- Tezos cuts block time to 8 seconds, which increases transaction speed.
- The Quebec update strengthens staking procedures and ensures network security.
Tezos has activated its 17th protocol upgrade known as Quebec. It is one of the major milestones in a long way towards sustainability and performance on the blockchain. Nomadic Labs, Trilitech, and Functori initiated this protocol with a motive to turn Tezos into a network in which the speed increases in transactions, strengthens the staking mechanism, and makes it more decentralized and secure.
Several major improvements are introduced by the Quebec upgrade, which includes reducing block time on the Tezos network from 10 to just 8 seconds. This speeds up transactions, reducing the finality time to just 16 seconds, making it even more ideal for use cases such as gaming and payments. Significantly, the performance gains in itself have not affected the cost of hardware required for consensus participation – hence bakers (validators) can use low-cost technology to maintain the decentralized nature of Tezos.
Head of Engineering at Nomadic Labs, Yann Régis-Gianas said, “With the Quebec upgrade, Tezos is now faster, more economically strong, and more appealing for staking without sacrificing any decentralization.” He advised on decentralized governance for the formation of the upgrade as well as the long-term security of the Tezos network.
Quebec Upgrade Enhancement in the Network Security and Staking
In addressing the network inflation concerns, Quebec further adapts Tezos’ staking mechanisms from the Paris Protocol’s Adaptive Issuance. This mechanism is meant to ensure that tez, the network’s native currency, is issued in direct relation to the needs of the network’s security to avoid token inflation.
It increases the amount of external stake a baker can take up to nine times their own, from five. This makes staking more attractive and also reduces the risks of centralization in the network. The upgrade also ensures that returns are thrice as much, more attractive than delegation, and also staking rewards.
Tezos’ Quebec upgrade sets the stage for the Tezos X vision, further solidifying Tezos’ position as a sustainable, evolving blockchain platform. This milestone comes as the Tezos ecosystem gains momentum, with new initiatives like the uranium.io marketplace launching on the EVM-compatible Layer 2 blockchain powered by Tezos Smart Rollups. Further increasing interest in real-world asset tokenization underlines the growth of Tezos influence in the blockchain space.
The successful launch of the Quebec upgrade testifies to the network’s commitment to innovation, and the community is already discussing the next upgrade, ‘R’, which promises to build on the progress made by Quebec and brings Tezos closer to its high-performance vision.
