[Recap] Tezos Q2 2023 State of the Ecosystem

On April 19th 2023, Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos, Mason Edwards, Chief Commercial Officer of Tezos Foundation, and Roman Schneider, President of Tezos Foundation discussed Tezos’ Q2 2023 outlook, its latest technical developments, and upcoming platform updates with Joshua Frank, Co-Founder and CEO of The Tie.

You can catch the full replay here.

During the webinar, Arthur highlighted Tezos’ decentralized governance model, its robust core chain, and continuous upgrades, which he believes attracts developers valuing stability and flexibility. Joshua inquired about the impact of these technological differences on user experience, and Mason and Roman attributed Tezos’ ability to innovate and adapt to user needs to these unique features. They cited gaming and NFTs as sectors that have benefited from Tezos’ technology.

Joshua also mentioned that Tezos is considered a “blue-chip” layer-one ecosystem due to its reputation and success since its inception. Arthur explained that the key difference between Tezos and other layer-one platforms lies in their commitment to building genuine, real-world technology without relying on hype. Mason emphasized the importance of Tezos’ reputation and its ability to remain at the forefront of technology, which attracts both large enterprises and startups.

Arthur discussed the Mumbai upgrade and the introduction of roll-ups, which are a way to outsource transaction execution while maintaining blockchain security. Roll-ups allow for much higher throughput without burdening validators too much, making them an ideal scaling solution.

The Mumbai upgrade has enabled Tezos to surpass 1 million transactions per second (TPS), opening up new possibilities for applications requiring high TPS, such as real-time gaming. Arthur also mentioned that the upgrade would reduce latency by cutting the current block time from 30 seconds to 15 seconds.

Developers can use any language that compiles to WebAssembly (Wasm) for building on roll-ups, including Rust, Go, and Python. Arthur emphasized that high TPS is indeed a differentiator, enabling the development of applications that were not previously possible on existing blockchains. He also noted that factors such as the developer community, ease of finding tools, and reliability should be considered when evaluating a blockchain like Tezos.

Roman explained that the governance process allows for changes to be introduced, voted upon, and processed in a manner that builds a culture around change. Arthur added that the governance system helps ensure that bad things don’t happen and that the protocol can remain decentralized yet agile in its evolution.

Arthur then discussed the differences between their smart contract language, Michelson, and Ethereum’s Solidity and EVM. He highlighted that Michelson is efficient and safe for smart contracts while also being great for proving properties about contracts. He also pointed out that the number of Solidity developers is still relatively small in the grand scheme of things.

The conversation shifted to baking, or validation, on Tezos, with Mason discussing Google Cloud’s recent decision to become a block-producing validator on the platform. Arthur emphasized that Tezos aims to keep hardware requirements for baking low, allowing for greater decentralization. The discussion then moved to adoption and partnerships, citing the California DMV’s decision to issue vehicle titles as NFTs on Tezos. Mason explained that this could be a vast improvement on a paper system that has been historically troubled by fraud.

The conversation pivoted to attracting businesses and creators to build on Tezos. Mason emphasized the importance of choosing a reliable and stable chain with a good reputation for upgrades, which attracts meaningful use cases. Roman highlighted the maturity of Tezos’ tooling, which has evolved over time and now offers quality support for developers.

Tezos has become a hub for generative art NFTs, attracting creators who appreciate the chain’s values and seriousness. Mason believed that the growth of the generative art community on Tezos was a result of community-driven efforts, while Arthur added that influential artists like Mario Klingemann (a.k.a. Quasimondo) have also contributed to the growth of the community.

Discussing the potential of music NFTs, Arthur noted that music is a popular art form that people enjoy collecting, but the digital age has made that difficult. Platforms like DENS.XYZ are exploring music NFTs, but it remains a largely untapped potential in the collectibles market. Roman sees the direct support aspect of NFTs as a fascinating element that enables people to support and interact with artists directly, regardless of their location.

Mason highlighted how fan engagement with sports collectibles through NFTs is gaining traction. He mentioned McLaren’s successful implementation of NFT collections per race, which has seen strong retention from fans as they build their collections and engage with the sport.

Arthur touched on the potential of gaming on the Tezos platform, explaining that while AAA games take years to develop, simple games can also be successful and have large user bases. He also discussed the importance of onboarding users into the ecosystem through games and wallets, making it easier for them to access and use other applications within the ecosystem.

Roman emphasized the value of tokenization of real-world assets, stressing the importance of legal frameworks, standardization, and the value-add that comes from tokenization. He also mentioned the potential for tokenizing car titles, which could lead to car financing and easier, more secure data transfers between states.

All three speakers expressed excitement for Tezos’ scalability and the onboarding of more developers who don’t necessarily speak smart contract languages. They look forward to seeing new use cases and improvements in the protocol in areas such as latency.

The information contained in this call is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.