At last! Tezos mainnet due to launch today

Tezos Foundation, the Swiss-based cryptocurrency project, is due to officially launch its protocol today (17th September).

Tezos announced the long-awaited launch in a Tweet on Friday, stating: “Have a great weekend, everyone, because mainnet arrives Monday!”

It introduced its Beta network in June, after which its XTZ tokens, the supply of which has been valued at more than $1 billion, became tradeable. The mainnet launch means the platform is fully operational and run by its community.

Tezos uses a mechanism knows as “proof-of-stake”, where it allocates block publishing rights based on stake. This differs from a Bitcoin miner’s right to publish a block, which is determined by solving a cryptographic puzzle in a mechanism known as proof-of-work.

Each block is produced (“baked”) by a random stakeholder and notarised (“endorsed”) by 32 other random stakeholders. Token holders not interested in baking may delegate baking rights without transferring token ownership.

ICO

Tezos held an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017, which raised $232 million (£177 million), making it the largest ICO of all time at that point. A dispute between the project’s co-founders, Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, who own Tezos’ intellectual property rights, and Johann Gevers, who controlled the raised funds, led to a delay in the platform’s launch and several lawsuits against the company.

The mainnet launch has been welcomed by other Twitter users, with one saying it is “the beginning of a new technology era”. Another states: “Well, history changes! Tezos will change the world! Technology superior to Ethereum illuminates the future.”