Tezos | XTZ

Category: Blockchains

Overview

◾Tezos is a decentralized, open-source blockchain designed for digital assets and decentralized applications, with an emphasis on formal methods, proof-of-stake consensus and on-chain governance. XTZ is the network’s native token and is used within the Tezos ecosystem for transaction fees, staking and participation in network governance. Tezos also supports smart contracts and applications across areas including decentralized finance, digital assets, tokenization and digital art. Its self-amending governance model allows protocol changes to be proposed, voted on and activated without requiring traditional hard forks. ◾Tezos is a proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain built around self-amendment and on-chain governance. Network participants known as bakers help secure the chain and participate in protocol governance, while XTZ functions as the native asset used throughout the network. ◾The protocol supports smart contracts and decentralized applications, with Michelson serving as its native smart-contract language and Etherlink providing an EVM-compatible environment within the broader Tezos ecosystem. Tezos has also developed the Data Availability Layer (DAL) to support higher-throughput applications and rollups. ◾A major current development is the network’s post-quantum research. Quantumnet, launched in September 2026, is an experimental testnet bringing proposed quantum-resistant changes across accounts, consensus and data availability into one environment. These technologies remain experimental and are not equivalent to a completed post-quantum mainnet upgrade. ◾Tezos’ governance architecture remains an established feature, while further post-quantum improvements and related protocol changes are still subject to continued testing and potential future governance proposals.

Project features

  • Proof-of-stake blockchain
  • On-chain protocol governance
  • Smart-contract support
  • Michelson smart-contract language
  • Etherlink EVM environment
  • Data Availability Layer
  • XTZ staking and baking
  • Experimental Quantumnet testnet
  • tz5 post-quantum accounts on testnet
  • Quantum-resistant consensus research
  • ZODA DAL research on Quantumnet
  • XMSS consensus research on Quantumnet

Project website