Tezos Deploys Major ‘Tenderbake’ Upgrade

Proof-of-stake blockchain Tezos has activated a major upgrade, changing its consensus algorithm in the protocol’s ninth upgrade.

• According to a press release, the upgrade is code-named Ithaca 2 and replaces the current consensus algorithm, known as Emmy, with Tenderbake, which enables lower block times, producing faster transactions and smoother-running applications.
• In addition to Tenderbake, Ithaca 2 prepares the Tezos blockchain for scalability efforts, such as rollups for WebAssembly and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, with pre-checking, a validation scheme that increases throughput.
• The Ithaca 2 upgrade will also reduce the requirement to become a network validator by 25% from 8,000 tez (the Tezos digital token) to 6,000 tez, adding to the network’s decentralization, according to the press release.
• Smart contract calls on Tezos have increased significantly from 100,000 per month in January 2021 to over 6.2 million in January 2022.
• The price of Tezos's XTZ currency has risen 4.6% to $3.92 over the last 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data, with other cryptocurrencies gaining modestly over the same time period.

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