Coin columns · Mainnet Province
Tezos (XTZ): The Coin of a Proof-of-Stake Chain That Upgrades Itself
A layer 1 that evolves by on-chain vote, without forks
XTZ, called tez, is the base coin of the Tezos layer-1 blockchain and is used for fees, staking and governance votes. Tezos is built to amend itself by holder vote, so it has upgraded again and again without splitting the chain.
1. A chain that fixes itself by vote
Tezos began in a 2014 white paper published under the pseudonym L.M. Goodman, designed by Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, and raised funds in a July 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) and opened its mainnet in 2018. The Swiss Tezos Foundation has supported development; early disputes among its leaders and investor lawsuits ended in a 2020 settlement.
XTZ, commonly called ‘tez’, is Tezos’s base coin. On the Crypto Nation map, XTZ is the city-hall tower of Mainnet Province, the area for standalone layer-1 chains, because it is the chain’s own base coin.
2. Bakers and forkless upgrades
Tezos uses proof of stake, and its validators are called bakers. Holders can delegate to a baker without moving their coins, or stake directly, and share the rewards, a design called liquid proof of stake. Blocks finalize after two blocks, and the block interval has shrunk from 60 seconds at launch to 6 seconds with the Tallinn upgrade in January 2026.
Protocol changes pass through a proposal, two rounds of voting and a test period, all decided by baker votes, so they apply without a hard fork that splits the chain. Tallinn was the 20th such upgrade. Smart contracts are written in Michelson, a language designed to be easier to verify, and code from other languages is translated into it.
3. Uses and key dates
Tezos drew attention in NFTs (unique digital items) and digital art, with the 2021 Hic et Nunc boom and marketplaces such as Objkt. In 2024 Etherlink, an Ethereum-compatible layer 2, opened on mainnet, and it uses XTZ for fees.
Key dates: the ICO in July 2017, mainnet in 2018, the NFT boom in 2021, Etherlink in 2024 and the Tallinn upgrade on 24 January 2026. Tallinn lets all bakers take part in every block once at least half use the newer tz4 address type, aiming for more predictable rewards, and adds an address-indexing feature that can cut some contracts’ storage by up to 100 times. Developers have also outlined a ‘Tezos X’ roadmap to bring several execution environments into one chain.
4. Things to know
Tezos has passed many upgrades, but influence can gather among active bakers, the foundation and developers. The supply has no cap and grows through issuance, so holders who do not stake or delegate see their share shrink over time.
Usage and developer interest have cooled since the 2021 NFT boom, and it remains to be seen how many users EVM-compatible extensions like Etherlink can attract. The legal disputes around the 2017 ICO remain part of its history, and competition from larger chains is intense.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.