Tezos
What is Tezos?
If you don`t know what Tezos is, it can be summarized as a new, smart contract decentralized platform that has some similarities with the one Ethereum relies on. What is more, it aims to establish one united digital society. The team behind this coin is aiming for administrating on-chain protocol updates. Tezos’ system targets smooth blockchain evolution without the need of hard forks appearance. By the way, hard fork means splitting the blockchain into two separate ones. Ever since the introduction of BTC and ETH to the digital world, all the upgrades were possible though that process. Tezos is here to make a difference. Its maximum supply of 763,306,930 XTZ coins is already reached and this cryptocurrency can be traded or staked.
Advantages
- Blockchain technology – no hard forks; people focus on developing a single product
- On-chain upgrades – prevent attacks; stakeholders coordinate consensus shifts
Disadvantages
- Lawsuits – related to slow token distribution, turned into internal disputes, noted by the SEC. Reuters led an investigation on Tezos.
History and Evolution
Tezos’ creation started with a record. This project was released in 2017, thanks to an outstanding ICO campaign. The top results worth about $230 million (in BTC and ETH). All that euphoria was followed by lawsuits and internal disputes. Nevertheless, Tezos’ beta saw a light of day. The person responsible for that crypto creation is Arthur Breitman. He studied computer science and physics in France. After that, he finished his mathematical approach in the financial sphere in the USA.
This didn’t shake the course of Tezos at all. After the ICO ended in 2017, the team went through a rough year of delays, legal affairs and inside arguments. As you can guess, these hurdles delayed Tezos becoming tradeable token. When the XTZ coin inventors look back this road, they all agree that the time from 2017 to 2018 was wasted in unfruitful disputes. Things settled down for Tezos after Johann Gevers, the president of the Foundation quit. All this resulted in an active beta version of the blockchain. This experimental coin has no clear future, only endless opportunities.
Tezos’s Future
July 2018 felt like a breath of fresh air for the Tezos founders. The forecast is that the team can settle down after all the bad press, news and events. This calls for answers to all the technical promises given in that period. Such milestones in the code are the smarter contracts and formula verifications.
Tezos Blockchain
The Tezos cryptocurrency is not mineable, so the coin holders can delegate PoS (proof of stake) indirectly. Tezos’ Proof of Stake implementation combines different concepts like Chain of Activity, Slasher and Proof of Burn to optimize the whole process of “baking”. In other words, instead of solving complicated puzzles, blocks are created by randomly picked tokens (Tezzies). Don’t get this wrong, you are not obliged to participate, just delegate your tokens to somebody else taking part in the baking. The shareholders are informed prior to the event and are required to deposit requisite Tezzies a.k.a. bonds. The number of blocks planned to be built determines the number of tokens required.
Tezos Nodes
Tezos’ nodes communicate effectively with its blockchain and between each other. They function in two main fronts: updating the context and running a gossip network. Such network enables all Tezos nodes to conduct one other and exchange blocks. The connection among all Tezos nodes is done on a peer to peer network layer. It deciphers the details of the operations it bumps into, transmits blocks and transactions plus maintains the ledger.
Tezos Additional Features
- Formal verifications
This is an additional noteworthy feature of Tezos. It helps proving the security status of all programs in the network through a bunch of formal mathematical verifications. The wanted result is reducing the bug amounts in the contract code. The relationship between the programming language OCaml and the formal contracts in Tezos led to several malicious acts like the Parity wallet hacks and the DAO job.
How to Get Tezos
The listed exchanges below are a way to get Tezos. Once acquired, focus on delegating it to the baking process. At the end, you will earn a percentage from the combination XTZ quantity, their price and the active bakers.
Where to Buy Tezos
In this case, buy refers mostly to a Tezos for crypto connection. The majority of exchanges support that union. There are some exchanges giving the opportunity for people to buy Tezos with fiat money as well. Check the table below.
In the trading process, a lot of people gain profit from the differences in the costs of each coin. Usually, exchanges inform you of that and also offer you their own wallets, to ease the process. When laying your hands on such tool, check in the supported coins/tokens menu for Tezos. It is usually shown with the abbreviation and in pair with the tradable partner e.g. XTZ/BTC.
| Exchange | Cryptocurrencies | Fiat Money | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bitfinex
|
Bitcoin | USD | Trade now |
|
Kraken
|
Bitcoin Ethereum | USD, EUR, CAD | Trade now |
|
Hitbtc
|
Bitcoin Ethereum | – | Trade now |
Wallets for Tezos
Holding and managing Tezos coins requires a compatible wallet. The XTZ cryptocurrency doesn’t have an official one, but you can easily use the worthy TezBox. This initial GUI based wallet occurred right after Tezos’ ICO. @stephenandrews launched the wallet in June 2018 at Betanet as the only available one of that kind. It was a pioneer in other fields as well – ledger support and Trezor integration.
Alternative Wallets
Alternatives for Tezos compatible wallets make your life much easier. In case you trade small amounts, then mobile options are your thing. For extra security choose hardware ones. Reachable from every spot on the planet are the web suggestions. Here are top 3 for each type:
Desktop Wallets
Web Wallets
Staking Tezos
Presently, masternodes are not possible, but staking a.k.a baking in Tezos, goes remarkably well. Participants sign and publish every new block in the Tezos crypto chain. In order to become part of that process, you need at least $22,000 or 10k of XTZ. Now you are endorsed for a baker.
Tezos Network Security
The moment the ICO program raised enough money for the Tezos project to be launched, several class-action suits took place comparing the process to an online fundraiser. They were accused of violating the SEC regulations of selling unregistered securities on the territory of the US. This was a setback for the company.
News and Useful Weblinks
The Tezos cryptocurrency, just like any other digital phenomenon is active on the web. The information is released from the community and members of the team. All interesting posts, roadmap updates and announcements can be found in these social channels: