Tezos

A closer look at how Tezos supports both careful builders and fast movers.

The elevator’s been waiting in the corner. Now the button’s lit.

There’s an elevator in the library that most people ignore. It’s quiet, tucked in the corner, past the card catalog and the community bulletin board. For years, it was just there. Most assumed it didn’t work. It could be for staff only. Perhaps it went nowhere.

But then someone pressed the button. The doors opened. What people once ignored or misunderstood turned out to be real. Upstairs wasn’t for storage. It had been a maker space all along.

Laptops. Printers. Soldering stations. People are moving fast, testing ideas, and building without waiting for approval. It’s a different kind of room. It’s louder and looser but still part of the same structure. It draws power from the same circuits. It stands on the same foundation.

That’s Etherlink. Tezos Layer 1 hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still the quiet reading wing. It’s careful, steady, and grounded in structure and trust. Etherlink sits upstairs now. It’s where people can experiment, use familiar tools, and build without starting from zero.

The elevator was always there. People just hadn’t noticed where it could go.

Two Floors, One Foundation

Etherlink isn’t a separate building. It’s the floor above. Structurally different but still part of the same framework. Power, plumbing, and permits all run through the same base: Tezos Layer 1. That distinction matters.

Builders didn’t create Etherlink as a separate tower. They added it to the same foundation Tezos already runs on.

Some Layer 2s float beside their base layers, loosely connected and syncing only when necessary. Etherlink is different. It’s an optimistic enshrined smart rollup that lives inside the Tezos protocol. That means every transaction, every confirmation, and every upgrade benefits from the same governance, finality, and security that define Tezos.

The experience might feel different. You get faster speeds, Ethereum-style tools, and a new interface. But what’s beneath the surface hasn’t changed. The core structure still runs on the Tezos mainnet. Etherlink doesn’t bypass the base layer. It leans on it.

Builder Needs Are Different Upstairs

Walk into the main wing of a library, and you’ll see people heads-down, reading, researching, and working on papers that might take weeks to finish. It’s quiet by design. That’s Tezos Layer 1: a place for steady, deliberate building.

Upstairs in the maker space, things are louder. People are prototyping, testing, hitting roadblocks, and trying again. That’s Etherlink. It’s the same building, just a different pace.

Upstairs in the maker space, builders move fast. They test, adjust, and deploy as they go.

Developers coming from Ethereum expect to move fast. They’re used to MetaMask, Solidity, and quick feedback loops. On Tezos Layer 1, the rhythm is different. Tools like Michelson or SmartPy take longer to learn, and the chain’s design encourages long-term thinking. That’s a strength, but not every project can begin there.

Etherlink lowers the barrier to entry. Developers can use the tools they already know and start building right away. There’s no need to relearn how the system works or adopt a brand-new stack. That flexibility makes testing ideas, moving fast, and staying connected to Tezos for finality and governance easier.

What’s Already Happening in the Maker Space

People aren’t just talking about the maker space. They’re already upstairs, building, testing, and shipping.

The tools are real, and so are the builders. Hanji, Iguana DEX, and Superlend are already live on Etherlink, and development is picking up.

Hanji Protocol is a decentralized spot exchange with a fully on-chain order book. Traders looking for tight spreads, quick trades, and a familiar workflow will feel right at home. Running on Etherlink, Hanji connects directly to Tezos for governance and finality. At the same time, it benefits from sub-second confirmation times and native MetaMask integration. It’s a clear example of how Etherlink can offer speed without breaking ties to the base layer.

Iguana DEX offers a simplified trading experience, using a Uniswap-style interface that makes asset swaps quick and intuitive. It’s built for ease of use and will feel familiar to anyone interacting with a DEX. The design takes full advantage of Etherlink’s speed while each trade still settles on the Tezos base layer. That’s the same infrastructure responsible for securing the network and handling on-chain upgrades.

Superlend connects liquidity across blockchains, giving lenders and borrowers more reach. It runs on Etherlink and uses bridges like LayerZero to move assets between networks, including Arbitrum and BNB Chain. While it doesn’t operate solely within Tezos, it highlights how Etherlink can serve as a coordination layer, connecting Tezos-native assets with broader cross-chain liquidity.

Each project solves a different problem: trading, swapping, or lending. Whether trading, swapping, or lending, these platforms lean on Etherlink to move fast and Tezos to settle securely.

The Foundation Holds

Things are louder upstairs now, and some have started to question what’s going on below. But the base of the building hasn’t moved.

Builders upstairs can move quickly because the foundation below is solid.

Etherlink doesn’t replace Tezos Layer 1. It builds on it. That’s where blocks finalize, where governance decisions are made, and where upgrades begin. It’s still the place where people are running bakers, voting on proposals, testing smart rollups, and developing the protocol itself.

When everything depends on what’s underneath, the foundation isn’t optional.

You can’t add floors to a building with cracks underneath. The L1 has to hold, and on Tezos, it does. That isn’t only a technical requirement. The rest only works because the foundation carries the weight. People built it that way, knowing what would come next.

Two Ways In, One Network

Some builders always prefer a quiet floor with reference books and deep archives. Others head straight to the maker space, building fast, testing constantly, and shipping without delay. Tezos now offers both.

The elevator goes both ways. You don’t have to pick a side. You just have to build.

Crucially, they’re not separate. There’s no wall between them. The tools used upstairs connect to the same infrastructure below. The books in the study wing and the workshop parts are also funded, governed, and secured by the same system.

That kind of flexibility isn’t common. You don’t have to choose one path. Start on Etherlink and move to Layer 1 when it makes sense. Or begin on the base chain and launch a version upstairs. The elevator goes both ways.

What matters isn’t which floor you start on. It’s that you’re in the building and building something that lasts.

Reading Rooms and Maker Spaces: What Tezos Gets Right About Building was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Expanding the Spotlight for Artists of Tezos

Welcome to the May 2025 edition of ‘ART’icle of the Month, where the mission is to spotlight artists minting on Tezos who capture the community’s attention. I may do the writing, but the community drives this project. If you see a Tezos artist whose work deserves more love, just drop a nomination by commenting under their art on X with the hashtag #tezARTicle. Whether it’s a one-off masterpiece or a consistently growing body of work, your nominations help surface talent that might otherwise fly under the radar.

Each month, I comb through the hashtag to curate five featured artists. If there are more than five names with a single nomination, I turn to a randomizer (wheelofnames.com) to fairly select who gets the spotlight. This also helps create a list of backup nominees for months with fewer nominations. A nomination doesn’t guarantee a feature right away, but it always puts an artist on my radar for future ‘ART’icles.

This month’s featured artists each bring their creativity and talent to Tezos in unique form. From intimate expressions of identity to bold exploration in form, their work reflects the incredible range found across the ecosystem. Thanks to your nominations, for this month, let’s spotlight @lensonskin, @Kathara_l, @stereohopper, @nymiart, and @zvarniara.

Rosaline @lensonskin: Self-Portrait Photographer

Rosaline creates nude self-portraits using natural light, shadows, and props to strike a delicate balance of detail, mystery, and meaning. Throughout art history, the female form has remained a constant subject, from cave carvings to AI prompts and every art form in between. Though nudity in art is a long tradition, it is still often censored. Decentralized, censorship-resistant NFT platforms now offer artists like Rosaline the freedom to share art more freely.

In the 1/1 Black and White Self-Portrait, “Bridge”, Rosaline represents a bridge between two worlds. Despite all the darkness, we must build a bridge to the light of our dreams. There is a cloud of smoke in the air, perhaps representing the fog above the water often found under bridges. The pose for this photo is balanced and purposeful, like the architecture to a bridge’s structure.

Rosaline’s photography is a bold and thoughtful exploration of the self. You can discover all of her available art by visiting her linktree here.

Katy Lakatos @Kathara_l: Visual Poetic Symbolism

Katy Lakatos has been minting on Tezos since November 2023. Her art welcomes you into a world of soft pastels and gentle nostalgia, like a quiet walk through childhood memories. Each piece carries emotional depth and poetic calmness.

In her collection “The Song of Womans”, ten unique works depict women in emotionally rich, collage-inspired scenes. With flowing textures and varied styles, the series maintains a cohesive feel through consistent portrait formatting.

In the artwork titled, “Gold Dust”, we see a stunning golden sunset behind an eclipsed moon or sun, the color and texture blending into a dark blue base, and that’s just the background. A woman in an oriental robe seemingly flies through the sky along with birds. Her head centered over the eclipse. A few golden leaves floating downwards give hints of motion to the static composition. Every element is delicately blended with a collage-like influence.

Another magical scene with golden skies can be found when admiring “Golden Leaf”, which is a mixed media drawing that is “an offering carrying cosmic stories”, based on the description on Objkt. The composition is visually poetic in how each element flows loosely as if in the breeze. From the girl’s detailed swirly hair to the blue bird’s wings and legs in mid-motion, down to the different strokes of the same golden hue creating a separation between sky and ground. To me, it even resembles water with the way the bird’s leg fades at the ankle line. I truly enjoyed stopping to reflect and write about Katy and her art, and I hope you will too. Visit her Objkt to find more here.

Stereohopper @Stereohopper: Artist, Director, Musician

A true Tezos OG, Stereohopper dropped his first NFT on Hicetnunc in March 2021. Since then, he’s delivered a steady stream of electronic music paired with seamless visual loops, offering collectors a rare two-in-one experience where both sound and motion are thoughtfully crafted.Exploring his work on TEIA or Objkt is a treat for anyone who enjoys electronic beats and animated digital art. He also curates a platform called hoppers.gallery, which showcases a wide range of art on Tezos. While we can’t showcase music directly here, we encourage you to dive into his world and listen through the links below.

To further illustrate my point regarding a MusicNFTs “double value”, let’s take a look at the visual component behind “Inexorably Loud Silence”. This seamlessly looping GIF stands on its own as a compelling artwork as shown above. Two figures blend into a complex network of moving shapes and textures that represent the awakening of a city and the loudness that comes with it. I found myself staring at this loop for several minutes before even hitting play on the music. However, once you begin listening to the cinematic soundtrack it brings new life and meaning to the visual aspect of the piece. The way the instrumentation builds truly feels like the awakening of a city. With the percussive elements lining up to the animation and the professional quality of the mix this is truly an audio/visual experience worth having. The NFT is also available as a 1/1 on primary, here, for those into collecting hidden gems.

In the visual artwork “It’s all just a facade — Movement 03”, we get to experience another perspective from the imagined world we see in “inexorably Loud Silence”. In fact, this artwork was minted before the 1/1 Music NFT. When considering this timeline a story is introduced: at first these two figures crossed paths going opposite directions, but in the next scene we see that they found their way back to each other. Between the thoughtful depth of the story from one release to another, and the skillful combination of so many diverse multiple media formats, a spotlight on this fantastic artist was definitely long overdue. So grab some headphones and embark on the full journey here.

Nymi @nymiart: Drawing, Storytelling, Clown

Another artist that truly puts all of themself into their art, which spans from oil on canvas, to their creative work as a literal clown. Combining these art forms to bring a unique, colorful, and imaginative world to the Tezos art community. Too often we hear the phrase “Clown” being used in a derogatory way, but the art form has been around since the time of Pharaohs. It’s a valuable piece of art history and we are lucky to have it represented on Tezos. Another interesting benefit to our digital art movement is we get to see the creativity of Nymi beyond the costume. Perhaps the first time I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying the diverse creativity of digital and physical artworks created by someone who is also a clown. Thanks to the community’s nominations, we can now experience some of Nymi’s creativity together.

In this colorful self-portrait, “Lost in Transition”, Nymi explores the shifting layers of their inner world. The masks represent different sides of themself, each one linked to a feeling or memory from childhood. It’s a personal piece about change, emotion, and identity, with a dreamy touch inspired by Marc Chagall’s approach to memory and imagination. For me, I think of the many different versions of myself that have existed and how all of them together equal who I am today. A powerful artwork with many more layers I’ll leave for you to discover for yourself.

Nymi’s most recent release on Tezos, “Gaze”, utilized the new open objkt feature as a part of the objkt4objkt event. This digital painting expresses the feeling of being an outsider, far from the spotlight and unnoticed. A lone clown and a transparent crow look from the shadows at a group of people socializing in the light. The composition forces the viewer to look over (or overlook) the clown’s shoulder in order to process the bold figures in the distance. Thoughtfully tapping into and drilling home the messages behind the artwork. Discover more of Nymi’s creativity and visual stories here.

Eleni @zvarniara: Dark Art, Drawing

Our final artist spotlight for this month’s ‘ART’icle is Eleni, who is also exploring the infinititly creative ways to showcase the human form, but with an emphasis on dark art and hand-drawn illustrations of the unusual. First joining the Tezos art community in May of 2023, let’s celebrate her two year anniversary of minting on Tezos by exploring some of her art together.

One of the pieces that instantly stood out to me, “Heavy Thoughts”, is a charcoal drawing on paper that strongly speaks for itself. It’s safe to say that every single one of us has moments where our thoughts feel like they are weighing us down. Sometimes to the point of splitting headaches. The way this composition abstracts and distorts the subject’s natural form, is exactly how it feels to me when I have a migraine or simply cannot shake heavy thoughts. It’s captivating and thought provoking.

In “Moon Monologues”, we see another charcoal drawing on paper, but this one is combined with digital moonlike textures. The composition suggests the subject as a nude female figure embracing the moon. Her arms radiated warmth. To me this piece represents our inner conversations that occur when gazing up at the moon at night, safely from our own home where we can be more exposed and free. The warmth we feel when embracing our imaginations is the same warmth I feel when viewing this art work. Enjoy the rest of Eleni’s art on Objkt here.

See You Next Month For Another ‘ART’icle

That’s a wrap for the May 2025 edition of ‘ART’icle of the Month. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who tags #tezARTicle on X. Your nominations help shine a light on creators who deserve to be seen.

If you’d like to support this series, share the article and keep tagging the artists who move you. Whether you’re a new face or a seasoned OG, your voice helps build visibility and keeps the Tezos art community thriving.

See you next month for another round of artistic discovery on Tezos.

‘ART’icle of May 2025 was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Month At A Glance — April 2025

A quick rundown of the latest happenings and significant milestones within the Tezos ecosystem for April 2025.

Welcome to our latest issue, Month At A Glance (April 2025), where we give a quick rundown of the latest happenings and significant milestones in the Tezos ecosystem on a monthly cadence.

April wasn’t just another chapter in the Tezos journey, it was a month of major milestones and meaningful progress. From the launch of the Uranium Game and Exaion’s entry into Etherlink to the community vote locking in the Rio upgrade, the Tezos ecosystem saw a steady stream of activity.

Let’s break it all down.

Ecosystem Insights

Uranium Game Goes Live

Geturanium.io, the game launched by Uranium.io, puts a fresh spin on digital mining with a uranium-themed idle clicker that rewards players with real uranium tokens (xU308). Season 1 is live now, offering players the chance to collect uranium shards, upgrade their mining setups, and refine their way to xU308 tokens.

How It WorksThe game is simple yet surprisingly strategic: click to collect shards as they roll across a conveyor belt, upgrade your operation for faster collection, and refine those shards into xU308 tokens. No wallet needed to start, just log in with your Google, Discord, or X (Twitter) account.

Once you’ve gathered enough shards (100,000 to be exact), you can begin refining. Each 8-hour cycle produces 1 xU308 token, and you can keep refining as long as you have the shards. Boosters like auto-collecting, shard value multipliers, and conveyor speed boosts can speed up your progress.

Claiming RewardsAt the end of the season, you will be able to claim your xU308 tokens. The more you refine, the bigger your airdrop, so get clicking before time runs out.

Season 1 is still on, so if you’re ready to turn virtual mining into real rewards, now’s the time to jump in.

Exaion Backs Etherlink as Validator — A Power Move for Tezos

Exaion, a subsidiary of the French energy giant EDF Group, has joined Etherlink as a validator, signaling a different kind of confidence in the Tezos ecosystem. This isn’t just another validator announcement, Exaion is known for long-term, infrastructure-focused investments, not quick wins.

Why It MattersEtherlink, the Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 built on Tezos, relies on validators like Exaion to secure its network. These validators confirm transactions and post commitments to the Tezos mainnet, ensuring both scalability and accountability.

Backing with Real InfrastructureExaion has been part of the Tezos ecosystem since 2020, running one of the first corporate validators on the network. This move marks a significant step forward in its commitment to Tezos.

Early but PromisingEtherlink is still in its early days, but with projects like Spiko and Midas already live, the ecosystem is starting to take shape. Exaion’s involvement signals a vote of confidence as this Layer 2 looks to scale and prove its long-term value.

With Exaion now on board, Etherlink isn’t just running on promises, it’s running on infrastructure.

Rio Gets Voted In

In April, the Tezos community voted to adopt the Rio protocol upgrade, which was then successfully activated on May 1, 2025. This 18th protocol upgrade, jointly developed by Nomadic Labs, TriliTech, and Functori, introduced several significant changes:

Faster Cycles: Reduces the cycle length from 3 days to 1 day, allowing faster application of staking-related changes and quicker fund unstaking.

DAL Participation Rewards: Allocates 10% of participation rewards to those contributing to the Data Availability Layer (DAL), a critical component for L2 scalability and the Tezos X roadmap.

Stricter Inactivity Thresholds: Shortens the tolerance for baker inactivity from 5 days to 2 days, enhancing network resilience by reducing the risk of slowdowns.

This upgrade reflects the continued focus on scalability and performance as the Tezos ecosystem moves closer to realizing the Tezos X vision.

News From The Tezos Ecosystem: Quick Bits

Beyond those insights, the ecosystem saw plenty of other noteworthy developments worth a quick look:

Lilypad Joins Etherlink and Fortify Labs CohortLilypad, a decentralized serverless compute platform, has been selected for Fortify Labs’ 2025 cohort. By integrating with Etherlink, Lilypad aims to enhance decentralized computing capabilities within the Tezos ecosystem.

BluWhale AI Enters the Tezos EcosystemBluWhale AI, a decentralized AI protocol, has joined the Tezos ecosystem through the Fortify Labs program. The project focuses on creating user-specific knowledge graphs to deliver personalized experiences across decentralized applications.

Absolute Labs Adds Support for Tezos and EtherlinkAbsolute Labs, a Web3 CRM and marketing automation platform, has expanded its services to include support for Tezos and Etherlink. This integration enables projects within the Tezos ecosystem to leverage advanced marketing tools for growth and engagement.

Lyzi Raises $1.4M to Scale Tezos-Powered Crypto PaymentsLyzi, a crypto payment platform built on Tezos, secured $1.4 million in a seed funding round. The funds will be used to expand its services, allowing consumers to make everyday retail and e-commerce payments using cryptocurrency, with merchants receiving fiat directly to their bank accounts.

TezDev 2025: The Community Comes to CannesTezDev 2025, the flagship annual conference for the Tezos community, is set to take place on July 3rd in Cannes. Early bird tickets are still available (limited to the first 100), offering attendees a chance to engage with builders, creators, and community members in a vibrant setting. Secure your spot now!

Events

Tuesday🎙Tezday w TezCon organizers — April 1st

Artz Fridays w Dúo Dø Music— April 4th

Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call — April 8th

Artz Fridays w Mat Nova — April 11th

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Zir0h — April 15th

Artz Fridays w Doug CriptoFace — April 18th

Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call — April 22nd

Artz Fridays Community Call — April 25th

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Skurpy — April 29th

Stay in the Conversation, Stay in the Know

Tezos Commons hosts a variety of community-oriented events and content. From podcasts, X-spaces, and long-form content, there’s something for everyone.

TezTalks Live

TezTalks Radio

X Spaces

X Shorts

Baking Sheet Newsletter

In-Depth Articles

You can also contact us on X or via email at [email protected].

Month At A Glance — April 2025 was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A Grassroots Movement That Became the Heart of Tezos

From the monumental rise of NFTs in 2021, one of the most diverse, creative, and passionate communities I’ve ever seen began to take shape. Enabled by the accessibility and affordability of the Tezos blockchain, the vision of a truly decentralized, peer-to-peer network flourished, specifically around art. This cultivated a strong art-focused community on Tezos that continues to expand and even dominate the on-chain usage of Tezos today.

Innovation and the pursuit of creative freedom are part of what makes blockchains like Tezos so important. That’s why I believe Tezos will always be a home for digital art that enables creativity. Any expansions to the underlying technology will honor but also ensure a sustainable path forward for all people who want to build and explore the possibilities of a truly decentralized digital commonwealth.

A sustainable path for the growth of the Tezos ecosystem cannot be built with art alone, but can and should be complimented with it. The developments proposed in the Tezos X roadmap are highly technical and offer foresight. Ideas from core developers should not be seen as threats to anyone currently enjoying Tezos, but as opportunities to strengthen the foundation of Tezos as a whole.

As conversations around the Tezos X roadmap continue, it’s natural for questions and concerns to arise, especially from those who have helped shape the cultural identity of Tezos through art. Rather than viewing these technical evolutions as a divergence, it’s worth exploring how they can preserve, amplify, and future-proof the values that have nurtured the arts so far. Let’s take a closer look at why the art is still at the heart of it all and how the unique vision of Tezos X can ensure it stays that way.

Decentralization Can Feel Like Fragmentation

One of the most beautiful and confusing aspects of the Tezos art community is that it mirrors the decentralized architecture of the chain itself. Just as bakers scattered across the globe validate blocks and keep the network alive, the culture on Tezos has evolved in similarly distributed ways. Communities are formed naturally, often independently, each driven by shared values, aesthetics, or goals. Music collectives, artists, curators, collectors, and hybrid builder-artist-technologists are all growing in parallel, sometimes unaware of one another’s contributions to the ecosystem.

A decentralized network can give the illusion of fragmentation, but it’s a sign of strength. A monolithic culture can be brittle, but a decentralized one is resilient, adaptive, and full of potential. On Tezos, there are many communities and voices. The absence of a central or singular voice is not a flaw, it’s part of what allowed so many distinct subcultures to take root and thrive.

Art is the Heart, Technology is the Brain

Just like the underlying protocol, the communities of Tezos continue to expand, evolve, and refine over time. The magic lies in the permissionless nature of Tezos, with the possibility that anyone, anywhere, can contribute to the ongoing story. When we begin to resist change in favor of protecting the current culture, we risk stagnation. We risk becoming a cult. When we let fear of innovation override our pioneering spirit, we lose sight of what makes this place special. Any proposal to make the ecosystem more capable of real-world utility should be met with thoughtful curiosity. That’s the mindset Tezos was built on, and what enabled the art movement to form.

It’s time to pause and remember what we are here for. We need to zoom out and embrace the bigger picture. The art movement on Tezos Layer 1 has become the beating heart of the network, but that heart needs to keep pumping blood to the brain (core development) no matter where it leads the body (Ecosystem). Right now, the brain of Tezos is in the middle of navigating uncharted territory, and it needs the heART more than ever.

Zooming Out: What is Tezos X Really About?

Tezos has always upgraded itself without drama. Unlike other blockchains that split their communities through forks, Tezos evolves seamlessly. Every upgrade so far has brought real improvements like faster transactions, lower gas fees, and better tools for artists, without leaving anyone behind. Why would that suddenly change?

Tezos X is the next step in that same journey, making Tezos faster, more flexible, and ready to take on new challenges. Obstacles that no other blockchain has dared to take on. It focuses on improving how everything works together, so the network can scale towards real-world adoption, without losing what makes Layer-1 so powerful.

The Tezos art community is heArt-strong, but most artists, including myself, have to try harder to grasp the technical aspect of what makes this ecosystem function. Now more than ever, we should respect and support those using Tezos for its other use cases and recognize that the art alone won’t be enough. We need to “let them cook.” Because Tezos X is about giving the heart a stronger, more capable body and mind. An ecosystem that flows with purpose into an unknown future. The same upgrade process that supported the early NFT boom is now laying the groundwork for what comes next. And as always, it’s being done with the whole community in mind.

Governance Is Greater Than Trust, Let’s Shape the Future

Many of the core developers who made NFTs on Tezos possible are still building today. Many of the minds behind Tezos X are grounded in the same values that drew artists here in the first place: accessibility, decentralization, and creative freedom. No one needs permission to mint art, and no one needs permission to propose upgrades.

It’s all transparent. Upgrade proposals don’t happen in the shadows. They go through a public governance process. Anyone can read the proposals, ask questions, share concerns, and participate in governance. That’s how we got this far, through collaboration, not conflict.

Questions and debates are healthy. However, there is a line where questions fueled by curiosity are lost to fear-based complaints or manufactured and misinformed drama. Unlike healthy debates, these escalations don’t help the art, the tech, or the community. They only muddy the waters and distract us from the real work that needs to be done.

Tezos X isn’t about leaving people behind. Stop with the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). It’s about inviting more people in. It’s about creating a recipe for more FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). If we stay open, curious, and willing to participate, we can help shape a future where artists, developers, builders, and collectors can grow stronger together.

We All Found Our Way Here For Similar Reasons

Change can feel overwhelming, especially when it comes to technical complexity. But no one has to figure it out alone. There are resources, community spaces, and people willing to help explain things, answer questions, or just listen. Whether it’s Tezos Agora, Tezos Commons, Community Telegram and Discord channels, or spaces on X, there are places to turn when things feel unclear. More importantly, there are people to turn to.

This community is made of humans first. Most of us are doing our best. Before posting something that stirs tension, consider direct messaging someone who can help. A private message can go a long way. A kind question can spark a thoughtful conversation. Showing someone you care enough to talk with them instead of talking at them or accusing them of something. That’s how we strengthen the connection we all came here to make.

The art community on Tezos is powerful because of its shared values and giant beating heart. Empathy, resilience, curiosity, and care are unmatched. We can protect that spirit while staying engaged with open hearts and minds. We can continue to be a meaningful force in Web3, but we need to do so in a way that acknowledges all that Web3 can be. Art alone can’t be the only utility, but it will always be a core value to the Tezos Community.

The Tezos Art Community Matters was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How Etherlink expands Tezos without replacing what made it matter.

A familiar library, upgraded quietly: sunlight warms the shelves while new tools sit ready on every desk.

I remember when the internet finally showed up at my local library.

Until then, it had always been this calm, reliable place. Rows of books, that soft shuffle of the card catalog, and a librarian who always knew where to find whatever odd subject I was into.

That was more than enough.

When the Library Changed

Then, one day, a few bulky monitors showed up, and they set up a public terminal near the reference desk. You had to sign up for 30-minute slots. The connection was slow. The screens flickered. But to me, the walls had shifted a little. It felt like the library had opened up to something bigger.

The library stayed the same, but its reach expanded.

Things didn’t change all at once. The books were still there, even with a web browser on the screen. Some got scanned and put online. Others didn’t. Audiobooks showed up on CDs, then as downloads. DVDs had their shelf. The formats changed, but the purpose stayed the same: providing people access to their needs.

That’s what Etherlink feels like to me.

Still the same blueprint. Just with more room to build. What Etherlink Actually Is

Etherlink isn’t a reset or a rebrand. It’s an addition: a new format, another way in. The Tezos main chain stays right where it is, still doing what it does best. Etherlink allows people to build with the tools they already know and how they’re used to working. It’s like a new road that just opened that takes you to the same place, but with a different route.

People call Etherlink a “Layer 2,” and technically, that’s true. It runs on top of the Tezos main chain using smart rollup technology and posts its data and finality back to Layer 1.

But when most people hear “L2,” they picture something else: sidechains loosely attached to a network or systems that only occasionally check in with the base chain.

That’s not how Tezos does things. Etherlink doesn’t drift off on its own. Etherlink relies on Tezos for security, governance, upgrades, and finality. Every transaction, every confirmation, and every permanent record still flows through the main chain.

The system is layered, but it holds together. That’s the difference.

Calling Etherlink an “L2” can set the wrong expectation. It sounds like a separate network when it’s just another way to use the same one. Structurally, it stays aligned with Tezos. That’s what makes it different.

A modern entrance in a familiar building. New doors, same foundation. Why It Still Feels Like Tezos

I’ve heard people say, “It doesn’t even feel like Tezos,” and I get why. It’s fast. It works with Ethereum tools. It has its branding. The entry point feels different, like a separate door with glass panels and motion sensors.

But that door leads into the same building. And if you look closely, the support beams are all still there.

So what do you find on the other side? First, it’s fast. Not just at handling transactions but also at helping people test and deploy. On the Tezos base layer, things move more deliberately. That’s by design. It’s focused on long-term thinking and keeping the system stable.

But if you’re trying something new or shipping an early version of an dApp, waiting weeks for approvals isn’t always an option. Sometimes, you need to try it and see what happens.

A new interface on the same shelves. Faster access, same collection. Faster, Yes. But Also Familiar

Etherlink is fast, but speed isn’t the only thing that matters. It changes how people build. On Tezos L1, developers often use specialized tools like Michelson or SmartPy and design around the chain’s careful architecture. Etherlink lowers that bar. It supports familiar Ethereum-based tools, shortens dev cycles, and skips the need to relearn a new stack. It’s like adding a self-checkout kiosk to the library. Familiar tools speed things up, but the books come from the same shelves.

Etherlink speaks Ethereum’s language, letting you bring your code, wallet, and setup to start building with minimal changes. No relearning is required.

It simplifies joining, contributing, and inviting newcomers to Tezos. Etherlink is a new floor: a bit sleeker, a little brighter. But the plumbing, power, and foundation all run through the Tezos core layer. The foundation of the house is built and powered by Tezos.

Libraries have always adapted to what people need quietly and reliably. None of this is all that new.

A snapshot of the quiet transition: old tools alongside newer ones, each serving the same purpose in a changing library. Libraries Grow This Way

There was a time when a library meant printed books, maybe a VHS tape if you were lucky. Then came microfiche for researchers. Then, internet access. Later, it was DVDs, downloadable audiobooks, and even a 3D printer in the corner. Even with new tools and formats, its role stayed the same.

Those additions didn’t replace the shelves or wipe out the archives. They added more ways to learn, create, and share. Different tools for different people.

Etherlink is the same kind of shift. The original structure is still there. What’s changed is that you don’t need the same setup to do something useful. And sometimes, adding a new tool brings in new people.

That doesn’t take anything away from the library. It just adds another floor.

Looking up at the new tower, wondering what it means for the quiet room below. Concerns from Downstairs

Still, a few folks are raising eyebrows at what’s happening upstairs. A few longtime Tezos users have been watching the buzz around Etherlink. With the sudden focus, the branding, and the pace, they’re left wondering what happened to the base layer.

If you’ve spent years building on Tezos, it hits differently. You helped shape the quiet reading room. You showed up during the bear markets. You waited through every upgrade, proposal, and drawn-out debate. And now there’s a new tower going up, and it feels like everyone’s looking at that instead.

That concern deserves serious attention. Dismissing it only deepens the disconnect.

What’s new only works because the foundation still holds. The Foundation Still Holds

The truth is, Etherlink doesn’t stand on its own. It depends on Tezos doing precisely what it is supposed to do. The main chain isn’t some forgotten basement. It’s where transactions finalize. It’s the foundation of trust. It’s the part that holds everything together.

The base layer hasn’t gone quiet. People are still building: launching apps, joining in governance, baking blocks, and testing new rollup frameworks. They’re not packing up. They’re just taking up more space. And that added activity benefits everyone. More apps mean more transactions, attention, and, ultimately, more value flowing back into the core network.

Etherlink doesn’t lessen the role of the L1. If anything, it leans on it more. The higher you build, the more you need the foundation to hold. You don’t add floors to a building with cracks underneath. You reinforce it first.

Tezos L1 hasn’t faded into the background. It matters now more than ever. It’s not just the starting point. It allows Tezos to scale while holding on to the core principles that made it worth building on.

You don’t have to guess what Etherlink might lead to. It’s already taking shape, quietly and steadily.

These aren’t mockups. Apps are live, tested, and in use. Right now. What’s Already Being Built

Take Superlend, for example. It lets you lend or borrow digital assets like stablecoins and crypto without leaving the Tezos network. No bridging, no jumping between chains. Just one system, one interface, one place to manage it all.

Hanji Protocol is for traders who care about speed and accuracy. It’s already live, and the team is thinking ahead. They want DeFi on Tezos to feel more stable in performance, user experience, and trust. If you’ve dealt with slow or clunky interfaces before, this is a change of pace. It’s faster, smoother, and easier to rely on.

IguanaDEX is a token swap platform that lets you trade one asset for another in just a few clicks. It’ll feel familiar if you’ve used crypto exchanges before. But what sets it apart is what you don’t see. Every trade settles on the same Tezos core layer that keeps everything else secure.

These aren’t test runs. They’re live, and people are already using them. More importantly, they’re bringing in folks who didn’t start with Tezos. They came for familiar tools and later discovered Tezos as the bedrock.

That’s worth paying attention to. Not because it’s loud, but because it fits. For many developers, it simply works. Once they’re in, they start to see what’s holding it all together.

Some people will stay in the library. They like the quiet. They want the structure. They prefer building on something they trust. Others will spend their time in the tower, moving fast and using the tools that fit their needs. There’s room for both. What matters is that both places exist and that they’re connected.

Tezos hasn’t moved or rebranded. It’s making space for new builders, new ideas, and more than one way to come in.

An elevator between floors: New tools above, quiet foundations below. Both part of the same building. The Elevator Goes Both Ways

Some who enter through the tower might wander downstairs, curious about the quiet. And some in the library might take the elevator up to see what’s happening upstairs. And just because you might not see the cables pulling the elevator up and down, trust me, it’s there, and it’s powered by Tezos.

Real systems don’t abandon what’s working. They grow by layering on what’s next, inviting everyone to explore the library and the tower.

Etherlink Feels New, But It’s Still Tezos. was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Expansion of the Tezos Art Movement, Empowering Artists

Not All NFTs Are Created Equal

When it comes to NFTs, it’s critical to understand where the art actually lives. Most NFTs today use IPFS (Interplanetary File System) to store artwork and metadata. Others take a different approach with Fully On-Chain (FOC) storage, and the differences are significant. Let’s take a look at some of those differences and then discuss an exciting project called Zero Contract, which is improving the accessibility of FOC NFTs for artists minting on Tezos.

The “Standard” Solution For NFT Storage

IPFS is a decentralized file storage system that links external files to a token on-chain. It’s scalable, relatively easy to use, and has become the standard. However, the files containing the art must be “pinned” in order to persist. This means someone has to keep paying to host the data. If they stop, forget, or disappear without a custodian, the files can vanish. The token remains on-chain, but the ability to view and enjoy the art itself is lost forever.

The “Advanced” Method

Fully On-Chain NFTs, on the other hand, store the image, metadata, and even thumbnails directly on the blockchain. This removes outside dependencies and ensures the art stays accessible for as long as the blockchain exists. The trade-off is dealing with file size limits, higher up-front minting costs, and a more technical setup.

Where IPFS offers flexibility and ease for users, FOC focuses on permanence and independence. Both have their place, but for artists who want full control over their work and legacy, the fully on-chain route is gaining traction. Tools like ZeroContract are helping lead the way.

What Is ZeroContract and ZeroApp?

ZeroContract is a smart contract on Tezos, built from the ground up by artist-developer @JestemZero. It gives artists a way to mint without relying on IPFS or any external services. By minting through ZeroContract, your art lives inside the blockchain, not beside it.

Zero Contract follows TZIP-12 and TZIP-16 standards, which means any NFTs minted through it can show up correctly on platforms like Objkt. There’s a few edge cases with certain file types that will not display properly, but with every update comes even more compatibility. The contract is also connected to the ZeroArt App, a no-code interface that allows artists to deploy contracts, mint tokens, and manage their collections in one place.

Together, ZeroContract and the ZeroArt App give creators a toolkit for building permanent, self-sovereign NFT collections. Let’s walk through the different parts of this emerging on-chain ecosystem, the developers behind it, and how the artists are using it.

The Suite of Apps at ZeroArt.app

Zero Contract WebAppDeveloped by Jams2Blues, this is the primary interface used for minting with ZeroContract. Artists can deploy their own fully on-chain smart contract, which serves as their own collection, and then mint FOC NFTs from it. These collections are automatically recognized by Objkt, but can also be managed entirely through the ZeroArt dashboard.

The dashboard includes a built-in contract manager. You can mint, burn, and transfer tokens, update operators, and add collaborators. You can also set the permissions of who can help manage the contract. It’s essentially your one-stop shop for minting FOC NFTs on Tezos, with huge updates soon, that I’ll cover later in this article.

ZeroViewThis lightweight viewer app, developed by JestemZero, shows fully on-chain tokens directly from the Tezos blockchain. It’s a handy tool for collectors and a clean way for FOC art to be shared and enjoyed.

Zero TerminalZero Terminal was created by ccubetez and SerP. On top of the ability to mint FOC NFTs, it adds direct sales features, allowing artists to list their works independently of other marketplaces. This means no platform fees and fewer concerns about outages or censorship. The project’s current focus is on FOC art, with a long-lerm goal of providing users with decentralized tools for interacting with Tezos blockchain data.

Artists Leading the Charge

Since launch, ZeroContract has attracted more and more artists wanting to push the boundaries of what on-chain art can be. Where some artists see file limitations as a deal breaker, others have been turning the minimizing and compression of files into its own art form. Once you take the time to browse the art already being minted through ZeroContract, it’s hard not to get inspired.

The ZeroContract x Trilitech ZeroContract Contest is a recent initiative that escalated the excitement even more. It invited artists to explore the theme of “Zero” using ZeroApps collaborative contract feature, with 2000 tez in prizes up for grabs. This brought more awareness to ZeroContract and highlighted its capabilities.

Fifty-four artists participated, contributing fifty-seven fully on-chain artworks across nine collaborative collections. All entries remain viewable through ZeroView, a living, permanent archive. Check out all the ZeroContest art here, and a big shoutout to the winners showcased below!

“1, 0, 100000”: Zero theme winner ft @neur0mancer1, @LoveFromGaia &@unrealb0x. See the official announcement here.

“b.l.o.c.k.s_o.n-c.h.a.i.n.”: Collaboration theme winner ft @_pixellare, @aethersovereign, @vjentter, @LoveFromGaia, @spike_0124, @luizandregama, @OriginalGoldCat, @mat__nova, @Isakost, @malsheep56

The Next Evolution: ZeroUnbound

The ZeroContract movement is far from static. A new version called ZeroUnbound is already being tested and will bring some serious upgrades. One of the biggest challenges in FOC minting has been the 20 KB file size limit. ZeroUnbound raises that ceiling by splitting the data into 32 KB chunks and bundling them in a single Beacon transaction. This means that ZeroUnbound allows for more detailed, animated, or even interactive artwork to be minted fully on-chain.

This upgrade is being developed by Jams2Blues with contract design by JestemZero. A new front-end app, styled like a retro arcade game, replaces the earlier interface. It’s fully open-source, runs locally, and needs no servers. Artists can even download and customize it for their own use.

ZeroUnbound will offer more freedom and a broader canvas for artists who want permanence without limits.

A Quote From Jams2Blues: “I am doing this for the sake of defeating entropy, the inevitable heat death of the universe is not actually the end if we work together in creation to overcome our limitations and to do it sustainably. Tezos is my choice because of their massively low carbon footprint compared to other blockchains, and I know I was put on this planet to Save The World With Art™”

How to Mint Your First FOC NFT on Tezos

If you’ve minted on Tezos before, the process will feel familiar to most marketplaces minting templates, with just a few changes. Follow these steps or reach out to the ZeroContract team on their Discord here for further help. It is recommended to learn and experiment on Ghostnet (testnet) first.

Go to the ZeroContract WebApp and connect your wallet.

Click “Deploy Contract”, fill out the form, upload your thumbnail, agree to the terms, and confirm the transaction. Deploying costs around 6.5 tez, there will be a fee estimation pop-up pre-transaction.

Once deployed, go to “Manage Contract”. Click “Load Contract”, scroll down, and select “Mint”.

Fill out the form (mint template). The current file size limit is about 32 KB total which includes all metadata, like the description. After uploading your artwork, check the size indicator at the bottom to ensure you are within limitations.

If you’re within the limit, click “Mint NFT” and approve the transaction (also about 6.5 tez).

That’s it. You’ve minted a fully on-chain NFT that lives directly on Tezos. For a visual walkthrough, there’s also a video tutorial by Jams2Blues available here.

Why It Matters

The crypto art world moves fast. Convenience often takes priority over long-term thinking. ZeroContract offers a different path, one that values permanence, transparency, and artistic sovereignty.

By removing reliance on third-party storage and giving artists the tools to manage their work directly on-chain, this movement is reshaping what digital ownership really means. ZeroUnbound builds on that foundation, expanding the possibilities without losing sight of the core values.

Whether you’re a collector, an established artist, or minting your first piece, the builders and users of the Tezos ecosystem are here to help. The tool-kit keeps expanding. What you build from here is entirely up to you.

ZeroContract: Fully On-Chain NFTs was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tezos Staking Is Doing What It Was Designed to Do — And It’s Just Getting Started

How the last upgrades changed everything and why Tezos staking is a no-brainer.

Quietly and steadily, staking participation on Tezos has recently reached an all-time high. More tez than ever before is actively contributing to the network’s security and decentralization, while the total issuance is trending downward, the result of mechanisms that were carefully designed and recently activated.

This isn’t driven by a flashy campaign or sudden hype. It’s the outcome of a staking system built to adapt, reward participation, and promote long-term sustainability. Now that the pieces are in place, with adaptive issuance live and the Rio upgrade reducing the staking lock-up period from 12 days to just 4, the momentum is building.

The Staking Flywheel Is Turning- A Quick Recap

Tezos introduced Adaptive Issuance with the Paris upgrade (prior 2 upgrades before Rio) to create a dynamic relationship between participation and inflation. As more tez is staked, the protocol reduces the total issuance, ensuring that token rewards remain meaningful while the overall supply growth stays in check.

The result is a reinforcing loop. Higher participation leads to lower issuance, which preserves value for everyone involved, while those who do stake continue to earn solid rewards. Over time, this strengthens both the economic and technical resilience of the chain.

We’re seeing this mechanism perform in real time. Staking participation is climbing, issuance is decreasing, and rewards remain attractive. It’s not a campaign, it’s the system working as intended.

A Better Experience for Stakers

https://ai.xtzchad.xyz/

Recent protocol upgrades have made staking even more accessible and flexible. With the Rio upgrade, the unstaking period for stakers has dropped from around 12 days to just 4. This means those who stake directly, locking their tez to help secure the chain, now regain liquidity much faster if they choose to exit.

Combined with the self-custodial nature of Tezos staking, it’s a uniquely user-friendly experience. Whether you choose to delegate your tez or take on the active role of a staker, your funds stay in your wallet, and the process is simple to start and stop.

But perhaps the most important improvement isn’t just usability, it’s how incentives have shifted to promote stronger participation and long-term security.

A System Evolving — With Stronger Incentives

https://ai.xtzchad.xyz/

One of the clearest signs that the staking system is working as intended is the combination of record-high participation and a downward trend in issuance. Thanks to adaptive issuance, the network now adjusts its inflation rate based on real staking activity, helping preserve value while encouraging participation.

This shift didn’t happen overnight. Prior to the introduction of adaptive issuance and the staker role, most tez was delegated, but because delegated tez wasn’t staked(locked), it didn’t actively contribute to network security. Issuance was steady, based on a fixed number of tez created per block, and delegators earned modest returns around 5–6% APY. There was no way to participate in consensus unless you were running a validator yourself.

https://ai.xtzchad.xyz/

That changed with the introduction of the staker role and adaptive issuance. Now, anyone can stake their tez directly through their wallet, contribute to network security, and earn more rewards, currently around 11% APY, depending on the baker. Also, the percentage of staked tez has climbed from under 10% (before adaptive issuance) to over 25% (recent ATH), and issuance is trending below the previous 4.6% baseline.

It’s a compelling moment for tez holders: you can help secure the network, earn meaningful yield, and reduce inflation, all without giving up control of your assets.

Don’t Leave Your Tez Sitting Idle

https://stake.tezos.com/

There’s really no reason to keep your tez sitting idle. Staking today gives you real yield, currently around 11% APY, while also contributing directly to the network’s security. Thanks to the staker role, you no longer need to run a validator to participate in consensus. You can simply stake your tez through your wallet, stay in full control of your funds, and start earning.

The unstaking period is now just four days, and the entire process is designed to be simple, secure, and self-custodial. At the same time, by staking, you’re not only earning, you’re also helping reduce issuance and strengthen the protocol.

Higher rewards. Greater accessibility. Less inflation. Real impact.

Don’t wait. If you hold tez, make it work for you — and for the network. Head over to stake.tezos.com, connect your wallet, and start staking today.

Tezos Staking Is Doing What It Was Designed to Do — And It’s Just Getting Started was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Monthly Spotlight Of Tezos Artists

The Tezos art community continues to evolve, shaped by the artists who bring new ideas, perspectives, and techniques to the digital renaissance. (I was calling it that before LLMs existed…it learned that from me…sorry!)

The ‘ART’icle Of The Month serves as a space to recognize and highlight standout creators whose recent work has caught the attention of collectors, curators, and peers alike. Nominated by the community and selected with care, this month’s featured artists reflect the ongoing energy and diversity the keeps Tezos art enthusiasts engaged.

This month’s selections bring together a striking mix of styles and approaches, each offering a unique glimpse into the creative potential of digital art. We’re pleased to spotlight the work of @FEELSxart, @FendelMarc, @AL_san_JP, @michaelmicasso, and @loopascii, five creators whose recent mints continue to inspire people across the Tezos community. Let’s take a look at what they’ve been creating.

How ‘ART’icle of The Month Works

Community participation is at the heart of each month’s ‘ART’icle. If you come across an artist minting on Tezos whose work deserves more appreciation, you can nominate them by commenting under their work with the hashtag #tezARTicle on X. Whether it’s a single piece that stood out or a consistent body of work, nominations help surface the talent that might otherwise be missed. Each month, I review the hashtag to curate a selection of up to five artists, driven by your nominations. Being nominated does not guarantee a feature, and some nominations may be reserved for future spotlights. Without further delay, let’s get artsy.

FENDEL: Berklee Trained Electro-Acoustic Musician and Producer

When it comes to Tezos artists, there are many names that seem to be everywhere at once, contributing to the community wherever possible. One of those names is Fendel de la Creme. This musician is a genuine believer in Tezos and lives for the arts, with a heavy focus on music creation. Based in Seattle, Washington, I’ve personally had the pleasure of visiting Fendel during TezCon 2024 and experiencing the sustainable and holistic lifestyle he lives. Spending time in his world helped me understand how he manages to produce so much great music while remaining a constant and inspiring presence in the Tezos community.

Fendel has been consistently minting Music NFTs and contributing to countless collaborations on Tezos since May 2021. From the early days of HEN, he has minted everything from photography and collage art to soundtracks and full music videos. Let’s take a look at some of his creations.

Released as an open edition for the #Opentez event in January 2025, Slamma is an electronic soundtrack accompanied by glitched visuals created with Photomosh Pro. The song was composed in Reaper DAW using various high-tech music tools, which Fendel lists diligently in the NFT description for fellow audiophiles. The p5.js code used to create the image is by HP Lovebux, whom Fendel also credited in the NFT description. The result is an astonishing audiovisual experience that transported me to a futuristic lounge, perhaps in 2027. The glitchy, asymmetrical animation of the visual reminded me of bustling nightlife. Enjoy this piece with headphones for the best experience.

In the Music NFT titled Ranunculus, we get to experience over seven minutes of an audible adventure into Fendel’s musicality and production talent, plus a stunning visual artwork by Shilly Preston. With another detailed description audiophiles could dream of, Fendel explains his creative process with care. Something I appreciate about this song, and many of Fendel’s tracks, is how they challenge conventional music while balancing chaos and harmony. In other words, it is never what I would expect but always enjoyable. Listen on headphones for the best experience, and to discover more, visit his linktree here.

FEELSxart: Exploring Interpretive Space Through Aesthetic Experiences

Unique to Web3, there are many artists who choose to release their work anonymously or behind a mysterious persona. Sometimes the art speaks for itself, and this adds to the artist’s brand. This is the case for FEELSxart, who creates magically aesthetic GIF art, and just like magic, part of the fun is the mystery behind how it was done.

FEELSxart has been minting on Tezos since July 2021. These GIF-based creations incorporate a range of styles, with most seemingly made through generative processes. Let’s take a look at a couple of Feels’ artworks that stood out to me.

“Hocus Pocus” was released on April 23 this year, right as I was writing this article. It couldn’t have been more serendipitous, as I had just described Feels’ art as “like magic,” and then found this piece. In a mesmerizing animated loop full of nuance and mystery, we see seven spheres circling a larger central sphere. It brought to mind the seven core chakras circling creational energy. Regardless of the artist’s intention, it was meaningful to me. The seamless motion pulls me into a meditative state. Take a moment to enjoy this seamlessly looping art and see if it does the same for you.

Have you ever had a staring contest with an artwork? I have, for example, when viewing the Mona Lisa. With Feels’ piece “Blink”, that sensation is taken to the next level. You’re challenged to a staring contest, and the moment you begin, the show begins too. The flickering color patterns breathe in and out symmetrically, creating a meditative yet intense experience, much like a real staring contest. What’s most interesting is that there are infinite ways to look at it, even though our eyes are drawn to a central point. Be sure to challenge “Blink” to a staring contest and enjoy the creative mind of FEELSxart. Find all the feels on their linktree here.

Al-san: Japanese Artist and Children’s Book Author

AL_san_JP brings a distinctive approach to digital art through the unexpected medium of Microsoft Excel. Since beginning their Tezos journey in July 2022, this Japanese artist has developed a signature style that transforms simple geometric shapes like circles, squares, triangles, and even punctuation marks into expressive, character-driven compositions. Each piece reveals quiet ingenuity, like the mouth of an alpaca formed from two carefully rotated parentheses. Through deliberate constraint and playful structure, AL_san_JP turns Excel into a space for creativity.

In “Taqueria — Taco Stand”, we meet AL-San (Alberto), the alpaca serving tacos in Japan, at a taco stand founded by three Latinos: Pancho, Paco, and Francisco. The stand blends cultures with a menu in both Spanish and Japanese, featuring classics like Al Pastor and Suadero. Zoom in and discover charming details. From the wool on Alberto to the recreation of the Skurpy logo, it’s all crafted in Excel. Muy bueno!

Next, we see Alberto the Alpaca driving a wind-up toy-inspired car in “That’s The Life”. The animation shifts between darker and lighter scenes that could represent night and day or perhaps it is Alberto driving through a tunnel. In the daylight, playful background characters appear, once again crafted with Excel. The animations were made using Keynote. Truly a creative contribution to the digital art world. Find all of Al-san’s creations here.

Mek.txt: Pixel Artist, Designer, and Developer

Another force of nature in the Tezos community is Mek.txt, also known as Michael Micasso. This artist and developer has been creating and innovating on Tezos since June 2022, producing pixel art, designing cover art, collaborating on music NFTs, building tools to support other artists, and more. Mek is also a skilled typographer who creates custom fonts.

In the Music NFT “Ode to Adolescence”, a collaboration with Tito.png, Mek created the cover art and also contributed to the music. The artwork captures a dreamy childhood feeling with two young men, possibly Mek and Tito, flying like superheroes with their instruments, a pet turtle, and a cat. The song is playful and catchy, with lyrics about living in the moment, which was easier to do in our youth. A fitting tribute to adolescence. Be sure to listen to the full song on Objkt with headphones for the best experience.

It’s in the name — Mek.txt has a deep appreciation for text-based art. A perfect example is his recent piece “Bronze Age Collapse”. At first glance, it looks like a crumbling city at sunset, caught between eras. But look closer. Mek brings back the look of 1980s DOS graphics, using the classic 1:2 character tile ratio. The tall silver towers resemble ancient ruins from the future. Tiny figures made from simple text characters populate the scene, giving it life and scale.

Bronze Age Collapse tells the story of a city in decline and captures a broader transition — from one age to another, both in the scene and in the style. Text-mode graphics were once the peak of digital imagination, and Mek.txt taps into that history with purpose. He’s reviving a visual language and showing that old tools can still express new ideas. Follow all things MEK.txt at his website here.

Loopascii: Gif Maker, Ascii, Glitch Art

Loopascii joined the Tezos scene in December 2023 and has stayed true to a clear visual language: ASCII. That’s the art of building images from plain text characters like letters, numbers, punctuation, arranged with intention. Scrolling through Loopascii’s works on Tezos from oldest to newest reveals the evolution of a signature style that’s both technically impressive and emotionally resonant.

In “Listening to Myself”, we see a figure in a hoodie leaning against a pole, headphones on, entirely composed of plain text characters. The glitchy movement creates a gentle breeze-like atmosphere while also suggesting internal noise. It raises the question: is the figure listening to music, or are those noise-canceling headphones enabling silence, letting them hear their own thoughts? The refined color palette hints at introspection, even sadness, as if they are “Feeling Blue.” And the smart use of negative space makes the piece visually calm despite the glitchy motion.

In a more recent work titled “Even If I Walk Alone, I Stay On The Right Path”, the red-hooded figure reappears, walking along a forest trail beside a river, with a horse visible across the water. The scene is richer and more complex than earlier pieces, suggesting a fusion of manipulated imagery with ASCII layers. What stands out most is how the glitching breathes life into the scene yet again, with water flowing, rain falling, trees swaying. It’s meditative and cinematic all at once. To enjoy all of the amazing work by Loopascii check out their Objkt portfolio here.

Share More Art, Nominations For ‘ART’icle of May Are Now Open

As we wrap up this month’s ‘ART’icle, it’s clear the creative energy flowing through the Tezos community keeps expanding. Each featured artist brings something special by offering fresh perspectives, pushing boundaries, and crafting experiences that resonate and inspire.

From playful animations to immersive audiovisuals and expressive text-based compositions, their work shows just how diverse and exciting this space can be.

If you’ve discovered an artist this month who deserves more attention, nominate them for the May edition! Just post about them on X using the hashtag #tezARTicle so we can find your recommendation.

Let’s keep lifting each other up and shining a light on the artists who make this ecosystem thrive. See you next month for another ‘ART’icle!

‘ART’icle Of April was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Five dApps and Developments That Can Help the Artist In You Thrive

From idea to creation, to organizing releases and maintaining visibility, the uphill climb is steep for the life of a working artist. It’s growing more important to utilize the tools available. We must continue adapting to rapidly evolving times, fueled mostly by technological innovation. To support your creative journey, here are five tools designed to streamline your workflow, enhance your presence, and understand your impact on the Tezos art community.

Bandog: On-Chain Insights Made Simple

Understanding what happens to your art after it’s minted is just as important as the art itself. It’s like having access to social media analytics but for NFTs. The data is there, buried in the blockchain, but navigating explorers can feel like decoding a flight manual. Bandog changes that.

Built on the Tzkt API, Bandog turns raw data into a clean and intuitive experience. You get a real-time look at wallet activity, sales trends, and collector behavior, without needing a degree in data science. One of its standout features is the curated network map, which visualizes wallet connections and interactions. It’s a powerful way to spot patterns, trace the journey of your tokens, or even sniff out suspicious activity. There’s even a hall of shame and a copy minter bulletin to help identify bad actors within the space.

What makes Bandog special is how personal it feels. As someone with years of on-chain history, it does so much more than show me stats, it reminds me of the relationships I’ve built through my art and community involvement. It’s a mirror to the social layer of Tezos, revealing the web of collectors, peers, and moments that shape my presence on-chain. It also points toward new connections waiting to happen. See for yourself at bandog.pet.

NFTBiker: Multi Tool NFT Command Center

NFTBiker has quietly become one of the most powerful all-in-one resources for Tezos artists. Airdrop assistant, sales tracker, minting history, wallet analytics. You name it, it’s probably there. It feels like having a backstage control panel for your entire Tezos art career.

NFTBiker offers a deep set of tools designed for both artists and collectors. For artists specifically, it brings practical features like batching, airdrops, and swap management into one clean dashboard. You can also instantly view your entire release history, track secondary market sales, and even generate a visual gallery of your work.

Some tools are free and open to everyone. Others are “token-locked” and only become accessible if you hold specific NFTBiker NFTs. These token-gated tools offer deeper insights and added functionality, giving dedicated users a more advanced set of utilities while helping fund the project. In other words, it’s a way to support the developer while unlocking premium features that can really upgrade your workflow.

NFTBiker is the tool I’ve used to track sales and execute airdrops since the early days of HEN. Once you start using it, it’s hard to imagine managing your Tezos art practice without it. Start benefiting from these tools at nftbiker.xyz.

Tezos Domains: Identity For Brand and Wallet Management

Your wallet address can become part of your brand. Tezos Domains lets you register a clean, human-readable name with the .tez extension and link it directly to your wallet. Instead of copying and pasting a long string of letters and numbers, you can share something memorable.

For artists, this is an extremely convenient upgrade that adds a layer of discoverability. A Tezos domain also looks better on your website, your X bio, and in collectors’ wallets. It gives your identity consistency across platforms and makes it easier for people to find you, tag you, and connect with your work. It also builds trust. A recognizable domain signals that you’re established and intentional about your presence.

These domains integrate directly with Tezos wallets like Kukai and Temple, and they’re supported across NFT marketplaces. That means your Tezos domain will show up instead of your raw wallet address when collectors interact with your profile or trade your art. It’s a small detail that adds up, especially as your visibility grows.

On a technical level, domains are minted as FA2 NFTs, so ownership is handled right on-chain. You can transfer, sell, or even assign subdomains for collaborations, alternate identities, or different creative roles. Artists managing multiple projects can use Tezos Domains to stay organized and categorize their releases.

The platform is community-governed through a DAO, which means you can get involved in shaping the future of the service. From proposals to voting, $TED token holders can influence how features roll out and how the platform evolves. This kind of transparent, artist-friendly governance shows that Tezos Domains is built to last as a vital tool for the Tezos community.

Whether you’re new to the scene or already building your brand, securing a Tezos domain is one of the easiest and most effective ways to step up your presence in the ecosystem. Grab your Tezos Domain at app.tezos.domains.

CryptoNoises: Instantly Get Notified Of Wallet Activity

CryptoNoises is a real-time notification tool that lets you hear when wallet activity happens on the Tezos blockchain. Designed with simplicity and creativity in mind, it notifies users of wallet events like sales, transfers, mints, and more. You can literally listen to your on-chain presence come to life.

The tool is available as a Discord bot and a Telegram bot, making it easy to integrate into your daily online activities. Once set up, you can monitor any wallet address and receive audio cues each time a transaction occurs. Whether it’s your own sales, a new mint, or a collector making moves, CryptoNoises makes sure you stay tuned in to what’s happening with your on-chain activity and interests.

To learn more or try it for yourself, visit the website here.

TEIA Copyright Registration: Protect Your Work, On-Chain

The need for better tools to protect artists’ intellectual property rises with every copy mint, a Web3 term for plagiarized work. Teia is actively developing a copyright registration feature designed to help artists establish authorship directly on the Tezos blockchain. Once live, this tool will provide a streamlined way to create a verifiable, on-chain record that ties your artwork to a timestamp and wallet address.

The concept is simple but powerful. By registering a work during or after the minting process, artists will be able to generate an immutable record that could serve as proof of creation. This could deter misuse of original art and offer peace of mind to creators who want to protect their work without relying on traditional, centralized systems.

The system is being designed to store a hash of the artwork and relevant metadata on-chain. This allows for easy verification of authorship while maintaining user privacy and respecting decentralized principles. It’s another step in TEIA’s ongoing mission to empower artists through open tools, transparency, and community-driven innovation.

While the feature is still in development, its announcement signals a growing commitment in the Tezos ecosystem to artist rights and creative sovereignty. As the space matures, tools like this will become essential for establishing trust, provenance, and protection in a digital-first world.

Why Not Give It A Try

Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed while navigating your Tezos journey, remember that there’s a community constantly supporting each other and sharing what they learn along the way. Tezos developers often become artists, and artists often begin to code. The digital commonwealth breeds the motivation to innovate.

This creates a sea of experimental tools built out of necessity, some more known than others. These tools can help in your daily Tezos activities and give you more time to focus on creating. Use them, and consider supporting the developers when possible. When you find a useful tool, share it with the community. Developers have just as hard a time getting seen as we artists do.

We are still in the Wild West era of the blockchain space, so grab the best gear available and saddle up. Let’s ride into the future as prepared as possible.

5 Useful Tools For Tezos Artists was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Picture checking your phone on match‑day morning, only to realize one card can double Bruno’s points.

Manchester United’s digital collectibles have shown how Web3 can reshape the fan experience. Think trading cards, fantasy lineups, and actual rewards tied to real games. Now they’ve added something new: Wild Cards. With this update, Fantasy United feels more like a game fans will want to check in on each week.

What are Wild Cards?

Wild Cards don’t sit quietly in your collection. They shift how your team scores and change how you approach each lineup. If you’re paying attention, they open up a layer of strategy that goes beyond picking the highest-rated players.

At a glance, they look like bonus cards. You add one to your five-player Fantasy United squad, and your team’s scoring potential changes. But it’s not a flat boost. Each card brings a different effect, which means timing and lineup choices start to matter.

How the Multipliers Work

Old Trafford — doubles every player’s points

Manager — 1.5× boost to the whole squad

Attack — doubles forwards, adds a small team bonus

Defense — same for defenders, adds a small team bonus

Picking stars alone won’t cut it anymore. You’re now thinking about form, matchups, and which Wild Card might give you the edge in a tight leaderboard race. Even if you’re competing in a private league, the extra layer adds something important: choice.

Wild Cards sit in the right‑hand panel. Click “Play Card” before the deadline to activate one. Why It Matters for Strategy

When Fantasy United first launched, it felt like a fun way to give the collectible cards some purpose. Now, with Wild Cards, the experience has more depth. It plays even more like a fantasy game, with decisions that affect the outcome.

Stack Bruno and Garnacho, drop the Attack card, and suddenly every run they make feels personal. Goals mean points, and points move you up the leaderboard.

Say United’s up against a weaker team, and you feel confident. Play the Old Trafford Wild Card, and your squad’s score doubles.

Points aren’t the only thing they change. They make you think differently in the game. You start watching matchups, adjusting strategy, and feeling more like someone managing the outcome, not just picking names.

How to Get One

The setup’s simple. Wild Cards are part of the same £3 packs as the regular Player Trading Cards, available through the official site. Each pack has seven cards. You won’t find a Wild Card in every pack you open, but they’re in the mix.

Look for this banner on the collectibles site. A £3 pack contains seven cards, and a Wild Card can appear at random.

On 4 April 2025, the club announced a free Rúben Amorim Wild Card in an official post. It went to anyone watching the official channels or active on Discord. If you missed it, now’s a good time to start paying attention. The best cards don’t always come with a price tag.

Unknowns & Next Steps

Wild Cards are fun, but parts of the rulebook remain blank:

Rarity stacking — Do Rare and Ultra‑Rare multipliers layer on top of a Wild Card?

Score caps — Is there a ceiling to stop runaway totals?

Future roles — Will midfield‑ or goalkeeper‑focused cards arrive next?

For now, the mystery is half the appeal. As new managers join, we’ll see whether the devs spell out the details or keep the sandbox feel.

Most NFT cards end up as collectibles. They’re something to own, not use. Wild Cards change that. They shift how you play, reward timing, and give you more to think about each week. It’s a simple idea but adds enough depth to keep things interesting.

If your squad’s been on autopilot, drop a Wild Card and see what changes. Just don’t blame me if Rashford bags the week you double him.

Manchester United Wild Cards: A New Twist on Fantasy Collectors was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The market might be ugly, but Tezos is quietly laying down serious foundations.

Let’s face it, the crypto market hasn’t exactly been sunshine and rainbows over the last couple of weeks. Prices have dipped, engagement has slowed, and the general vibe across the space has been… well, kind of gloomy. It’s the environment where people unplug, projects go quiet, and the hype dies down.

But here’s the thing: in the Tezos ecosystem, things haven’t stopped. In fact, they’ve been speeding up. There’s real momentum here. Not hype-fueled, not VC-manufactured, just steady, meaningful progress. And in times like these, that counts for a lot. Let’s take a closer look at what I mean.

Etherlink: EVM With a Tezos Twist

Let’s start with the new kid on the block, Etherlink, which is Tezos’ new EVM-compatible Layer 2. Unlike many other rollups out there, Etherlink is fully decentralized, permissionless, and built with Tezos’ signature upgradeability. And it’s not just a spec on a roadmap. It’s live, with projects deploying and actual activity happening.

With more than 30 projects building on it, it is surely growing and establishing its name in the EVM space, from decentralized exchanges and on-chain order books to lending aggregators, real-world asset tokenizations, and smooth bridges to move funds in and out of the ecosystem. Add to that programs like Apple Farm that incentivize liquidity providing some of the juicy APYs in the blockchain defi space, and it’s no wonder why it’s growing fast.

Tezos Upgrades: Shipping Nonstop

Next we have the core of Tezos, which is upgradability, not just a buzzword here, but something that actually happens through on-chain governance, and happens often. Tezos continues to evolve through regular, community-driven protocol upgrades. If you’ve been around a while, it’s easy to take this for granted. But that pace and consistency? It’s rare in the crypto world.

And these upgrades aren’t just surface-level tweaks. We’re talking full-on consensus changes, major reductions in block times, the launch of enshrined optimistic rollups like Etherlink, improvements to the economic model of the protocol, the introduction of the new staking mechanism, and plenty more. These are the pieces that form the backbone of the Tezos X vision, and they keep landing, block after block.

The most recent upgrade proposal named “Rio” (the 18th in line) is currently being voted on, and you can find more information on it on Tezos Agora.

Real-World Assets: From Talk to Action

Real-world asset tokenization is one of the hottest narratives in crypto right now. But on Tezos, it’s more than just talk. Take Uranium.io, for example, a project bringing uranium ownership on-chain. It’s a niche asset, sure, but one that’s traditionally inaccessible to most people. With Uranium.io, owning a slice of uranium can be done in just three steps, and it’s all transparent, on-chain, and Tezos-native.

Recently, the project also launched a gamified experience called Uranium Mining, where users can mine uranium points by playing, and eventually convert them into real uranium-backed tokens. This kind of utility-driven approach is exactly what Tezos is good at: making real, tangible value accessible through solid tech, not hype, but actual use cases in motion.

The Art Scene: Still a Powerhouse

Even in the bear market, the Tezos art ecosystem remained one of the most vibrant corners of crypto and platforms like objkt.com, fx(hash), Skurpy, and teia are still bustling. Artists continue to mint, collectors continue to collect, and the culture is thriving, not because of incentives or marketing, but because of genuine passion and community support.

What makes the Tezos art scene so special is that it’s not just about flipping JPEGs, it’s about curation, collaboration, connections, and real artistic expression. Events like exhibitions, open calls, and community-led galleries keep the creative momentum going, even when the broader market cools.

While other chains chase volume with hype and gimmicks, Tezos still feels like a place where art matters. It’s community-first, not marketing-first, and that’s rare. It’s not just a marketplace, it’s a movement.

Gaming: A Slow-Burning Rocket

Tezos also sees real movement in gaming. A number of games have already launched or are integrating with the ecosystem, including titles like BattleRise and Sugar Match, and even gamified DeFi-style projects like the Uranium Mining game from Uranium.io, with many more games and announcements on the way. It’s not just speculation or trailers; it’s actual games, playable and progressing, right now.

These games are a great signal of the kind of momentum that’s building beneath the surface. The devs and studios behind them are choosing Tezos and Etherlink because the tools are solid, the fees are low, the support is amazing, and the community shows up. And with even more (big) announcements coming, it’s another reminder that things are actually happening on Tezos, not months from now, but right here, right now.

Beyond the headlines and hype cycles, there are a lot of builders quietly pushing things forward on Tezos. From wallets and marketplaces to DAOs, mobile apps, and tools, new ideas are being shipped all the time. You might not see them on a big stage or in a viral thread, but they’re deep in the Discords, shipping on GitHub, and iterating in the open.

These are the people who show up even when the charts are red. The ones building not for the “pump”, but because they believe in the tech, the community, and the long game.

And when you zoom out, that energy is everywhere, in the tools being built, the art being minted, the DeFi taking shape, and the games being launched.

So next time someone says “nothing’s happening in crypto,” tell them to look a little closer. Or better yet, hand them a wallet and a few tez. Let them see for themselves.

The market might be quiet. But Tezos? Tezos is rocking and rolling!

Market’s Quiet Phase, Tezos’ Busiest Hour was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Welcome back to another edition of The Baking Sheet, your weekly download on everything Tezos.

This week, we’re shifting into event mode. With summer fast approaching, the spotlight turns to TezDev, the annual gathering for builders, creators, and everyone shaping the Tezos ecosystem. Alongside that, we’ve got insights from Arthur Breitman at ETHDenver, a new community event called Tezos Gaming Night, and a fresh update from the Stables team in this week’s Game Spotlight.

Let’s get into it.

TezDev 2025: The Community Comes to Cannes

The countdown is on—TezDev is headed to the French Riviera.

📍 Cannes, France🗓 Thursday, July 3, 2025

After a packed house in Brussels last summer, TezDev is returning with a fresh coast, new ideas, and the same spirit of collaboration that’s made it the flagship gathering of the Tezos community.

TezDev 2024 brought in more than 700 attendees and featured names like Arthur Breitman, Justin Drake, and Tarun Chitra—each offering sharp perspectives on where Tezos fits in a rapidly evolving ecosystem. This year, expect more builders, more conversations, and a focus on making things real.

From technical workshops to ecosystem deep-dives, TezDev 2025 will be packed with:

Panels and demos from teams building on Tezos and Etherlink

New reveals across gaming, DeFi, and real-world assets

Networking with developers, designers, and community members

Early bird tickets for TezDev 2025 are now available, and the first 100 will receive exclusive swag at the event, secure your spot here.

Bring Your JavaScript Skills—We’ll Handle the Blockchain Part

Jstz (pronounced “justice”) is a new JavaScript runtime powered by Tezos Smart Rollups, and it's designed for developers who want to build decentralized applications without switching stacks or learning a new language. No special compilers. No custom syntax. Just JavaScript as you know it with access to the transparency, security, and composability of Tezos Layer 2.

You can write smart functions, store data, move tokens, and interact with Tezos infrastructure using standard JS and npm modules all inside a local sandbox that’s easy to spin up and test. And right now, the team is looking for your feedback to help shape Jstz from the ground up.

Jstz is still experimental, but it already lets you:

Write and deploy smart functions with standard JavaScript.

Run apps locally with preloaded test accounts and Tezos tokens.

Use your favorite tools, libraries, and frameworks.

Explore examples like messaging boards, counters, and full dashboards.

No blockchain experience? No problem. This is a playground for JavaScript developers, not a gated protocol for Solidity pros.

Here’s how to get started:

Install the CLI and launch the sandbox.

Try the

get-tez

, show-tez, or counter examples.

Deploy a smart function and call it from the CLI or web UI.

Submit your thoughts in the Developer Experience Survey.

If you’re among the first to complete the survey, you’ll receive an exclusive Jstz OG NFT.

This is JavaScript for real decentralized apps where your code runs on a rollup, stores data immutably, and scales with Tezos. No wallet integrations yet, no mainnet deployment, but all the tools are there for you to explore what’s possible.

Explore the full docs, examples, and SDKs on the Jstz GitHub.

Let’s build.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Arthur Breitman Talks L2s, Tezos Upgrades, and Tokenized Uranium at ETHDenver

With TezDev 2025 on the horizon and developers starting to test-drive Jstz, let’s turn our focus to what’s been happening across the Tezos ecosystem this week.

At ETHDenver 2025, Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman sat down with Genzio CEO for a wide-ranging conversation that covered the current L2 landscape, the ongoing evolution of Tezos, and what it means to bring real-world assets like uranium on-chain.

Arthur unpacked how Tezos is continuing to scale with Smart Rollups and what sets the network apart in terms of governance and long-term architecture. The conversation also spotlighted Uranium.io, the first on-chain uranium marketplace, and how it signals a shift in how we think about tokenizing access to hard assets.

🎥 Watch the full interview

Tezos Gaming Nights: Weekly Streams, Familiar Vibes

As developer activity heats up and protocol upgrades hit the finish line, it’s worth stepping back to see what all that infrastructure enables. One example? Tezos Gaming Nights.

Started by the Tezos Commons team late last year, Tezos Gaming Nights is a weekly livestream that brings Web3 games to life—without all the jargon. Hosted by Blangs and AJ, the stream goes live on Tuesdays at 4:30 PM PST and features two games per session: one built on Tezos and one more familiar to mainstream audiences.

The format is simple and relaxed: no scripted intros, no slide decks—just gameplay. The team kicks things off with a Tezos-native title like Pikes Arena or Auto Hero, talking through what’s happening as they go. If it looks fun, that’s the point. Web3 concepts are baked in, but never front and center.

The second half of the stream usually shifts to something familiar, from Counter-Strike 2 to Once Human. Lately, it’s been the Tezos Community Minecraft Server, a nostalgic, easy-entry game that’s brought new players into the ecosystem without needing wallets or whitepapers. The Tezos Community Minecraft Server is coming alive and guess what we’re building next?

That’s right, we’re building a Uranium mine! In addition to this, other community members have built some incredible creations like a TEIA Marketplace or TED Towers that represent Tezos Domains. We also have artists building their own installations on the server. If you’re interested in joining the server, DM @TezosGaming on X and he will get you situated with your own mailbox.

What sets Tezos Gaming Nights apart is the emphasis on playing, not explaining. It’s not about pitching use cases, it’s about showing what’s already live. If someone can click a link and jump into a Tezos-powered game without thinking twice, that’s the kind of onboarding that sticks.

Want to join the fun? Follow @TezosCommons and catch the next stream this Tuesday. Play, hang out, or just see what’s possible when gaming meets Tezos.

Game Spotlight: Stables

Fresh tracks, new leagues, more strategy—Stables just got a full makeover.

The beta of the updated game is now live, bringing a wave of new gameplay mechanics and visual upgrades that deepen the experience for racers and strategists alike.

Here’s what’s new:

Revamped UI – A cleaner, smoother interface makes it easier than ever to navigate, race, and manage your stable.

Leagues System – Horses are now grouped by level, ensuring more balanced matchups and competitive races.

Dynamic Racetracks – Each league features 3 daily tracks, complete with rotating weather, terrain, and distance conditions every 12 hours.

Quests – Daily and weekly objectives keep players engaged and rewarded with S-Points and bonuses.

Power-Ups – Introduce a new tactical layer. Activate boosts at key moments during registration to change your race outcome—especially in higher leagues where multiple boosts can be stacked.

Mood System – Adds another dimension to race-day decisions, letting players factor in their horse’s mental state for optimized performance.

This update moves Stables toward a more strategic and rewarding racing ecosystem, making gameplay decisions matter more while maintaining its play-and-earn approach.

You can jump into the beta right now at: app.playstables.io

Upcoming Events

Arthur Breitman at Token2049: Uranium On-Chain

Join Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman at Token2049 in Dubai for a keynote exploring how Tezos is unlocking access to new markets through tokenization.

Arthur will share insights on bringing commodities like uranium on-chain, and how Tezos is pushing boundaries with real-world asset infrastructure.

🗓️ Date: April 30⏰ Time: 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM📍 Location: io.net Amphitheatre Stage, Token2049 Dubai

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear how Tezos is expanding the frontier of what’s possible with Web3.

🔴 Now Streaming: : Baking with Libertez

This week on TezTalks Live, we’re joined by Fernando Fierro—aka Libertez—Tezos baker, advocate, and educator. From the banking crisis in Argentina to crypto-powered solutions in Venezuela, Fernando shares how Tezos is gaining ground in one of the world’s most active regions for real-world blockchain adoption.

Our special guest is Libertez, bringing Tezos to the streets of Latin America.

🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:

Libertez’s Journey: – From baker to educator, how Fernando is helping communities navigate financial uncertainty with Tezos.

Crypto in the Real World: – Why Latin America has become a proving ground for practical, everyday crypto use cases.

Banking, Inflation & Access: – How Tezos can support unbanked populations and offer stability in volatile economies.

Education & Onboarding: – What’s needed to grow Tezos adoption, and how language, tools, and community play a role.

What’s Next: – The future of Tezos in Latin America and how Libertez is helping shape it.

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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Tezos Community Rewards — March 2025

Announcing the CRP Winners for March 2025!

Greetings Tezos Community,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the “Community Rewards Program” CRP for the month of March 2025!

For more details about the various categories please refer to the rewards page on the Tezos Commons website.

The Community Rewards Program is a Tezos Commons Foundation initiative aimed at fostering adoption and supporting the Tezos ecosystem. Every month up to 5,000 tez are rewarded to those that stand out in merit and act in the interest of the Tezos ecosystem as a whole.

In an endeavor to make it easier for community members to nominate their favorite contributors to the ecosystem, the nomination form has been drastically streamlined. Now containing only three questions, it takes less than 30 seconds to submit a nomination.

Don’t have 30 seconds? You can tag any discord message, Reddit post or tweet with #TezosCRP and we will collect them as well!

This is the fifth iteration of the program and we will continue to make changes based on community feedback. Just like the Tezos blockchain, we will be continually evolving this program.

Numerous factors are used when evaluating submissions such as, quality of submissions, quality of activity, number of submissions, and verifiable proof of activity done by the nominee (no single factor is determinative of a winner, as all factors were weighed to select winners). The judges would like to note that for each category, they are looking for the respective monthly related activity meaning submissions should reflect activities done for that current month, i.e.; month of February activities.

Without further delay here are the results of the winners, below.

Drill Sergeant Award

@_TransparentArt

@michaelmicasso

@NFTBiker

Helping Hand Award

@TheTezos

@LMTGT_

@AuRo404

@paraxenod

@spike_0124

Influencer Award

@AmirMushich

@Albert_1Camus

@pocobelli

@marco_port

@dexp0nential

Tez Dev Award

@webidente

@skllzarmy

@JestemZero

@mightymoss

@FromFriends__

@proto_designer

Assimilation Award

@arijitmondal1

@_thisisaraid

@IvanaOnTheBlock

@SkullDegenClub_

@artcommissiontz

@scunitez

@001failure

Patissier Award

@blockbakery

@libertez_baker

@Zir0h

@AnonBakery

@riseuptez

Tezos Tutor Award

@TozartWeb3 (previously @TezosNFTMusic)

@moneyevery3days

@TeraBitcoins

@malsheep56

Formal Verification Award

@TezosTeddy

@retro_manni

TEO Award

@Linum_tez

@ryangtanaka

@elfearsfoxsox

Nominations Are Open For April

With April underway, we have begun accepting nominations for this month. If you know someone who deserves a reward for their contributions to the community or have ideas about other categories that should be recognized, then please fill out a nomination form located here, or you can tag a post (or discord message) with #TezosCRP.

As mentioned previously, we are still working on long-term improvements to this program. We know this program is far from perfect, so please bear with us while we strive to improve this program based on community feedback. Stay tuned, stay creative, and keep nominating!

As a reminder to the reward winners, the awards are all distributed through Kukai and DirectAuth. If you have issues claiming your awards, please message us here.

Tezos Community Rewards — March 2025 was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How TEIA Could Resurrect The Original Music dApp on Tezos

Back when Hicetnunc (HEN) first took off, there was a massive influx of art on Tezos. This flood of artists world wide, minting incredible creations from every style, included a wave of music. However, there was a different dApp doing the heavy lifting to get the music heard in an otherwise visually dominant digital art world. It worked in harmony with Hicetnunc, serving as a separate hub to host and showcase all of the amazing music being minted on HEN.

When you wanted to specifically discover new music on Tezos, you could go to HEN Radio, and instantly begin listening to music minted/published on Tezos. This site was simple, humble, and raw, but it performed a very powerful service of automatically indexing audio NFTs across Tezos network as they were minted. In other words, when a music artist would drop an audio based NFT on Hicetnunc, it would instantly appear on the Hen Radio feed. This made it much easier for music lovers to enjoy music on Tezos.

For a moment, it felt like Tezos based art platforms were syncing and flowing together in a way that could have solved one of the bigger challenges for music NFTs, making them equally accessible in a world dominated by visual content. In this article I want to remember this amazing platform with all of you. Let’s take a look at what it was, what it is now, and what it could be, if HEN Radio were to be resurrected.

What Happened To Hen Radio?

Hen Radio was revolutionary for its time, but it had some inevitable battles to fight both with markets and infrastructure. Music files are large, and musicians often don’t like compression. This creates larger upkeep cost for sites that host music sharing. When you also factor in cover art, this alone could explain why music sharing is complicated and expensive to host both in Web2 and Web3.

Eventually Hen Radio developers had to disable the feature that was syncing new mints automatically. You can still visit the site and listen to earlier music NFTs, but it’s become more of a time capsule, not a place to discover new music.

Making Music on Tezos Today

Music on Tezos is still alive, but it’s scarce and we need more tools for curation and discovery. The truth is that music remains underrepresented across legacy social media and most NFT marketplaces. Outside of the monopolized streaming giants paying fractions of pennies per stream to artists, there’s little infrastructure for independent artists to be heard, let alone thrive.

Where do listeners even find new music these days? Discovery is fragmented. Links are shared on social media, but visibility depends on being in the right place at the right time, or knowing the right people. Outside of mainstream pop culture and billboard charts, there are few options for independent artists and potential fans to collide organically.

Because few options exist, interest is apparent, especially through initiatives like TezTones, with live shows and artist competitions. The response from Tezos community over the first two seasons of TezTones Artletics Premier League alone shows that the appetite is there, but the tools needed to support those artists have yet to fully materialize. In an NFT space built on visual media, music is still looking for its lane.

That’s why the conversation around reviving HEN Radio matters, and I am excited to see them taking place in TEIA community chats.

How TEIA Is Working to Revive HEN Radio

TEIA is the community-driven evolution of hicetnunc, formed to preserve and extend the hen legacy. Today, teia.art runs on an improved version of the original Hicetnunc smart contract. Within this decentralized ecosystem, conversations about bringing HEN Radio back are ongoing.

People are working behind the scenes, and there are real challenges to overcome. Whether you’re a musician or a lover of music, to become part of the conversation, you can join the TEIA community discord here, and look for the hen-radio sub channel.

Currently, one of the biggest changes needed is related to compression. Many music artists want to mint audio NFTs as uncompressed WAV files, which are great for quality, but rough for infrastructure. Especially when you’re trying to stream every song minted on an entire blockchain, this is where early Hen Radio devs ran into the most trouble. To address this, TEIA community is discussing the development of a minting flow that will auto-generate a compressed MP3 version for playback, while preserving the original uncompressed file for collectors.

There’s also a new minting page in discussions, that would be tailored specifically for audio. This will streamline the process for musicians, reduce bloated file uploads, and align with re-establishing the automatic indexing that once made HEN Radio such a powerful tool.

The codebase has already been migrated to a more modern Next.js framework, laying the foundation for scalable progress. Everything is open source and available on github here, so the ground work is there to build upon.

The TEIA team has been transparent. Working with audio on-chain is more complex than image files. It takes more time, more storage, and more care. But the drive to bring music back to life with hen radio is real and growing. With a solid plan and break down of funding needed, the ground work to bring this program to life is right in front of us.

Why It Matters

Web3, at its core, is about ownership, autonomy, and access. But without music, where’s the soul?

Right now, most blockchain music lives in social feeds. A post, a few listens, and then it’s buried by the algorithm. Discovery is broken. Streaming is almost nonexistent. You can mint a track, sure, but where does it go to be discovered by new ears?

That’s why tools like HEN Radio matter. It made music feel alive, current, connected, with the space to breathe and get heard. At its height, it wasn’t a stretch to believe that Web3 could empower music artists rather than exploit them like the current industry giants do, and there is a chance for new heights still.

If Web3 wants to carry that torch, it has to remember what came before it. Music doesn’t follow markets. It follows people. And when people come together around music, thats what makes waves. A key recipe to any revolution. That was the spirit of early HEN Radio, and that same spirit can rise again.

Build the Stream, and Music Will Flow

Even if HEN Radio isn’t fully functional yet, the tide is turning. The music industry is changing. This is the moment for independent artists to build something new and as a musician, this movement is very close to my heart and soul.

We see pioneers continue to innovate out of pure passion, like with Agoria Music releasing his generative music project “Getaway” in December of 2024. This project showcased how music itself can expand as an art form in harmony with web3.

If you’re a music artist, don’t wait. Keep minting. Keep showing up. Your sound gives the internet its soul. Tezos blocks may be produced like a steady heartbeat , but the rhythm, the resonance, the life? That’s you.

To the wider Tezos community, this is your call to action. Music deserves better tools, better support, and better visibility. Whether you’re a dev, a designer, a collector, or just someone who feels what music brings, your help matters. Join the conversation and help build the future of music on Tezos.

The stage of Hen Radio is still there. Let’s refurbish it. Let’s turn the volume back up and jam out!

Remembering HEN Radio was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Cracking The Case On What’s Happening @ WTF_Gameshow

Over many years of scrolling through social media, I’ve been invited into more random group chats than I can count. However, there’s always that rare occasion when an internet friend is inviting you to something significant. That’s what happened to me around this time last year. Suddenly, I’m in a chat called the “Green Room,” and it was lit up with active conversation. These were familiar faces too including some pillars of the Tezos community.

I’ve been around this ecosystem long enough to know when something interesting is happening, so I decided to stick around and see WTF this chat was all about. Turns out, it was a waiting room of sorts for a game show called, “WTF Game Show Is This?” The name alone suggests confusion. Is it a game? A social experiment? A test of endurance? In short, yes. It’s a game of charming chaos. I didn’t survive Season 1, but now the game show is in the midst of its second season and I’m starting to get the hang of it, I think. I’m definitely invested and ready to survive till the end, maybe.

That’s why I want to dive in with an article that hopefully demystifies this charming initiative hidden behind dramatized confusion, so more Tezos friends can understand WTF is going on with this game show.

What Is This Game Show?

At its core, WTF Game Show is a survival-based challenge that brings together Tezos all-stars to compete in unpredictable challenges and earn unique prizes. The mastermind behind this game is @_transparentart, the same creative force behind This Is A Raid, which was covered in a recent Tezos Commons article.

The concept is simple. Players must make it through each round to stay in the game, with each round ending in prizes for survivors and grand prizes at the finish line. But while survival might seem like a simple goal, the reality is far from it.

There are many mini-games in the group chat, and things can get pretty competitive. Part of the game’s purpose is to build stronger connections within the Tezos community, and to do that, people need to see each other for more than just their online persona. The group chat is a playground where we all get to be ourselves, for better or for worse, as we compete to win glory and amazing Tezos art.

How To Survive The Rounds

One thing that seems to trip up players is trying to keep up with the group chat. At the end of the day, what matters most is keeping up with the posts on the timeline of the WTF Game Show X account. Anything mandatory for survival will be clearly explained in official posts and on a Google spreadsheet commonly linked in the posts. You can try to get clarity about challenges in the chat, and you might even get a jump start on tasks as they are first mentioned. You might even win some auctions, but for the most part the group chat is a stream of banter, memes, and general shenanigans. This is part of the fun, and it creates a sense of community that wouldn’t exist just by waiting for posts with instructions and updates to a spreadsheet.

Round 0 Was A Race To Earn $WTF

Sometimes, the goal is to acquire game tokens called $WTF, which don’t hold a dollar value as there is no pool to trade them, but they are often used for spontaneous auctions, and more. That’s why the game began with players needing to accumulate them. For round 0 of Season 2, there were dozens of tasks players could complete to earn $WTF. At the end of the round, the top 50 holders moved to the next stage. The tasks were wholesome and fun, from attending key Tezos spaces on X to nominating people for Tezos CRP, and many creative challenges in between.

I did all the tasks I possibly could and earned more than enough $WTF to survive round 0, which allowed me to bid on auctions in the group chat, earning some amazing Tezos NFTs as bonus prizes on top of the incredible Round 0 Survivor token, “Show No Mercy!” by @normalistoxic , pictured below.

Round 1 Was A Game Of Strategic Trading

For round 1, the $WTF tokens were only used as a utility in the sense that holdings at the end of the round didn’t matter. However, auctions in the group chat hosted by the WTF Game Show account allowed players to bid in $WTF to acquire NFTs of certain letters (very artsy letters), but this was before the announcement of the win conditions.

Instead of surviving by accumulating $WTF, the win condition was unique to each player and based on trading letter NFTs with others in the group until each player fulfilled their unique assignments. “Send an A, Receive a C, Buy a D, Hold A & E” is an example of the win condition, so naturally, chaos followed.

Players frantically posted their needs in the chat, offering to trade this for that. Then there was an option to place specific offers on Objkt, to be accepted by WTF Gameshow based on certain criteria. Somehow, I managed to finish my win condition early, but at the time of writing many players are still struggling to survive the round.

It’s important to note that WTF Game Show did not even attempt to profit off of players in these Objkt offer challenges. The tez needed to place offers were airdropped to each player, courtesy of TransparentArt.

Round 1 Horse Trading Side Quest

Round 1 introduced the “WTF Is A Horse?” Creation Challenge, a Tezos tradition turned competitive side quest. Contestants were challenged to make horse-themed NFTs under a collaborative collection on Objkt.

Players created, minted, and traded horse NFTs to accumulate the largest herd. Various incentives rewarded creativity and strategy: minting a horse earned 30 $WTF, collaborating with a friend earned 20 more, and collecting the most horses won a 1/1 NFT by Acid_Reindeer. A wildcard twist challenged players to create a “0% Horse,” a horse NFT with no actual horse in it. With bartering, networking, and a touch of absurdity, this challenge embodied the game’s unpredictable charm.

The Game Shows True Purpose

Beyond the confusion and competition, WTF Game Show serves a greater purpose, bringing the Tezos community together in a way that’s both fun and meaningful. The prizes are unique works from Tezos artists, commissioned specifically for the show. The challenges encourage players to engage with the Tezos ecosystem. This creates a cycle where artists are supported, collectors get excited to be involved, and the Tezos community as a whole benefits.

So… WTF Is Happening Now?

With Season 2 well underway and nearing the end of round 1, I find myself more invested than ever. The plots are thickening, the stakes are rising, and apparently the next round is a “Unpopularity Contest”, so drama will intensify too.

Whether I’ll make it to the end this time is still up in the air, but one thing’s for sure, this is one of the most entertaining social experiments on Tezos right now. Follow along here, and if you ever find yourself suddenly added to a “Green Room” chat, don’t panic. Take a deep breath, look around, and remember, you might just be stepping into the WTF Game Show.

WTF Game Show Is This? Season 2 was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A weekly stream where we play Tezos games alongside familiar titles like Minecraft and Counter-Strike. No pitches, just gameplay.

Tezos Gaming Nights started late last year as a weekly stream from Tezos Commons. AJ and I run the show live most Tuesdays at 4:30 PM PST. Each episode features two games: one built on Tezos and one more familiar. We play, talk through the game as we go, and invite anyone who wants to jump in.

Each stream lasts 30 to 45 minutes and follows a simple format. We start with a Tezos game like Pikes Arena or Auto Hero and talk through what’s happening as we go. You don’t need to understand Web3. If it looks fun, that’s enough.

The second half of the stream usually shifts to something more familiar. We started with games like Once Human and Counter-Strike 2, but lately, we’ve been using that slot to explore the Tezos Community Minecraft Server. It’s familiar, easy to join, and lets people jump in while we’re playing. A few new players joined after watching, which was the goal from the start.

It’s not polished or scripted. It’s more of a hangout. Some people see a Tezos game for the first time, while others want to compare it with something they already know. Either way, we keep it relaxed and focused on playing.

We want to focus less on talk and more on gameplay. Instead of explaining what people are building on Tezos, we’d rather show it by playing. Web3 doesn’t need to be theoretical or locked behind complicated onboarding. If someone can click a link, load a game, and start playing, that’s the kind of experience we want to highlight.

We’ll keep streaming when we can. The goal’s the same: play some games, have a good time, and make space for people to join. Contact us if you’re building something on Tezos and want us to try it on stream.

We usually go live on Tuesdays at 4:30 PM PST. Watch, jump in, or hang out!

Follow @TezosCommons or join the stream next Tuesday to check it out.

Tezos Gaming Nights: Weekly Streams Featuring Tezos Games and Familiar Titles was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The pace hasn’t slowed down in the Tezos ecosystem, and this week, it’s all about progress at every layer from protocol to products. We’ve hit a major governance milestone with Rio crossing the quorum threshold, locking in the 18th Tezos protocol upgrade. That means new staking mechanics, faster cycles, and improved performance are just days away from being implemented on-chain.

On top of that, Etherlink continues to draw attention with new ecosystem partnerships and IRL community meetups, Lyzi secures funding to push Tezos adoption at the point-of-sale, and Apple Farm Episode 2 is on the horizon. And if you’re in the mood for games and gamma rays, there’s a new on-chain experience taking shape inside Uranium.io.

Let’s kick things off with the big one—Rio is locked in.

Rio Has Passed Quorum: The 18th Protocol Upgrade Is Official

After a successful vote and strong support from the Tezos baker community, the Rio protocol upgrade has officially passed the final quorum requirement, clearing the path for activation. With the Promotion period now closed and quorum surpassed, Rio is locked in and set to go live by April 30th as it enters the adoption phase.

This marks the 18th protocol upgrade in Tezos' on-chain governance history, and once again, it happened without forks, delays, or disruption.

What Will Rio Bring?

Rio introduces several changes designed to make the network faster, more responsive, and better optimized for scaling:

Shorter cycles: Tezos network cycles are being reduced from three days to just one, improving the speed of staking updates, reward distribution, and governance responsiveness.

DAL participation incentives: 10% of participation rewards will now go to bakers contributing to the Data Availability Layer (DAL), supporting rollup scalability and encouraging network-wide support for L2 activity.

Stronger validator responsiveness: Bakers will now be marked inactive after two days of missed activity instead of eight, leading to a more agile and secure validator set.

Gas adjustments: Wallet-to-wallet transaction gas costs will increase slightly to reflect storage needs, but smart contract fees remain unchanged.

Together, these changes sharpen the protocol’s staking mechanics, reinforce Tezos' scalability roadmap, and improve the experience for both bakers and developers.

Bakers: Time to Update to Octez v22.0

To prepare for Rio’s activation, all bakers and node operators should upgrade to Octez version 22.0. This new release includes support for Rio as well as important updates to baking operations and tooling:

DAL flag is now required: The

--without-dal

option is mandatory for protocol-dependent baker executables.

Experimental delegation rights calculation tool: A new RPC endpoint allows bakers and delegation platforms to better understand how delegators contribute to consensus rights.

Protocol-agnostic baker (experimental): Octez v22 introduces a new optional baking executable that dynamically adapts to the active protocol. For now, it’s only recommended for testnets like Ghostnet and Rionet.

Improved Debian packages: Operators using Debian-based systems should follow updated steps to handle package overwrites cleanly.

A full changelog, install instructions, and release details can be found here:Octez v22.0 Release Notes

With Rio now locked in, Tezos is once again proving how coordinated, in-protocol upgrades keep the network moving forward without compromise. Get ready for activation on April 30.

Lyzi Raises $1.4M to Scale Tezos-Powered Crypto Payments

Following the momentum of the Rio protocol upgrade, Tezos continues to attract real-world adoption, this time at the checkout counter. Lyzi, a crypto payments platform built on Tezos, has raised $1.42 million in a seed funding round to expand its crypto-for-retail infrastructure.

The raise included participation from notable angel investors Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines, founder of Dfns, and Jean-Luc Bernard, founder of Astek.

For those unfamiliar, Lyzi enables merchants to accept crypto at point-of-sale and receive fiat payouts directly to their bank accounts, making it easy for retailers to onboard digital payments without handling the volatility or complexity themselves. It’s designed for real-world use, from e-commerce stores to in-store checkouts, and its entire architecture is rooted in Tezos L1.

From Layer 1 to Etherlink

With fresh capital in hand, Lyzi is preparing to launch on Etherlink, Tezos’ EVM-compatible Layer 2 rollup. This will allow the platform to operate at higher speeds and lower costs while offering compatibility with Ethereum-based tooling and wallets.

As CEO Damien Patureaux put it:

“Our goal is to make accepting payments in crypto so easy that merchants have to ask themselves, ‘Why wouldn’t I do that?’”

Building on Etherlink marks a major step in Lyzi’s effort to scale across more markets and unlock new use cases for crypto payments. With retail adoption heating up and Tezos rollup infrastructure maturing quickly, the timing couldn’t be better.

Learn more about Lyzi and their merchant payment network here: lyzi.io/en

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Exaion Joins Etherlink as Validator and Hosts a Tezos Soirée in Paris

Validators joining the network is business as usual but this particular one deserves a closer look.

Exaion, a digital infrastructure provider backed by EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, has officially joined Etherlink as a validator. Known for deploying high-performance, energy-efficient data centers across Europe and North America, Exaion isn’t the type to follow hype cycles. Their involvement signals a deeper, more deliberate commitment to the Tezos stack.

Already a corporate baker on Tezos since 2020, Exaion now steps into a new role validating the Tezos Smart Rollup-powered Layer 2. On Etherlink, validators like Exaion confirm transactions and publish commitments back to Tezos L1 ensuring the rollup operates securely and transparently. It's technical work, but it also speaks volumes: they’re backing the network not just in principle, but with real infrastructure.

“By joining Etherlink as a Smart Rollup node operator, we can play a role in maintaining network security while providing a high-quality digital service to anyone using the chain,” said Fatih Balyeli, CEO and co-founder of Exaion.

Etherlink continues to attract new builders and projects from DeFi platforms like Spiko to payment and RWA experiments. With Exaion now validating, the network gains not only technical support, but credibility from a heavyweight outside the crypto-native space.

As Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos, noted:

“Rollup security relies on the presence of at least one honest validator. The more reputable parties validating the Etherlink rollup, the more robust it is.”

To mark the occasion, Nomadic Labs and Exaion co-hosted a Tezos Soirée during Paris Blockchain Week, gathering builders, ecosystem partners, and community members for an evening of conversations and connection. It was a fitting celebration for a network steadily gaining ground—one validator, and one meetup, at a time.

Apple Farm: Episode 2 Brings New APRs and Stablecoin Incentives

After two busy weeks of onchain yield hunting, Apple Farm has entered its second chapter and the incentives just got a serious update.

Episode 2 of Apple Farm is now live on Etherlink, with new mechanics, clearer returns, and a stronger focus on stablecoin opportunities. The rewards program is shifting with the market, and so is its messaging: 1 Apple now officially equals $0.001, and instead of abstract scores, participants will now see classic APRs displayed for each opportunity.

This new level of transparency gives users the ability to calculate expected returns in real time, all while encouraging deeper participation in the Etherlink ecosystem. And with Etherlink already climbing past $10M TVL, the timing couldn’t be better.

What’s New in Episode 2?

The second episode comes with a number of critical changes aimed at attracting more stable liquidity from users across other chains:

Stablecoin Pools Take Center Stage: New opportunities include supplying USDC, USDT, and WBTC on Superlend, alongside existing ones like XTZ and tokenized T-bills.

APR Overhaul: Forget the opaque "score" system—opportunities now display APR, giving DeFi users a familiar, predictable way to measure their rewards.

Uranium.io Doubles Down: Daily rewards for holding xU3o8 have been more than doubled, from 910K to 1.9M Apples per day, continuing to position tokenized uranium as one of the most attractive yield sources on Etherlink.

New Liquidity Pools on IguanaDEX: Added incentives for providing liquidity to the mTBILL/USDC and mBASIS/USDC pairs, diversifying exposure to both synthetic and stable assets.

Hanji Gets a Boost: Trading rewards have increased from 0.3 to 1 Apple per $1 traded, after data showed the original rewards weren’t keeping up with vault demand. Hanji's trading vault rewards were also adjusted to better reflect capacity limits.

Waitlist Boost Update

On April 9th, Etherlink distributed the long-anticipated waitlist boost. Anyone who joined the Apple Farm waitlist and claimed Apples before the deadline received a 10% boost on their Episode 1 farming totals—capped at a whopping 500,000 Apples for the most active users.

With APR-focused farming, expanded stablecoin incentives, and a transparent reward model, Episode 2 is shaping up to be a pivotal step in bringing deeper DeFi activity to Etherlink.

Head to applefarm.xyz to explore the latest opportunities and start farming.

Uranium Miner Game Goes Live: Tap to Stack, Refine, and Own

The team at Uranium.io, the world’s first on-chain uranium marketplace built on Etherlink, Tezos’ high-performance Layer 2, has just launched a mobile game with a real-world twist: Uranium Miner.

Uranium Miner turns daily taps into uranium shards, which can be refined into ownership claims for physical uranium safely stored in a regulated facility. It’s part of Uranium.io’s broader mission to make commodity markets more accessible, starting with one of the most important resources on the planet.

Here’s how it works:

Tap daily to collect uranium shards

Stack 100,000 shards to refine into physical uranium

Keep your streak going, the longer you mine, the faster you earn

Built on Tezos via Etherlink, Uranium.io leverages the security, speed, and composability of the network to unlock a new kind of on-chain real-world asset. With Uranium Miner, that access now fits in your pocket.

Start mining: geturanium.io

🔴 Now Streaming: Beats, Blockchain & Building Tez Tones with Hashbrown

This week on TezTalks Radio, Marissa Trew chats with Hashbrown, founder of Tez Tones, about his journey from running a recording studio to building a thriving music and art community on Tezos.

Our special guest is Hashbrown, fusing sound, self-expression, and the spirit of collaboration on Tezos.

🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:

The Origin of Tez Tones: – How a passion for music and community sparked a competitive, collaborative platform for artists.

Creating TezCon: – Why Hashbrown set out to unite the West Coast NFT and art scenes through a Tezos-powered gathering.

Art as Expression: – The role creativity plays in Hashbrown’s life and how Tezos enables new forms of artistic freedom.

Community Over Everything: – Why the future of Tez Tones is rooted in keeping the process fun and the community strong.

And Yes… the Name: – The unexpected story behind “Hashbrown” and how it stuck.

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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My key Takeaways from The Charlie Shrem Show with Arthur Breitman.

I recently tuned into an episode of The Charlie Shrem Show featuring Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos, and I found the discussion fascinating. They covered everything from why the first wave of tokenization fell short to the broader role of stablecoins and the ongoing debate around privacy in blockchain. It got me thinking about how all these pieces connect, and I wanted to share some of my takeaways from the conversation.

One part that stood out was the discussion on Uranium.io. I’ve covered it in the past, so I wasn’t hearing about it for the first time, but it was interesting to hear Arthur’s perspective on why it’s a strong use case for tokenization and how it fits into the broader narrative of real-world asset adoption. But this episode wasn’t just about that, it also touched on bigger questions about blockchain’s real-world adoption, financial autonomy, and the evolving role of decentralized finance.

The First Wave of Tokenization: What Went Wrong?

Arthur shared some interesting insights into why early tokenization efforts didn’t really take off the way people expected. He pointed out that many projects assumed that crypto traders would naturally embrace tokenized traditional assets, but that assumption didn’t hold up.

“What people were hoping for was that by having primary issuance on a blockchain, they would tap into a network of newly minted wealthy investors… but that’s not how it played out.”

It makes sense when you think about it. Most crypto investors are looking for high-risk, high-reward opportunities. Tokenized assets like real estate or bonds, which offer stability and low yields, just didn’t appeal to that audience. On top of that, a lot of these early tokenization projects relied on centralized intermediaries, which kind of defeated the purpose of using blockchain in the first place. And then, of course, another major problem was the regulatory roadblocks that made it hard for these markets to scale globally.

Uranium.io: A Case Study in On-Chain Commodity Trading

Even though I’ve written before about Uranium.io, it was still interesting to hear Arthur bring it up during the conversation. He talked about why uranium is such a fitting use case for tokenization. The uranium market has long been difficult to access, with large institutional players controlling most of the supply. This tokenization on Tezos, presents an opportunity to break down these barriers, allowing smaller investors to participate in an asset class that has traditionally been out of reach:

“If you want to buy physical uranium in increments of less than $4 million, we’re the only game in town.”

The uranium market has been gaining attention lately because of the resurgence of nuclear energy, and its price has been quite volatile. Tokenizing uranium not only makes it accessible to more investors, but it also removes unnecessary intermediaries and makes the whole process more efficient.

What I found really interesting is that it doesn’t just stop at trading. As Arthur pointed out, after buying uranium tokens, users could also use them in other defi primitives like decentralized exchanges, lending markets, etc. This means it’s not just a niche use case; it actually opens the door for tokenized commodities to integrate into broader DeFi ecosystems.

Stablecoins: A Regulatory Miracle?

Another topic that caught my attention was stablecoins. Love them or hate them, they are probably the most successful form of real-world asset tokenization we’ve seen so far. Arthur made an interesting point about how surprising it is that they were even allowed to exist in the first place:

“The miracle that happened was that stablecoins were allowed to exist. That was not a given.”

It’s easy to take stablecoins for granted now, but their widespread adoption wasn’t inevitable. Arthur noted how crucial stablecoins have become to the industry, particularly in regions facing hyperinflation or unstable banking systems. He emphasized that the real surprise wasn’t just their utility, but the fact that they were allowed to exist in the first place without heavy restrictions.

I see this as one of the most practical use cases for blockchain, providing reliable financial tools for people who need them the most. While there’s always debate about whether stablecoins are just repackaged fiat, there’s no denying their impact.

Privacy vs. Regulation: A Growing Dilemma

One of the more thought-provoking parts of the discussion was about privacy and how it’s being threatened by increasing regulation. Arthur made a strong case for why privacy isn’t just about avoiding oversight, it’s about financial autonomy.

“There’s many reasons you might want to have privacy, which have nothing to do with crime. Like, you don’t want to broadcast your transaction to the entire world. You don’t necessarily want your neighbors to know what you’re buying, what you’re eating, all of that.”

I completely agree with this. It’s frustrating that privacy is often framed as something suspicious when, in reality, it’s just a basic right. Nobody wants every single financial transaction to be public. Yet, regulators continue to crack down on privacy-focused crypto tools. Arthur mentioned a proposed law in France that would criminalize the use of privacy mixers and other privacy-enhancing tools, which raises real concerns about how much control individuals will have over their own financial data in the future.

It’s clear that finding a balance between regulation and personal financial autonomy is going to be one of the biggest challenges for blockchain moving forward.

The NFT Art Community: A Real Blockchain Success Story

One thing that really stuck with me from the conversation was how Arthur talked about the NFT art movement on Tezos. A lot of people dismiss NFTs as speculative, but he made the point that this is one of the most real and meaningful applications of blockchain technology today:

“It’s not big in absolute numbers compared to the amount of money that you have in DeFi. It’s not the billions and billions of TVL, but it is very real. It’s real people, real artists. It’s very vibrant. It’s a fantastic community. It’s a fantastic ethos, and I love that we have this real thing on Tezos.”

This really resonated with me because it’s a reminder that not everything in blockchain has to be about financial speculation. The art community on Tezos has built something that actually matters, a decentralized and inclusive platform where artists can create and sell their work without dealing with the gatekeeping of traditional art markets. It’s a perfect example of blockchain enabling creativity and financial independence at the same time.

Is Tokenization Finally Ready?

Listening to this conversation left me with a lot to think about. Tokenization isn’t dead, but it’s also not a guaranteed success. Projects need to find the right use cases, target the right audiences, and integrate with existing financial infrastructure rather than just assuming that “putting it on-chain” will magically solve everything.

Arthur made it clear that while some parts of the industry have drifted too far into speculation, there are still meaningful, real-world applications happening, whether it’s tokenized commodities, stablecoins, or the NFT art community.

It’s these use cases that will define the future of blockchain, rather than the hype cycles that tend to dominate the space and Tezos has always been focused on building for these real-world applications, rather than chasing trends. This is exactly where Tezos shines, offering a flexible, upgradable, and secure environment for real-world adoption.

This episode was a great reminder that real adoption is happening, even if it’s sometimes overshadowed by noise. If you haven’t listened to it yet, I highly recommend checking out the full conversation as there were even more interesting things mentioned that I didn’t cover in this article.

And if you haven’t explored the Tezos ecosystem yet, this might be a great time to take a closer look, you’ll find more than a few things worth your attention!

Tezos and the Future of On-Chain Commodities. was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As we close out the week, the Tezos ecosystem is making it easier and more rewarding for users to participate directly in securing the network. This week’s highlights are all about staking, with a refreshed staking dApp now live at stake.tezos.com, and a major incentive shift in place: staking rewards are three times higher than standard delegation rewards.

From product improvements to protocol-level updates, this week’s focus is squarely on making core participation more accessible to everyday users. Whether you're new to staking or already active, there's a clear path forward to earning more from your tez while playing a bigger role in the network.

Let’s dive into what’s new.

Staking Just Got a Boost: Try the New dApp and Earn 3x Rewards

A lot has changed on the staking front and all of it in the user’s favor. With the Quebec protocol upgrade now live, staking on Tezos has become significantly more attractive: staking rewards are now triple what you’d earn from simple delegation.

To match this upgrade in incentives, the stake.tezos.com dapp has also received a full refresh, making it easier than ever to start staking your tez. Whether you’ve been delegating for a while or are just getting started, the new interface makes it seamless to stake and manage your tez in just a few steps.

The new staking experience is designed to walk users through the full process connecting your wallet, choosing a baker, and locking your tez for staking all from one dashboard. The interface explains the difference between delegation and staking and helps you make an informed decision based on your goals.

With this update, staking and delegation now live in the same flow. That means you can delegate and stake in one go, without needing to jump between different tools or interfaces.

Quick Refresh: Staking on Tezos

Staking rewards now outpace delegation by 3x, making it one of the most effective ways to earn from your tez.

While staking does lock your funds and comes with slashing risks, it also accrues rewards automatically, with no need for a baker to manually distribute them.

Thanks to the improved dashboard, users can now manage their delegation, staking, unstaking, and baker changes from one place.

And if you're already delegating but not staking, this new flow gives you a clear and simple path to level up your participation.

Ready to try it? The full walkthrough explains every step, including how to change bakers, how the unstaking cooldown works, and what to expect during each stage of the process.

You can read the full guide here.

Final Stretch for Rio: Bakers, It’s Time to Vote

As staking on Tezos becomes more accessible and rewarding, the protocol itself is also on the cusp of another important upgrade. Rio, the 18th Tezos protocol proposal, has now entered its final voting phase—the Promotion Period—and will be live if it clears the finish line.

The voting window is open until April 16th, and as of now, participation sits at 33%. To move forward, Rio needs to reach 50.39% quorum with continued support from the community. This is the last step before the proposal can officially be activated on the network.

If you’re a baker, now is the time to cast your vote.

What’s in Rio?

Rio continues the evolution of Tezos with a focus on scalability, responsiveness, and faster network operations:

Shorter cycles: Reduces cycle duration from 3 days to just 1, speeding up staking updates and reward payouts.

DAL incentives: 10% of participation rewards are redirected to bakers supporting the Data Availability Layer (DAL), encouraging broader L2 scalability.

Stronger validator responsiveness: Bakers marked inactive after 2 days instead of 8, ensuring a more agile validator set.

Updated gas fees: Minor adjustments to wallet-to-wallet transactions for better cost alignment; smart contract fees remain the same.

If you’re a baker and ready to vote, here’s the command you’ll need:

octez-client submit ballot for YOUR_ADDRESS PsRiotumaAMotcRoDWW1bysEhQy2n1M5fy8JgRp8jjRfHGmfeA7 yay

Replace

YOUR_ADDRESS

with your baker address and cast your vote for “yay,” “nay,” or “pass.”

This is the final stretch for Rio. If you believe in what this upgrade brings, take a moment to vote. Every upgrade is shaped by the participation of bakers, and this one is no exception.

Track voting progress and full details on Tezos Agora.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Etherlink Momentum Continues with New Projects, Growth Milestones, and Ecosystem Tools

Just one week after the launch of Apple Farm Season 1, activity around Etherlink hasn’t slowed, it’s accelerated. From ecosystem integrations and new projects to major community milestones and tooling updates, Etherlink is quickly proving itself as a high-performance, builder-first destination in the Tezos universe.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new:

Apple Farm Waitlist Rewards Boost Update

If you joined the Apple Farm waitlist before launch, your boost is just around the corner. Rather than splitting reward distributions over two dates, Etherlink is simplifying the process: all boost rewards will now be distributed on April 9.

To lock in your boost, make sure to claim your Apples before that date. Unclaimed Apples won’t count toward your bonus, so don’t leave them sitting idle.

Lilypad Joins Etherlink and Fortify Labs Cohort

A major new builder just arrived. Lilypad Network, a decentralized, serverless compute platform optimized for AI and machine learning workloads, is building on Etherlink.

Lilypad makes high-performance compute accessible to anyone by tapping into idle GPU resources through a Web3-native marketplace. The platform allows developers to run containerized jobs like Stable Diffusion for AI-generated art without the need for expensive infrastructure.

In the words of founder Ally Haire, “Building on Etherlink gives us the EVM tooling we need with fast block times and near zero fees ideal for coordinating our AI services.”

Etherlink Crosses $10M in TVL

Etherlink continues to gain real traction in the market. This week, the network crossed $10 million in total value locked (TVL), according to DeFi Llama. With more protocols onboarding and Apple Farm incentives in full swing, Etherlink is becoming a serious player among Layer 2s.

Bluwhale AI Enters the Ecosystem

Another builder is joining the Tezos + Etherlink movement: Bluwhale AI, a project focused on extending intelligent infrastructure across L1s and L2s, is now developing on Etherlink.

Partnered with Fortify Labs, Bluwhale aims to bring advanced intelligence tooling and AI integrations into the Tezos ecosystem. More updates from the team are expected soon.

Absolute Labs Adds Support for Tezos and Etherlink

Finally, Etherlink has been integrated into the Absolute Labs platform, unlocking wallet-level analytics and engagement tools for projects across both Web2 and Web3.

This means that teams building on Tezos and Etherlink now have powerful tools to:

Reach and analyze wallet-based communities

Personalize communications based on wallet activity

Engage developer ecosystems with more precision

For builders, marketers, and community teams alike, this kind of insight can be a game-changer.

With projects launching, TVL rising, and infrastructure maturing rapidly, Etherlink is showing what a composable, affordable, and fast EVM chain can look like when it’s powered by Tezos rollup tech and backed by a growing community of creators.

TZ Apex Returns for Season 5

Following a flurry of activity across Etherlink and Fortify Labs, TZ Apex is back with Season 5—offering the community a chance to explore the latest projects from the 2025 Fortify Labs cohort.

Running through April 9, this season features interactive missions, deep dives into new teams building on Tezos, and the opportunity to earn rewards for participating. Up to $3,000 in prizes are up for grabs.

Explore the cohort, test your knowledge, and support emerging projects:Join TZ Apex Season 5

Arthur Breitman Talks Uranium Tokenization on The Block’s Podcast

In a new episode of The Block’s “The Scoop” podcast, Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman sat down with host Frank Chaparro to discuss the growing momentum behind Uranium.io and the broader implications of tokenizing real-world assets.

Arthur walks through how uranium markets operate today, why ETFs and futures have fallen short, and how on-chain platforms like Uranium.io can offer retail investors more direct, transparent access to this increasingly relevant commodity.

He also shares his perspective on why uranium is heating up, what Tezos offers that makes this kind of tokenization possible, and where the RWA movement might go next.

Listen to the full episode here:Arthur Breitman on Uranium, RWAs, and What Comes Next

Upcoming Events

You're Invited: Tezos Soirée in Paris

Hosted by Nomadic Labs & Exaion

Join the Tezos community for an evening of conversation, connection, and celebration during Paris Blockchain Week.

Spend the evening with teams from Labos Nomades and Exaion (EDF Group) at the Nomadic Labs office, right in the heart of Paris. Whether you’re a builder, researcher, or just curious about what’s next for Tezos, this is your chance to meet the minds shaping its future.

🗓️ Date: April 9📍 Location: Nomadic Labs, Paris🥂 Details: Light refreshments, networking, and community vibes

Space is limited—RSVP now to save your spot:👉 lu.ma/7izgi6bx

Tezos x Manchester United: Match Night in London

Join us for a unique evening at the Manchester United office in London, where football and Web3 meet.

Come watch the Lyon vs. Manchester United match alongside builders, fans, and Tezos community members. Whether you’re here for the game, the conversation, or to learn more about what’s brewing between Tezos and the world of sports—this is the place to be.

🗓️ Date: April 10📍 Location: Manchester United Office, London⚽ Details: Live match viewing

Space is limited—RSVP now to save your spot:👉 lu.ma/dgd8bbwo

🔴 Now Streaming: Dark Tales & Digital Hauntings on Tezos with V. Ruins

This week on TezTalks Radio, Marissa Trew speaks with artist and storyteller V. Ruins about Dark Tales, his latest project on Tezos. From horror and identity to the role of AI in art, V shares how he’s building immersive narratives that bridge technology, community, and storytelling.

Our special guest is V. Ruins, who is reimagining how stories are told in the digital age.

🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:

Dark Tales & Tezos: – A look into V’s narrative-driven project exploring memory, fear, and audience participation.

Art Meets Technology: – How V blends AI, interactivity, and Web3 to push the boundaries of digital storytelling.

Onboarding & Outreach: – The challenge of bringing non-Web3 users into the fold and building accessible creative experiences.

Community & Collaboration: – Why the Tezos ecosystem has become the foundation for V’s evolving artistic practice.

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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How Synchronized Collecting Became A Movement on Tezos

Emerging within the Tezos art community is an initiative that’s been making waves, called “This Is A Raid” (TIAR). It takes the spirit of collective support to another level with coordinated group raids. But what exactly is a raid? Don’t worry, no one’s getting doxxed, and no doors are being kicked in. This is a different kind of raid. No tear gas, just explosions of support.

TIAR started as a group of art enthusiasts who met through their mutual love of the artists they discovered in the Tezos art community. Through a simple voting process, the TIAR collective organizes synchronized purchasing events where members collect artwork from a selected artist on Tezos. This results in a surge of sales, increased visibility, and a social media boost that helps artists break through the algorithmic noise.

As a member myself, I have seen firsthand the positive impact this collective is making on the Tezos community, and I want to share those experiences with all of you. So, let’s take a closer look at how this initiative operates and why it’s become such a force in the Tezos art scene.

How TIAR Operates

The core of TIAR is a simple group chat on X, where members actively share artists they love. These artists are added to a shared Google spreadsheet, and every member is given six votes to distribute however they choose. They can put all six votes toward one artist or spread them across multiple artists. This system ensures that raids are guided by community interest rather than any hierarchy.

Anyone in the group can initiate a raid at any time, for any reason, but most of the time raiders follow the voting sheet’s results. This interesting open-end is intentional to encourage the collecting of art regardless of spreadsheets. Sometimes you collect amazing art that blows you away and you want to share it somewhere, and then others want to join.

When a raid begins, so does the excitement, with everyone purchasing work from the chosen artist and posting about it on X in unison. The group then amplifies each other’s posts with likes, retweets, and comments. This coordinated effort drives engagement, boosts sales, and introduces new audiences to deserving artists. Raided artists have even made it to the Objkt homepage for top 24-hour sales numerous times, which is a huge accomplishment for any artist, big or small.

Social media algorithms can bury posts before they reach the right audience, and for professional artists waiting for a sale can mean missing a bill’s due date. TIAR works to uplift artists on Tezos with its coordinated collecting, posting, and engagement.

How Do Raiders Afford This Initiative?

Joining the raid group doesn’t come with financial obligations. Tez doesn’t grow on trees (though staking comes close), and every collector moves at their own pace. Many raiders fund their participation from their own budget, driven by a genuine love for collecting art. Others earn tez by selling their own art and then use a portion of their earnings to collect. However, for those who need a boost, the Tezos community always finds a way to offer support.

The collective has established a dedicated treasury, known as The Raid Wallet, where members can request funds to take part in active raids. Generous donations from various Tezos entities have strengthened this initiative, ensuring that TIAR raiders aren’t left out due to financial constraints.

Sustainability remains a key focus for the group. Some artists who have been raided and later joined the collective have pledged to reinvest into the raid wallet, allocating a portion of their future primary sales of certain NFT releases, to keep the movement alive. I’ll be taking part in this as well, creating art specifically to help replenish The Raid Wallet as a way to give back to this initiative that has allowed me to collect work I truly cherish from artists I admire.

What Makes an Artist “Raidable”?

While TIAR is open to all artists and genres, certain factors help determine who gets added to the voting sheet. The goal is to support artists in a way that benefits both them and the collective.

Available Artwork — Artists with multiple pieces listed for primary sales are more likely to be raided. This ensures there’s enough art for everyone to collect, and that the artist is receiving the full benefit of the raid.

Active on Tezos & X — Artists who regularly mint on Tezos and engage on X have a better chance of being noticed. A strong presence also helps amplify the impact of a raid, as the artist can interact with collectors and keep the momentum going.

Accessible Pricing — Affordability plays a key role. While prices vary, most raided artists offer works under 10 tez or have a range of price points. This allows more participants to join in and makes raids sustainable over time.

These aren’t strict rules, just general guidelines that help keep raids fair, effective, and sustainable.

Born From A Pure Love For The Arts

One of the most powerful aspects of TIAR is its self-sustaining nature. What began as a few avid collectors deciding to combine efforts has become a vibrant community of 30 people strong. Many artists who have been raided end up joining the group, eager to pay it forward. This cycle of support continues to expand, bringing more visibility and success to artists within the Tezos ecosystem.

Let’s hear from some of the members of TIAR about their personal experiences with raids.

Some Testimonials From Raid Group Members

“TIAR for us means support. It feels wonderful to meet an artist that another artist recommends. It’s an experience to make a real impact on someone else, and we can all be raided. We were raided, and we know it feels incredible when a community chooses you to collect your art as much as they can. Being inside the group, we see that it’s free, open, and anyone can start a movement, so it also feels powerful to be inside this impact and make it move. It’s like a dream for an artist, and as much as we do it, we confirm it more.” —  Bosque Gracias

“Being raided is an emotional experience. It’s a surprise that reminds us we are seen and appreciated — not just as artists, but as people. Especially when sales are low and visibility feels like an uphill battle against the Twitter algorithm, a raid can mean everything. I had no idea the group even existed before I was raided. When it happened, I couldn’t believe it. I knew right away that I wanted to be part of it, to contribute and share that same feeling with others. Many artists struggle to be noticed, and TIAR gives us a way to support each other. Even when I’m low on tez, I try to participate. The group makes it easier, and trust me, it’s worth every single penny. Buying from a fellow artist in a raid feels just as powerful as being raided myself. I’m so grateful, proud, and committed to giving back. Some artists truly need these funds to keep going, and TIAR is a lifeline. Thank you to everyone in the community. I’ll keep raiding for as long as I can.” —  Paraxenod

“TIAR is the true spirit of the Tezos community, where people are part of something bigger than themselves and it is having a positive impact on many talented but underrated artists.” —  TeraBitcoins

“TIAR raided me at a time I was feeling isolated yet grounded in myself, and it was a beautiful moment that reaffirmed to me that even though I am alone, my work has value, my presence has value, and that I have found a home here. Each raid I have participated in since its founding has been in whatever way I can in that moment, such as purchasing work or sharing artwork from the artist or engaging on posts. That flexibility and accessibility of participation has always been wonderful. I learn of and meet new artists through TIAR, and it brings me so much joy to see others experience the focus of the raid so they also experience the wonderful, affirming glow of it.” —  Malicious Sheep

“I love imagining the feeling of the artist winning the vote, and receiving monetary LOVE for their creation. TIAR has inspired my soul and I’m proud to be apart of this amplification of spirit.” —  Airsol

TIAR Has A Website!

Thanks to community all-star developer Skllzrmy, TIAR also has a website. You can visit thisisaraid.xyz to discover a feed that showcases all past raided artists, as well as links to each artist’s Objkt portfolio and socials. There is also a tab that links you to the TIAR curation on Objkt, where the group adds the art they purchase after every raid. Another thing you can access from the website is the Raid Sheet which showcases the nominations and votes for future raids. Here, you can also see who is active in the raid group. Everything is intended to be transparent and democratic.

Another Movement That Keeps Growing

TIAR is a true testament to the power of community-driven support in the Tezos art community. What started as a simple idea has grown into an ongoing movement, fueled by generosity, passion, empathy, a love for the arts, and a shared commitment to uplifting artists. Every raid strengthens the bond between collectors and creators, proving that Web3 doesn’t have to be a solo journey. As the group continues to evolve, its impact will continue expanding, bringing well-deserved recognition to artists and reinforcing the collaborative spirit that makes the Tezos community so special.

This Is A Raid (TIAR): A Community Empowering Tezos Artists was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.