What Is Tezos?

Tezos is a blockchain network that, like Ethereum, is based on smart contracts, but was built with the specific aim to enable the platform’s evolution by opening the system to proposals from the community and thereby prevent hard forks. Instead of relying on staking, Tezos is secured by a “liquid” proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism that it created called ‘baking’, in which users can stake 8,000 XTZ to vote on proposed changes in a lengthy 23-day, fours-step process. Co-founder Arthur Breitman wrote the white paper for the protocol in 2014, but the launch of the mainnet did not take place until 2018. Kathleen Breitman is co-founder of the Tezos Foundation and CEO. Tezos is one of the few cryptocurrencies that have been integrated into large-scale financial institutions, and it was selected by Societe Generale for its block chain trials in digital fintech. The maximum supply of XTZ (known as ‘tez’ for short) is not available, and the average block time is 30 minutes. See below for a full selection of markets where you can trade XTZ for other cryptocurrencies, US dollars, and other fiat currencies.