Tezos at a glance.
Tezos launched its mainnet in 2018 as a Layer 1 built around on-chain governance. Its defining idea is self-amendment: the protocol can adopt upgrades through a formal on-chain voting process rather than requiring a contentious hard fork.
$25.8M
Value locked in DeFi protocols on Tezos. Updated Jun 2, 2026. Source: DefiLlama.
XTZ
Used for fees and securing the network. See the live XTZ price.
How Tezos works.
Tezos uses Liquid Proof of Stake, where validators known as bakers stake XTZ to produce and attest blocks. Token holders who do not run a node can delegate their XTZ to a baker without giving up custody, sharing in rewards. Protocol upgrades are proposed and voted on entirely on-chain, then applied automatically if they pass.
Tezos uses Liquid Proof of Stake, where validators known as bakers stake XTZ to produce and attest blocks. Token holders who do not run a node can delegate their XTZ to a baker without giving up custody, sharing in rewards. Protocol upgrades are proposed and voted on entirely on-chain, then applied automatically if they pass.
Self-amendment
Tezos can upgrade its own protocol through an on-chain process. Proposals are submitted, voted on by stakeholders, and activated automatically, which avoids the contentious hard forks seen on some other chains.
Baking and delegation
Validators called bakers stake XTZ to secure the network. Holders can delegate their stake to a baker while keeping custody of their tokens, sharing in the rewards.
On-chain governance
Decisions about how the protocol evolves are made by stakeholders voting on-chain, giving token holders a direct role in the network's direction.
Formal verification
Tezos smart contracts use the Michelson language, which is designed to support formal verification, an approach aimed at mathematically checking contract behavior.
What Tezos is used for.
Tezos is used for tokens, NFTs, and DeFi, and has seen particular activity in digital art and collectible NFT communities as well as institutional tokenization projects.
NFTs and digital art
Tezos hosts active NFT marketplaces and a sizable digital art community drawn by low minting costs.
DeFi
Decentralized exchanges, lending, and stablecoin projects operate on Tezos.
Tokenization
The chain has been used for tokenizing real-world assets in a number of institutional pilots.
Baking and delegation
XTZ holders bake or delegate to earn staking rewards while helping secure the network.
Hold, swap and spend XTZ.
Tezos is integrated in the Zypto App. Hold XTZ in self-custody, swap it to any supported asset, and use it across Zypto’s features.
Be the reason Tezos ships next.
Tezos isn’t in the Zypto App yet. Post the request to your followers, chains with the most demand get prioritised.
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