Tezos Is Gaining Traction In DeFI, NFTs & Mor…

Following a busy summer that saw Tezos host its annual developer conference in Paris shortly after welcoming USDT into its fold, the blazing fast, energy friendly blockchain network is enjoying rapid traction in both the NFT and the DeFi spaces. 

The TEZ/DEV conference, which wrapped up on July 23, provided us with an in-depth look at the reasons why an increasing number of projects are looking to build on the Tezos blockchain. Tezos is well known for being one of the most environmentally-friendly blockchains around with an incredibly low carbon footprint, but few are aware of its blazing-fast transaction speed. 

Tezos can currently process an already impressive 40 transactions per second but it has ambitions to go far faster than that. At TEZ/DEV, it announced plans for a coming update due next year that will see it accelerate to an incredible 1 million transactions per second – making it by far and away the fastest decentralized network on the planet. To get an idea of how much faster that is than anyone else, Visa itself can only process around 65,000 transactions per second. 

This incredible speed target of Tezos is one of the reasons why some analysts believe Tezos could eventually become the gold standard for blockchain-based finance. A report by the Bank of America last year noted that Tezos is being explored by dozens of organizations that are looking at ways to make their business processes run faster and more efficiently. The report added that in terms of developer interest, Tezos is one of the most popular of all blockchains. 

In his keynote speech at TEZ/DEV, Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman discussed his vision of the kinds of organizations he sees building on Tezos, highlighting his belief that it will become the platform of choice for financial services firms. 

DeFi on Tezos is already growing fast, thanks in part to the recent launch of Tether USD on its blockchain. With USDT now available on Tezos, it vastly simplifies the on-ramp and off-ramp into Tezos’s DeFi ecosystem as it provides users with the safe-haven of a stable asset from which they can move into, and out of, positions. 

The DeFi community on Tezos has moved quickly to embrace USDT. Within hours of its launch, the Youves DEX voted to create USDT trading pools, and currently offers USDT holders with long-term farming rewards of up to 15% APR. Another DeFi protocol to accept USDT is Plenty, which offers incredible long-term annual yields of 40% and 34%, respectively, in its kUSD/USDt and uUSD/USDt farms. Meanwhile at QuipuSwap, users have created a tez/USDt pool with similarly enticing rewards. Moreover, the Atomex Wallet has introduced atomic swaps with USDt on Tezos. 

The potential of Tether USD on Tezos was not lost by major cryptocurrency exchanges either, with both Binance and Bitfinex announcing they’ll support trading almost immediately after its launch. The support of Binance is interesting because it opens the door to other stablecoins potentially looking at Tezos. Bitfinex has been especially accommodating, making it possible to deposit and withdraw USDT. What’s more, all types of USDTs are unified for trading purposes, meaning users have the flexibility to deposit ERC-20 USDT, trade with it, then withdraw it on Tezos. 

Tezos Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino said at the time that Tether USD was sure to aid Tezos’s future ambitions. “Tezos is coming fast onto the scene and we believe that this integration will be essential to its long-term growth,” he added. 

Elsewhere, Tezos continues to make rapid inroads in the NFT space. NFTs have been one of the biggest success stories for Tezos, due in part to its low carbon impact. Artists tends to be more environmentally conscientious than most and the appeal of Tezos’s “clean NFTs” has made a big impact. Numerous high-profile artists have launched collections on its blockchain, among them Doja Cat. More recently, there have been rumors that Spotify is looking at using  Tezos for its own music NFT projects. To give you an idea of where this might be headed, check out the OneOf music NFT marketplace on Tezos, where users can trade digital assets without even realizing that everything is based on blockchain technology. 

There are other reasons to believe in Tezos too, with recent partnerships and sponsorships with sports teams like Manchester United, the New York Mets, Red Bull Racing and McLaren providing tons of optimism for its future. These sponsorships will ensure Tezos benefits from greater visibility beyond its immediate audience and help it to continue to expand its horizons. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice