XTZ USD

“Formalizing blockchain governance”

Tezos (XTZ) is a platform similar to Ethereum developed by former Morgan Stanley analyst Arthur Breitman. Tezos supports smart contracts and decentralized applications just like Ethereum does, however it improves on Ethereum by introducing on-chain governance and self-amendments.

Tezos will release its MainNet with a delegated Proof of Stake model which means that consensus is done peer-to-peer rather than by mining, with penalties for stakeholders who damage the network. Delegated PoS also means that stakeholders can delegate to someone else to perform their functions in the case they do not want to participate. Participants in staking are called “bakers” on the Tezos platform. To create further transparency, formal verification is required to use Tezos. Whereas Ethereum can be seen as having more consumer application, Tezos is far more rigorous and perhaps better suited for businesses.

Tezos is still a new project: the Tezos beta launched on June 30th a year after its ICO. Tezos released their mainnet in September of 2018. However, it was one among the most well-funded ICOs in history, raising a $232 million in both BTC and ETH.

However, Tezos’s biggest enemy is perhaps itself. The Tezos Foundation has been met with many high-profile lawsuits and Breitman himself was forced to pay $20,000 as fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. There was also a public dispute between Breitman and the Tezos Foundation. The entire legal troubles brought 4 class action lawsuits against major parties and individuals within the Tezos project. Because Tezos does not have a precise use-case, instead relying on community involvement to build applications and products on top of its network, the legal woes have the potential to further dissuade development on the project.

ICO Price

The Tezos token sale ended July 14 2017, having raised upwards of $230 million. The price per XTZ was $0.44 at the time of the ICO.

Features of Tezos

The function of the XTZ token is similar to that of ETH: it is used as gas for the network but also grants its owner stakeholder rights. If over 10,000 XTZ are held, then the user can stake their tokens to confirm transactions and gain interest over time.

You can read more about the details of the Tezos project in their whitepaper.

• Blockchain built on a delegated proof-of-stake consensus model
• Self-amending which means disagreements can be fixed on-chain without the need for a fork
• Low barrier to entry to become a stakeholder
• Governance model allows XTZ token holders to vote
• Turing-complete smart contracts and supports decentralized applications
• Currently in beta mode, with MainNet expected sometime in 2019/2020 depending on bug-fixes
• Requires formal verification to be used.

About the Team

Tezos is supported by its own Tezos Foundation. The CEO of Tezos is Kathleen Breitman and the CTO is Arthur Breitman. The Tezos development team boasts many senior developers, researchers, and business analysts.

However, Tezos is also known for its high-profile investors, one of them being Tim Draper who was particularly vocal about his support for the project. However, most investors have been on the sidelines recently due to mounting legal concerns.

Price History

The price history of Tezos has been unpredictable. Reaching a momentary all-time-high of $11 around December of 2017, the price stabilized around the $4 to 5 mark for some time. However, by the end of 2018, the price has collapsed to $0.44 at time of writing.

Website & Social Media

Tezos boasts a strong social media presence. Their subreddit and Telegram are both active with updates and ample discussion. For more details update, be sure to check out the Tezos official website or follow them on Twitter.

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