’s availability and integrity. Accordingly, Tezos’s proof-of-stake-based technique, known as baking, is used to achieve consensus among blockchain participants. This approach seeks to allow every stakeholder to participate in consensus without giving up ownership of their tokens through voluntary delegation. Also, proof of stake aims to enhance scalability and promote incentive alignment.
Tezos, as an energy-efficient blockchain, intends to distinguish itself as a component of humanity’s digital future in the following ways:
The native currency of Tezos is tez or XTZ. According to the official document, Tezos seeks to revolutionize retaining and exchanging value in a digitally interconnected economy. The XTZ coin seeks to have multiple use cases from enterprise to government and DeFi to NFTs. The coin also aims to allow asset tokenization, which is the process of tokenizing physical and real-world assets such as real estate or luxury items like collectibles, art, and more onto a blockchain.
The XTZ token also aims to reward developers; any developer may propose a protocol update with an invoice attached. The community of “bakers,” who are validators in Tezos, vote on the protocol upgrade using XTZ’s formal built-in governance system. In simple terms, Tezos’s on-chain governance mechanism seeks to allow token holders to engage in the amendment process by selecting a baker to accept or reject the update.