Tezos

A New Beginning.

In a previous article, I wrote about how hyperinflation, crime, and a broken financial system changed my family life forever. For us, leaving wasn’t just a physical journey, it was a complete mental and emotional rebirth. What I want to share now is how discovering cryptocurrency, and Tezos in particular, became a vital lifeline. It offered me not just financial stability, but a transformative educational journey at a time when trust in traditional money had completely collapsed.

A New Perspective on Money

Living through Venezuela’s economic collapse forced me to question everything I knew about money. Growing up, I, like everyone else, took currency for granted, it was just a stable tool for trade. But, witnessing catastrophic government policies revealed its true nature: fiat currency is fragile, built entirely on trust in institutions that can and do fail. Suddenly, terms like inflation, circulating supply, interest rates, and market capitalization weren’t just economic jargon; they were essential tools for survival.

People often discuss the financial ruin of hyperinflation, but rarely its psychological toll. It completely warps your sense of time and reality. In Venezuela, prices could double in a day. I found myself working longer and longer hours just to afford basic necessities. Planning for the future became impossible, with only a short-term focus. You spent money the second you got it, buying any tangible goods you could find before your cash lost its value. This constant cycle of survival, driven by sheer uncertainty, was quite draining, reshaping your focus, your habits, and your entire outlook on life.

Transparency, Clear rules, Certainty.

This is where cryptocurrency, specifically Tezos, changed my perspective. Unlike fiat, which can be printed endlessly by governments, Tezos operates on a set of transparent rules enforced by the protocol. Its on-chain governance model, where validators (bakers) vote on upgrades (proposals) that can be submitted by anyone in the world, showed me a vision of a truly decentralized, community-driven financial system. For me, this was never about making quick profits. It was about finally understanding the mechanics of money: how it is created, distributed, and controlled.

The transparency was striking. In the crypto world, anyone can look up metrics like total supply, issuance rates, and staking yields through a block explorer. This empowers people to make informed decisions. This stood in contrast to the Venezuelan Central Bank, which at some point took down its website and hid critical data like money supply, inflation, and bond dynamics to “avoid chaos”, leaving citizens completely in the dark. That lack of transparency eroded trust and fueled the crisis.

My Experience with Tezos: A Steady Anchor

During my research into blockchain, Tezos stood out because of its steadfast focus on solving the core blockchain trilemma: balancing security, scalability, and decentralization , without getting into short-term hype. Its governance model, which gives the community a real and formal voice, was the complete opposite of the centralized control I had experienced with both fiat systems and many other crypto projects.

What truly cemented my trust was the community itself. Tezos is filled with knowledgeable members who are deeply committed to its core principles. While communities of other projects often ignore the dangers of multisigs control or centralized road-maps for the sake of short-term gains, the Tezos community calls it out immediately. This unwavering commitment to true cipherpunk ideals, the very ones that made me fall in love with crypto as a tool to fight back against government overreach is what sets it apart. I’ve seen other ecosystems where projects freeze assets, ignore poll results, or where a small group of developers force through a messy fork to save a flawed project. On Tezos, such actions would be really difficult to pull it off. The community’s ethos of decentralization and integrity is its bedrock.

Of course, Tezos isn’t perfect, it’s constantly evolving. But its commitment to fairness and a principled approach is what keeps me engaged. For me, Tezos has always been about the long-term principles, not the short-term gains. The knowledge I’ve gained from its ecosystem far outweighs any drawbacks, making it a project I am proud to support as long as it follows these principles.

Digital Art Revolution as good omens

History has always shown me that art is a powerful force for change. That’s why the passionate art community that grew organically on Tezos felt so significant. It didn’t just blow me away; it was the best possible sign that this was the right place to be.

Now, a new chapter is being written, not on cave walls or canvases, but in the digital realm. And at its heart is a powerful truth: art has always been a form of quiet rebellion. It challenges power and shares bold ideas through creativity, not force.

That’s why what happened on Tezos was so special. It became a true global canvas. For the first time, an artist in Brazil could easily reach a collector in Japan. This wasn’t a planned corporate project; it grew naturally from the ground up.

To me, that organic growth was a sign of hope. It was proof that even today, our basic need to create, connect, and question is alive and well. Art is our history. It’s how societies have always recorded their big ideas, showcased their innovations, and left a permanent mark on the world.

Knowledge as a Lifeline

Ultimately, learning about cryptocurrency was about more than finance, it was my education anchor. Understanding how money works, whether fiat or crypto, exposed the flaws that led to Venezuela’s collapse. Tezos, with its emphasis on governance and adaptability, taught me to question centralized control and to value transparency above all else. It showed me that money could be a tool for freedom, or slavery when it’s mismanaged.

Understanding how money is created, how it can fail, and its potential for good is now my shield against broken economies. It’s a foundation I can use to rebuild anywhere.

Cryptocurrency, especially Tezos, was more than just a financial escape from hyperinflation. It was a gateway to understanding economic systems themselves, saving me from the ignorance that makes such crises so devastating. Today, I carry these lessons with me, knowing that no broken system can ever destroy the power of knowledge.

When Currency Dies, Chapter 2: How Cryptocurrencies Saved My Life 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 — October 2025

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

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

October felt like a month where a lot of longer-running efforts started to become real: a major game many have been watching finally opened its doors, the next protocol upgrade was announced, and infrastructure pieces, from signers to cloud tooling to analytics and payments rails, continued to lock into place. It wasn’t flashy, but it was substantive. The kind of progress that makes the ecosystem feel more capable, more mature, and more ready for what’s coming next.

Let’s break it all down.

Ecosystem Insights

Tallinn Protocol Upgrade Proposal Announced

In October, core development teams introduced Tallinn, the next Tezos protocol upgrade, now in its stabilization phase and expected to be proposed on-chain in November. The upgrade reduces block time from 8s to 6s, improving responsiveness across everyday interactions, while continuing the transition toward more uniform BLS-based attestations as baker adoption progresses.

Tallinn also introduces Address Indexing, replacing repeated full addresses in contract storage with compact numeric IDs, a change that can reduce storage costs by 50–100× in token and NFT contracts. It’s a practical, performance-focused upgrade that improves efficiency today while laying groundwork for larger-scale applications and future Layer-2 growth.

Reaper Actual Foundation Alpha Goes Live

October finally brought the moment a lot of people in the Tezos space had been waiting for: Reaper Actual opened its Foundation Alpha. This is the tactical extraction shooter led by EverQuest co-creator John Smedley, and it’s not just another “Web3 game announcement.” People were actually playing, loading into Marova, testing weapons, pushing into conflict zones, and getting a feel for the pacing and map flow. After months of early teasers and community buildup, seeing it live felt like a real milestone.

Players could enter the alpha through several access packs, depending on how deep they wanted to go. The Stygian Oath packs, which included extra Reapers and additional perks, sold out quickly, though. If you’re lucky, you might still spot a few floating around on the secondary market. The on-chain component plays a role in how identity and ownership work in the game, but it isn’t a barrier to playing. You can simply jump in and shoot, or you can choose to engage more deeply via owning characters, bases, and cosmetics on-chain. Both paths feel intentional, not forced. It’s early, but the foundation feels solid and the excitement around it is well-earned.

Raspberry Pi BLS Signer Introduced for Bakers

Another noteworthy October development came from Nomadic Labs, who introduced a lightweight Raspberry Pi BLS signer for Tezos bakers. With the shift toward BLS signatures becoming increasingly relevant for future upgrades like Tallinn, this release matters because it gives bakers a simple, affordable, and secure way to handle signing without needing to upgrade to heavier hardware.

The idea is straightforward: instead of running everything on a single machine, the signer can live on a small, isolated Raspberry Pi, reducing attack surface and making key management cleaner. It’s open-source, well-documented, and designed for ease of setup. For existing bakers, this lowers friction in preparing for the BLS-attestation era; for new bakers, it makes entry and key security more approachable. Quietly meaningful progress here, the kind that keeps Tezos’ validator layer accessible.

News From The Tezos Ecosystem: Quick Bits

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

TezDev 2026 has its date and location March 30th, 2026 in Cannes, France. It’s still early, but the save-the-date gives teams, builders, and community organizers plenty of time to plan ahead. Expect more details on programming and participation closer to the new year.

Etherlink x Google CloudEtherlink announced a collaboration with Google Cloud, and the network is now available through the Google Cloud Marketplace, making it easier for developers to deploy and scale nodes without a custom DevOps setup. As part of the partnership, eligible builders can access up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credits, giving teams real runway to prototype, test, and launch on Etherlink.

MoMI × Tezos Foundation Partnership RenewedThe Museum of the Moving Image and the Tezos Foundation have renewed their partnership for 2025–2026, continuing support for exhibitions, residencies, and public programming exploring digital art and on-chain creativity. This renewal keeps Tezos present in a major cultural institution, reinforcing the chain’s ongoing relationship with the art world.

Forte Integrates EtherlinkForte Pay, the payment and wallet infrastructure used by game studios and consumer apps, launched on Etherlink, giving developers a seamless way to handle purchases, asset ownership, and in-game transactions without forcing users through complicated onboarding flows. This brings familiar, frictionless payment UX into the Tezos ecosystem, the kind that matters when building for mainstream players.

Chainspect Integrates the Tezos EcosystemChainspect, a network comparison and performance analytics platform, now includes the Tezos ecosystem in its live monitoring dashboards. Builders and analysts can track throughput, block times, finality, decentralization factors, and dev activity alongside other networks in real time.

KyberSwap Integrates Tezos via EtherlinkKyberSwap added support for the Tezos ecosystem through Etherlink, enabling swapping, routing, and liquidity visibility directly within the Kyber interface. This lowers the barrier for users coming from EVM environments and gives Tezos projects access to broader liquidity and a tooling layer.

Octav Adds Support for EtherlinkOctav, the treasury management and on-chain analytics platform, added support for Etherlink, making it easy to view token balances, protocol positions, and transaction activity in one place. Teams can also pipe this data directly into their own dashboards using Octav’s API, which is especially useful for DAOs, DeFi projects, and ecosystem analytics.

Tezos Foundation × Processing FoundationThe Tezos Foundation announced a new partnership with the Processing Foundation to launch a creative coding workshop series focused on interactive art and generative expression. Processing has long been a gateway for artists entering code-based art, so this collaboration puts Tezos directly in front of the next wave of creative technologists. It’s a meaningful bridge between established digital art pedagogy and on-chain creation.

Morpho Launches on Etherlink via OkuTradeMorpho, one of the most respected lending/borrowing protocols in the broader DeFi space, is now live on Etherlink through OkuTrade. This brings a familiar, battle-tested DeFi primitive to the Tezos ecosystem, with clean UX and transparent rates. It’s a strong signal that Etherlink is becoming a credible environment for serious DeFi builders, not just early experiments.

Banxa Integrates EtherlinkBanxa, a major global on/off-ramp provider, added support for Etherlink, giving users and apps an easier way to move between fiat and on-chain assets. This simplifies onboarding for new users and reduces friction for products building on Etherlink that need seamless deposits and withdrawals.

Events

Artz Fridays w DarkWheel.tez — October 3rd

Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call—October 7th

Stakehouse Episode 1 — October 9th

Artz Fridays w Scott — October 10th

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Hasbrown — October 14th

Artz Fridays w The Myth (BosequeGracias translating) — October 17th

Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call — October 21st

Artz Fridays w Papper Buddha — October 24th

Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call — October 28th

Artz Fridays October’s Community Call — October 31st

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

The Evolution Of Interactive Pixel Art

As a ‘90s kid, I grew up parallel to a rapidly evolving world of video games. From simple 2D pixelated arcade titles to first-person shooters and virtual simulations of reality, a lot has happened in a short amount of time.

What started as me watching my dad play Pac-Man turned into his basement becoming the local arena for late-night Halo LAN parties with friends. Fast forward to now and entire arenas fill with spectators for competitive gaming events. Cultures and conventions have formed around stories, design, and role-playing, expanding across an ever-growing list of genres. What we’re witnessing is the evolution of an art form that technology has made interactive. The possibilities remain endless.

In this article, I’d like to explore why I believe video games are a form of art and how innovation and technology continue to open new ways to create and experience them. I’ll also touch on how developers are using blockchain technology like Etherlink, the Tezos-powered layer 2 blockchain built for speed and security, as a foundation for new creative possibilities in gaming.

Escaping into Worlds Built by Imagination

Video games have a place in my heart and absolutely have influenced me as an artist. They offered escape when I needed it and inspiration when I least expected it. These digital spaces introduced me to art long before I recognized it as such, through world-building, in-game asset design, composition, character building, soundtrack, and storytelling. Each game world is far more than a painting on canvas, and it is still crafted with artists through intention, pixels, and code.

Gaming taught me that creativity is present in every part of telling a story and involving the audience. Every quest, every environment, every soundtrack was someone’s art, crafted to move players in ways that words alone could not. Essentially, a collaboration, like an orchestra coming together with its countless moving parts, yet somehow creating a harmonious experience.

Complexity and Generational Shifts

Over time, games grew more ambitious. My father’s generation seems to have leaned towards the phone games for the simplicity and nostalgia, while I was drawn to advanced open-world adventures, survival experiences, and high-fidelity graphics. From simplest to most complex, every frame can feel like a moving painting or a scene from a film, though it’s often hard to slow down and appreciate the artistry if you are overwhelmed by what buttons to press or where to go next.

Like many art forms, gaming has a learning curve that can hide the creative process on first impression, or in this case first play through. Some of the most time I’ve ever spent gaming growing up was in Skyrim for example, but it took years for me to truly appreciate the art and story within that game.

The contrast between generations shows how quickly gaming has evolved, yet its essence remains the same. Video games are art in motion, powered by imagination.

The Artistic Core of Game Development

Today gaming stands as one of the most expressive art forms of our time, though it still struggles to be recognized as such. Every layer of development draws from artistic disciplines including concept sketches, sound design, character modeling, architecture, and narrative writing.

Inside those worlds, players become part of the creative process. Similar to how a collector collaborates with an artist when minting an edition on Edit.art, game developers build spaces where art and tech can meet, empowering people to manipulate pixels and impact the outcome of their experience based on decisions made.

In recent years, screenshot contests have become a form of digital photography open call, where players submit their best captures as if they were photographs from another dimension. It’s a subtle reminder that appreciation for in-game visuals is already evolving into its own artistic culture. Screenshots often reveal scenes that could hang on a gallery wall, stunning compositions of light, symmetry, and emotion captured within the game itself. What began as pixels on a screen has grown into a shared art form shaped by both developers and players.

The Next Level: Gaming on the Blockchain

As digital art continues to evolve, so does the infrastructure behind it. The same blockchain technology that helped artists reclaim ownership of their art, collect royalties, and build online communities, is now reshaping gaming. On Tezos, where creativity and experimentation thrive, developers are exploring new ways to merge design with transparent ownership and fair collaboration.

Web3 gaming may have started as trading skins and collectibles, but it also deepens the connection between player and creation. Every asset, animation, and environment carries authorship. Built on systems like Tezos or Etherlink, the authorship can be protected and rewarded through smart contracts.

For players, this means the art within games can be owned, displayed, traded and appreciated in ways that mirror other forms of digital art. For developers and artists, it introduces sustainable rewards through royalties, allowing their creative work to live and grow beyond its initial release. Allowing video games to sustainably exist and evolve free of middlemen and fee-sharing 3rd parties. Ready for you to reveal the art within by interacting and sharing with confidence, the game developers are getting paid.

In this light, Web3 becomes a space where gaming is not only played but preserved as art. The lines between artist, developer, and player begin to blur, forming a new kind of generative medium that lives on-chain and decentralized for you to discover and appreciate.

A New Kind of Appreciation

With the rise of digital art on Tezos, I see video games finding their rightful place among the arts as well. A photographer doesn’t always compose what they capture, for example, a nature photographer. Yet they are still able to capture unique depictions of nature. This is where I come back to players capturing screenshots and how they are like photographers in this way, framing emotional and visual moments from worlds that moved them. Every captured frame carries intention, personality, and a unique perspective.

Metaverse environments are another evolving way to appreciate art in a game-like method, blending virtual spaces, identity, and creative expression into shared experiences. Often using the same controls as computer-based video games. These immersive worlds build on the foundation laid by decades of gaming evolution, proof that interactive storytelling through pixels continues to grow in both depth, use cases and meaning.

The art of gaming is not limited to what is built, it lives in how we experience and share it. As technology and creativity continue to merge, video games stand as proof that the digital realm can hold just as much soul as physical art.

The Future of Interactive Art

For me, gaming started as a way to escape, but it also became a way to connect: with people, with my imagination, and with technology. As this relationship deepens through innovation, we’re witnessing a new era where creativity and technology work hand in hand to elevate numerous art forms in one collaborative art installation we call video games.

Platforms like Tezos and Etherlink offer the next stage of this evolution. They empower artists and developers to create new models of ownership, collaboration, and reward. The idea that players can truly own in-game collectibles or that developers can earn royalties as their worlds expand is just the beginning. It’s the natural next step for gaming as art.

As we move forward, the boundary between creating, playing, and collecting continues to blur. The same passion that drove us to explore new worlds as kids now fuels an ecosystem where innovation, entertainment, community building, and artistry coexist.

Follow Tezos and Etherlink to see how this collaboration between tech and art talent is shaping the next stage of gaming. The future of play is interactive, empowering, expressive, equitable, and built to evolve.

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

A deep dive into the expanding world of Etherlink-powered mobile gaming offering BattleTabs

The road toward blockchain-powered gaming adoption has been a long and winding one. However, in spite of the many fits and starts we’ve seen in the larger blockchain gaming space over the years, the brightest minds in the blockchain industry remain laser-focused on exploring this fascinating use case for its technology to the fullest. And for good reason.

The global gaming market is absolutely massive. Statista estimates that the gaming industry generated more than a whopping $450 billion worldwide in 2024. On top of this, gaming offers an intriguing and promising low-friction entry point to bring new users to the blockchain/crypto space. That’s why finding a pathway into the gaming space is, and long has been, a hugely important priority for those building in the blockchain arena.

While the PC and console gaming spaces can be quite complex to break into, mobile gaming presents a very interesting and much more frictionless opportunity. Build a game, get it on the App Store and Google Play, and you’ve got a direct line to the world’s 3.2 billion (Udonis estimates) active mobile gaming players.

Enter: BattleTabs. Developed by GangBusters Ltd — a UK-based startup focused on developing community-driven blockchain-based social games — Battletabs may just be one of the simplest, friendliest blockchain-powered gaming on-ramps released to date. With 3M+ players across platforms (according to the BattleTabs website) and 20,000+ members in its thriving Discord community, BattleTabs is more than just a proof of concept for blockchain’s promise in the mobile gaming arena — it’s a living, breathing example of what an accessible, user-focused blockchain gaming experience can be.

Exceedingly simple on its surface and fun to play (with a healthy dose of nostalgia within), BattleTabs is stripping blockchain-based gaming down to its purest user-friendly form, and players just can’t seem to get enough.

Let’s take a look at why…

The Game

It may seem overly obvious to state that BattleTabs is reminiscent of the classic board game Battleship (I’m certainly not the first to point it out), but for those who’ve played them both, the similarities are far too striking to miss. While the ships in BattleTabs are much cuter and more interesting than those in Battleship, the fundamentals of the two gameplay experiences are almost identical — even if one is entirely analog and the other entirely digital.

A BattleTabs battle can take place in 3–8 minutes from start to finish. This, coupled with its conceptually simple front-end gameplay, makes BattleTabs an ideal fit for mobile gaming.

It’s what lurks beneath that conceptually simple front-end gameplay, however, that really gives BattleTabs an opportunity to shine. Let’s dive a little deeper and explore the BattleTabs gaming experience more thoroughly…

Gameplay

BattleTabs offers two distinct “turn length” game modes: “Normal”, which provides players with 30 seconds to complete their turns, and “Long”, which allows players a full 24 hours per turn, turning a quick 3–8 minute game into a 2–3 day long epoch.

Once you’ve selected your game mode, BattleTabs finds you an opponent, and the stage is set for your battle. You are then offered the opportunity to make adjustments to your fleet of ships and place them in strategic positions around the board. Once both players have done this, the battle can begin.

Battles consist of targeting squares on your opponent’s board to locate, attack, and sink their ships while they attempt to do the same to yours. While your own ships are fully visible to you throughout the game, your opponent’s ships remain invisible (until they are sunk). Whichever player sinks all of their opponent’s ships first, wins!

Different types of ships are able to target/attack different numbers/layouts of squares, and each ship has its own “cooldown” period once it’s been used to attack, which renders it incapable of attacking again until its cooldown period is complete.

The graphics are clean, cute, and engaging. The gameplay is intuitive, easy to navigate, and fun. Once you finish your first battle and claim your first reward, however, the real fun begins…

Rewards

The BattleTabs reward system is built entirely around in-game assets. Gold coins, gems, and research points drive the BattleTabs in-game economy, but the game’s progressive reward system goes significantly deeper than that. Everything from additional ships for your fleet (each with its own unique in-game battle functionality) to cosmetic assets like custom skins and accessories for your characters can be earned as you progress along in your BattleTabs journey.

Rewards can be earned in several ways. “Daily rewards” are available to claim each day when you log in to the game. Additional freebies appear periodically to be claimed as you explore different sections of the BattleTabs user interface. Participating in battles earns you rewards, winning battles earns you rewards, and the “challenges” tab offers you the opportunity to complete specific in-game tasks and earn additional rewards still.

As rewards accumulate, they open up a whole other layer of the BattleTabs onion. Gold coins can be spent on upgrades and other in-game items. Research points, meanwhile suck you a little further into the BattleTabs universe as you begin to explore the “Research” tab…

Research

The BattleTabs “research” tree is extensive. With 60+ stages, each requiring you to accumulate additional gold coins and research points to complete them, the research tab is where the BattleTabs rabbit hole really begins to make itself known.

New ships, each with their own unique in-game attributes, can be obtained and added to your customized fleet as you progress down the left-hand side of the BattleTabs research tree. The kicker is, while it’s locked when you first enter the research tab, the right-hand side of the research tree can also be unlocked with a “season pass” — available for the low, low price of 145 gems (which can be earned in-game without too much trouble).

The further down the research tree you go, the richer your BattleTabs experience becomes. Customizing your fleet to incorporate additional ships and customizing your player avatar help personalize the BattleTabs gameplay experience and draw you further and further into the fascinating BattleTabs universe.

Community

For such a seemingly simple game, BattleTabs offers a startling level of community engagement. The BattleTabs Discord has over 20,000 members and is filled to bursting with tips, tournament info, memes, bounties, and even opportunities for players to make suggestions about the BattleTabs gameplay and design items like new ships that will be added to the actual game via community feedback and contributions.

BattleTabs has managed to foster a vibrant community filled with lively chats, support, and direct interactions with the game’s decision-makers. All of this adds up to a very robust overall gaming experience, and goes a long way toward explaining BattleTabs’ ongoing success in the marketplace.

To truly wrap your head around the BattleTabs universe, however, you’ll need to play it for yourself…

Getting Started

Play on mobile (App Store or Google Play), on desktop via the Chrome Web Store, or play directly on your browser at battletabs.io.

It’s not complicated. Just jump in, start a battle, and enjoy!

All Hands On Deck! Let’s Play BattleTabs was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The 20th protocol upgrade proposal focuses on speed, efficiency, and groundwork for what’s next.

Another upgrade already? You know it.

Hot on the heels of Seoul, Tezos is back with its 20th protocol upgrade proposal, Tallinn. And while it may not introduce a new staking role or a game-changing feature this round, it does something just as important: it makes Tezos faster, leaner, and smarter under the hood.

Tallinn is what you’d call a refinement upgrade, the kind that makes everything work better without changing how you use it. Think of it as a pit stop before the next long stretch toward Tezos X.

Let’s unpack it.

What’s Actually in the Tallinn Upgrade?

Tallinn focuses on a few targeted but meaningful improvements aimed at performance, scalability, and reliability.

1. Faster Blocks, Smoother Network

The proposal reduces block times from 8 seconds to 6, cutting finality from roughly 16 seconds to 12. That means quicker confirmations, faster dApp interactions, and snappier transactions overall, all without raising hardware demands for bakers. Shorter blocks, same accessibility.

2. Every Baker Can Attest

Currently, only a portion of bakers attest to each block. Tallinn changes that. Once over 50% of bakers migrate to tz4 (BLS) addresses, every baker will be able to attest to every block.

This adjustment strengthens consensus and simplifies reward logic, leading to stronger security as more bakers validate each block, fairer rewards that scale with baking power, and a cleaner overall design by removing slot-selection logic, a change that also helps support the shorter block time.

Bakers using tz1, tz2, or tz3 addresses can continue as usual, but the shift toward tz4 keeps gaining incentives.

3. Lighter Contracts with Address Indexing

Tallinn introduces a new Address Indexing Registry, a feature that gives every address a compact numerical ID instead of storing the full address string repeatedly across smart contracts. By referencing these IDs rather than full addresses, contracts can now handle data far more efficiently.

The impact is significant. Token and NFT contracts that make use of this system can see storage needs drop by up to 50 to 100 times, leading to lower minting and deployment costs. It also means less data piling up on-chain over time, helping Tezos remain fast and scalable even as activity grows.

It’s a small change with a big payoff, a smarter, lighter way to store and manage data that keeps Layer 1 lean and efficient.

4. Stabilization & Readiness

Beyond performance upgrades, Tallinn includes protocol cleanups, minor bug fixes, and general optimization work, all geared toward smoother network operation.

The proposal is already live on Nextnet, where bakers and developers can test their setups and monitor performance. If all goes according to plan, Tallinn is scheduled to be released on November 14, 2025.

Progress in the Details

Tallinn might not be a headline-grabber, but it’s a crucial part of Tezos’ ongoing rhythm, steady, reliable, and quietly impactful.

It’s about refining the engine that’s already running: faster blocks, a stronger and simpler consensus model, and lighter, more efficient contracts. Together, these changes help Tezos stay nimble and ready for the heavier lifting that future upgrades will bring.

If you’re a baker, this is your moment to take Tallinn for a spin, test your infrastructure, and prepare for what’s next. If you’re a delegator, make sure your baker is active in governance, your stake plays a role in shaping the network’s evolution.

With Tallinn, Tezos reminds us that the future isn’t built by noise, but by consistency.

Tallinn: Fine-Tuning the Engine of Tezos was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A look inside Etherlink gaming and its first 7 offerings

While it may not have taken hold at scale just yet, gaming remains one of blockchain technology’s most promising use cases. From its potential to onboard unprecedented numbers of new users to its tremendous revenue-generating promise, it’s easy to understand why the quest to drive blockchain-powered gaming forward is— and always has been — one of the blockchain world’s most important and intriguing projects.

Here in the Tezos ecosystem, where gaming projects have long been viewed as a crucial point of focus, Etherlink — the critical bridge enabling seamless interaction and asset transfers across different networks within the burgeoning Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem and its myriad of users — may be just the shot in the arm we’ve been waiting for.

To hear Trilitech’s Head of Gaming Efe Kucuck tell it, the emergence of Etherlink and its potential impact on the growth of the Tezos gaming ecosystem should not be underestimated…

“Etherlink gives Tezos games instant access to the EVM world. Developers get familiar tools, faster builds, and smoother execution. Players can bridge in with the wallets and assets they already use. It removes friction on both sides and pairs it with Tezos security.” -Efe Kucuck

This is precisely why Etherlink gaming has come flying out of the gate with multiple titles being released since Etherlink went production-ready earlier this year. This explosion of activity signals a watershed moment in the ongoing evolution of Tezos-powered gaming. Its significance for the overall health of the Tezos gaming space is certainly not lost on Efe and his many colleagues in the Tezos gaming realm…

The signal is clear. Teams are shipping faster, players are onboarding easier, and the chain holds up under real use. No other EVM has the same security model. Studios are not just building, they are sticking around because the growth environment is strong. -Efe Kucuck

As the launch of Etherlink continues to reverberate through the blockchain gaming space, let’s take a look at the fascinating gaming projects that have already launched on Etherlink, and take a quick glance into its promising future…

The First Wave (Live on Etherlink Now)

Sugar Match

Sugar Match is a match-3 puzzle game in the style of Candy Crush, but with a mean Sugarverse twist. Players take on opponents from across the globe to earn rewards in the form of gCNDY points in any of 3 distinct gaming modes: Rumble Mode, which offers a low-stakes opportunity to familiarize oneself with all the different aspects of the Sugar Match gaming experience via randomized boosters, Arena Mode for a deeper dive into the game’s more strategic elements with customizable booster deck builds, and VIB Mode for those confident enough to stake their gCNDY against opponents in a winner-take-all battle to the finish.

gCNDY points earn players rewards at the end of each Sugar Match “season”, garnering them in-game utility token CNDY tradable on Iguana Dex.

Sugar Match’s gameplay is significantly more complex than many of the other current Etherlink games, and as a result requires significantly more time to master. Combining traditional match-3 puzzle mechanics with a bevy of “boosters” and ways to disrupt your opponents adds a distinct and fun element to the puzzle game experience, and investing some time in getting the hang of Sugar Match offers both an enjoyable gaming experience and a very real chance to earn very real rewards.

For some deeper insights into the Sugar Match experience, check out Cryptonio’s post here!

Appleville

Appleville is a play-to-earn (PTE) farming game in which players plant and harvest crops on an ever-expanding farm to collect gold coins which can be used in-game, as well as Apple Points - which have dual in-game and out-of-game utility, since they can be accumulated to climb the game’s leaderboard. Leaderboard positions determine distribution of crypto rewards via $applXTZ token rewards airdrops which take place at the end of each Appleville farming “season”.

Appleville’s gameplay is slow and hypnotic. Individual crops vary from 5 seconds to 12 hours of farming time before they can be harvested, so a fair bit of patience is required to get the most out of Appleville. However, as is the case with so many things in life, patience can — and does — pay off. As your farm and gold coin/apple points balances grow, accumulating points and climbing the leaderboard become faster and more efficient. With every passing hour, the player can feel themselves getting closer and closer to tasting the sweetest fruit of them all… airdrops!

BattleTabs

BattleTabs is adorable. A digital re-imagining of the classic board game Battleship’s gameplay, BattleTabs invites players to a strategic naval duel against other BattleTabs players from across the globe. Commanding 4 unique ships — each with its own tactical cooldowns and special abilities, players attempt to sink their opponent’s fleet before their opponent sinks theirs.

Featuring very sharp graphics, a reasonable game completion timeline, and a large community of players (the BattleTabs website boasts more than 1 million players across platforms), BattleTabs offers a fascinating glimpse into what Etherlink-backed mobile gaming will one day look like.

Tournament winners and top performers can earn in-match rewards, collectibles, and NFTs as they navigate their way through the BattleTabs journey.

BattleTabs’ gameplay is simple, fun, and engaging. The in-game characters are (as mentioned previously) adorable, and its look and feel match up perfectly well against any other mobile game out there. Perhaps the combination of these elements explains its impressive popularity in a short time since its initial launch.

Cricket Champions

Cricket Champions is a digital Trading Card Game (TCG) that enables cricket fans around the world to assemble, upgrade, and play customized decks of cricket-themed cards in PVP and campaign matches to earn rewards in the form of new cards and card upgrades for in-game use.

While cricket may be a baffling sport to many in the West, it is incredibly popular in countries like India and Pakistan, offering a fascinating opportunity to bring a curated Web 3.0 gaming experience to the cricket-loving masses in that part of the world.

Even for those with little to no cricket knowledge or experience, Cricket Champions’ gameplay is surprisingly easy to navigate. While it leans more tactical and deliberate than some of the other Etherlink games currently on offer, the strategic depth of deck building, card acquisition, and match planning — coupled with its knack for helping the North American mind understand this beloved sport a little bit better — gives Cricket Champions a unique and interesting appeal.

Pike’s Arena

Pike’s Arena is an arena-style PVP melee game in which players collect food, grow their characters with every item eaten, and attempt to stab each other with spears, tridents, and other assorted pike weapons.

It offers a free-to-play “Warm Up” mode for players to hone their piking skills, “Pike Mode”, which offers player rewards in the form of $PIKE tokens — accumulated (when you win) to climb the Pike’s Arena leaderboard and earn standings-based rewards/airdrops, and an “XTZ Mode” where players bet actual Tez against their opponents, with the winner of each battle taking the pot. Skins and other cosmetic perks get unlocked along the way in the Pike’s Arena journey, allowing players to customize their murderous avatars and stand out in the arena.

Pike’s Arena’s gameplay is simple and easy to understand. There is, however, a fair bit of strategy involved when it comes to approaching and battling opponents in the arena. Battling it out with opponents from all across the globe with a little something at stake is not only a fun way to kill a couple of hours, it’s a window into the seamless and blazing-fast experience that Etherlink gaming has to offer.

Uranium Miner

Uranium Miner is a simple play-to-earn (PTE) game that offers player rewards in the form of in-game “uranium shards” which can be “refined” and later converted into tokenized real-world asset Uranium (xU308) via airdrops that take place at the end of every mining “season”. Yes, you read that correctly, a game that offers real life rewards that can be converted to real tokenized uranium! Shards are collected through the relatively simple task of clicking to collect as they come one at a time down a virtual conveyor belt.

In-game “Boosters”, “Upgrades”, and “Level Ups” increase the frequency and ease with which Uranium shards can be accumulated over time, thereby paving the way for increased efficiency in earning player rewards.

In spite of its basic user interface and simple gameplay, Uranium Miner’s potential to earn players rewards, interesting upgrade options, and satisfying processes make it a surprisingly enjoyable PTE gaming experience. Be careful, though, it’s pretty addictive!

For a deeper dive into the Uranium Miner experience, check out Cryptonio’s post here!

What’s Next?

Reaper Actual

Reaper Actual might just be one of the most highly anticipated blockchain-backed gaming projects in recent memory. Unveiled in demo form at TezDev 2025 in Cannes, Reaper Actual represents an ambitious endeavour to blend Etherlink-backed elements into the traditional (and massively popular) persistent open-world first-person shooter (FPS) gaming experience.

Developed by Distinct Possibility Studios under the stewardship of MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) veteran John Smedley — credited in the creation of more than 70 games across multiple platforms, including massive titles like the EverQuest series, Tanarus, and Planetside 2 — and backed by $30M+ in funding, Reaper Actual represents an incredible opportunity to position Etherlink and Tezos at the forefront of blockchain’s emergence in the contemporary gaming space.

While Reaper Actual is currently scheduled for early access launch in 2026, the Distinct Possibilities team has invited players to get ahead of the curve and stake their claim in the Reaper Actual Universe via the release of Foundation Alpha Series 1 bundles. In addition to receiving limited-edition Reapers with unique loadouts and one or more bases in the Reaper Actual world, these bundles offer Foundation Alpha access to the game, the ability to participate in playtests with the developers and other Foundation Alpha players, a special Foundation Alpha role in the Reaper Actual Discord, and other perks to come. Foundation Alpha Series 1 bundles are available in 3 tiers: Standard, Charon’s Pact Edition, and Stygian Oath Edition. All 3 bundles become available in limited quantities October 8th, 2025 at reaperactual.com.

Those interested in tracking Reaper Actual’s progress, watching out for future Alpha and Beta releases, and getting involved early can join the Reaper Actual Discord here.

Onwards!

While blockchain-powered gaming has certainly seen more than its fair share of fits and starts, its enormous onboarding and revenue-generating potential have kept this industry’s brightest minds laser-focused on finding a way to break through.

With Etherlink in play, the Tezos ecosystem finds itself well-positioned to make the most of the incredible opportunity on offer. As this relatively new bridge to the EVM ecosystem continues to find its feet and attract builders, innovators, and developers to the Tezos cause, we could be in for a very interesting period in the Tezos gaming sphere.

And, with skilled folks like Efe Kucuck leading the way, there’s no telling where this might all lead, but we’ll let Efe tell us where he thinks it’s going…

“Toward scale. Bigger games, more players, and content designed for today’s market. Tezos is becoming a natural home for gaming through Etherlink, not a bet on the future but a platform ready right now.” -Efe Kucuck

If this is only the first wave, the plays to come could be even bigger.

Early Days, Big Plays: Etherlink Gaming’s First Wave was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My Journey To Financial Freedom

A Nation trapped in a vicious cycle

Let me paint you a picture of Venezuela in the mid-2010s. The government was on TV saying everything was fine, but outside, you could smell the panic. Hyperinflation was spiraling, and it was like a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from. Every week, prices doubled. The cash in your wallet would literally be worth less by dinner time. To give you an idea, in the span of 12 years, the government removed 15 zeros from the currency, claiming it was “to facilitate conversion, not due to hyperinflation”. My family, like everyone else, became experts in a desperate kind of sprint; racing to turn our bolivares into dollars, groceries, or anything real before it turned to trash.

The whole nation was in this crazy race. People rushed to buy dollars to save their money, which drove prices higher, making dollars even tougher to get. Dollars became the real currency, but using them was illegal, get caught, and you would face prison or unreal fines. Businesses gone, jobs disappeared, and millions fled the country. For us, it meant selling what little we had at a loss, and cutting our family budget to the basic necessities, and watching years of hard work vanish because of a broken system.

Our family business was a small auto parts shop, founded in 1999, built from nothing by my parents. To stock our shelves, we needed U.S. dollars to import parts. But the government had established capital controls in 2002, so we were forced into the shady world of the black market, dealing with street traders, scammers and other people, who charged us an arm and a leg. It was a stressful and dangerous game, but we had no other choice.

Robbery and Ruin: The Consequences of Reckless Monetary Policy

Just when we thought we were navigating the impossible, things got worse. We were hit hard not once, but twice in 2015.

In just one year, we were robbed twice in brutally different ways: first, by an armed robbery where a gun was held to my father’s head as they cleared out our register, and then by a break-in where thieves made a hole through our warehouse’s back wall and stripped us of every remaining valuable.

Those two events didn’t just steal our products; they stole our lives. Combined with the hyperinflation that was already choking us, it was the final blow. The business my parents had spent their lives building was just… gone. We were finished.

We watched a lifetime of work evaporate because of a broken economy and brutal crime. With nothing left to lose, we made the only choice we could: we left. We joined the millions of Venezuelans forced to migrate, to start from zero in another country. It changed the course of our lives forever.

Lessons Forged in Chaos

But in the middle of all that loss, I started learning. Out of pure necessity, I began to devour everything I could about economics. Why does money fail? How do you protect what you have? I realized that money isn’t just paper; it’s a trust system, and that trust can be broken even by those who are supposed to protect it.

That curiosity took me to a cryptocurrency rabbit hole. It was a form of money that was borderless, permissionless, that no government could just print into oblivion.

I’ll be honest, it was confusing at first, overwhelming at times. I spent nights reading about different projects. I learned a huge lesson from watching Bitcoin’s early community fight over its future (blocksize war). It showed me that even digital decentralized money needs a way to grow without fracturing. That’s why I gravitated towards blockchains like Tezos, which uses a formal mechanism called on-chain governance to upgrade itself, letting the community vote on proposals and define its future.

Losing everything in Venezuela was a trauma I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But it forced me to learn lessons about money and freedom that I never would have otherwise under normal circumstances.

It taught me that understanding how money works isn’t just for economists, it’s for anyone who wants to protect their family. And it showed me that technologies, like blockchain, isn’t just only for nerds; but also a lifeline for people in broken countries.

Our story started in chaos, but it led us to knowledge and resilience. And that’s something no government can ever inflate away. I hope you have enjoyed the first part of my journey, stay tuned for the next part, especially how Tezos has reshaped my life and journey.

When Currency Dies, Chapter 1: My Escape from Venezuela’s Chaos was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Art Community Evolving With Increasing Momentum

Every few months, I like to pause and look back at what the Tezos art community is creating together. It’s a reminder that beyond all the constant noise online, artists are still making and sharing work with purpose, building something brighter and more connected.

If you’re paying attention now, you’re early. One day, the future will look back on this time and find a sea of digital art that quietly grew while most of the world was distracted. These moments of shared purpose and passion are what drive people forward. They’re also what I try to highlight through my art-related articles published by Tezos Commons.

The Tezos art scene can be hard to describe at first. It isn’t a company or a single collective. It’s a living network of artists, collectors, and builders who choose collaboration over control. It changes constantly, expands unexpectedly, and feels alive in ways that are hard to define. Decentralization was never meant to be tidy, it was meant to move, to spill over with ideas, to spark new connections in places no one expected. It’s a global canvas open to anyone who wants to create.

Still, it’s worth taking time to notice the milestones, bursts of creativity and the projects that leave a mark. Here are some of the moments that shaped the third quarter of 2025 for art on Tezos.

July: Exciting Calls and Exhibits

July was filled with open calls, new exhibits, and community-driven initiatives that all carried the same heartbeat of experimentation through art.

TezFits: Art Meets Streetwear

TezFits was an open call inviting creators to design Tezos-inspired artwork for shirts, stickers, and socks. With 750 XTZ in prizes and global visibility for the selected artists.

The winners were @0xEdwoods, @alexisolinart, @daniloxhema, @criptoface21, and @riniifish.

I had the honor of serving as one of the judges on behalf of Tezos Commons, and it was inspiring to see the full range of talent that poured into this call.

TezSquare: Mint Square Art

The #TezSquare event challenged artists to mint square-format works across Tezos marketplaces. A simple prompt became a creative storm.

Launched by @GabrielNebular and supported with homepage curations by Objkt, the event resulted in 267 artworks by 223 artists, generating over 7k tez in primary sales (according to NFTbiker.xyz). It was another example of how community-initiated events fuel the digital art economy.

Sutanz: Building a Bridge to the Physical World

Late July brought a big announcement from @sutanz, a new physical exhibition space dedicated to Tezos art curation. In a post on July 21, Sutan wrote:

“Imagine an IRL space where your Tezos art can actually be projected or hang on walls, not just an X or IG feed. Opening this December. Curated, 24/7 accessible, and ready to support art on Tezos. No bullshit. Just art, presence, and proof.”

ACTZ Retrospective: One Year of Curation

ACTZ (@artcommissiontz) celebrated its first anniversary with a special retrospective featuring 40 artists and 1/1 mints starting at 50 XTZ. The theme encouraged reflection on Tezos art’s early waves. The experimentation, collaboration, and sense of independence that continue to define art on Tezos.

TezDev 2025: Art in the Program

Even TezDev, primarily a developer conference, made room for art this year. The Tezos Art Story: Past, Present, Future panel, moderated by @aljaparis and featuring voices like @Ganbrood, @Zancan, and the @objktcom co-founders, reflected on how far Tezos art has come and where it might go next. Immersive installations and gaming demos filled the space, showing how creativity continues to flow through every part of the ecosystem.

Other July Highlights

Reflectez Minting Event: On the theme of reflection with a minting price of 2 tez using tag #reflectez. 331 artworks minted with over 5k tez in primary sales.

TTC x Tezos Artists Space #14 (July 24): A relaxed AMA-style discussion hosted by @TheTezos, offering artists and collectors a chance to connect.

Malicious Sheep Spaces: From Mellow Mondays to Tezos Tea Tuesdays, @malicioussheep kept regular community conversations alive.

TIAR Raids: Artist @aslika received a surge of visibility and sales through a TIAR raid.

Tezos Commons Artist Spotlights: ‘ART’icle of July, Artz Fridays and more.

August: Expansion, Exposure, and Collaboration

August expanded the stage with major exhibitions and creative partnerships that pushed Tezos art further into public view.

RGB_MTL: Artists Curating Artists

RGB_MTL manifested 24 curators showcasing 180 Tezos artists. A dynamic two-night multimedia exhibition of projections, installations, and glitch art, backed by Objkt and the Tezos Foundation to foster community-driven discovery and solidify blockchain art’s vibrant IRL presence.

1/1 Season: Mint Event for Single Editions

Launched by @mamaralic, this event celebrated single-edition art under the theme “Midnight Blue.” Artists minted 636 works by 462 creators, generating over 11k tez in primary sales (based on nftbiker.xyz). It encouraged artists to revalue their 1/1s and reconnect with the heart of scarcity.

World Photography Day

The Art on Tezos Photography Prize, launched on World Photography Day (August 19), received over 300 submissions from around the world. There was a 10,000 XTZ prize pool! The winners were, Arijit Mondal (Nature), Srivatsan Sankaran (Urban), Nari Mazari (Portraiture), Marine Blehaut (Photorealistic AI), and Jakub Klak (Experimental). Their work will be featured in a November pop-up at Paris’ Artverse Gallery during Paris Photo Week, connecting Tezos’ on-chain archives with real-world recognition.

WTF Gameshow Round 5: The Curation Challenge

Round 5 of @WTF_gameshow brought a wave of fire sales in the form of objkt auctions, featuring @_TransparentArt’s collection. Contestants competed for total sales volume, with the top 12 advancing and 6 eliminated.

Contestant @webidente stood out for designing a slick auction tracker that displayed curation earnings, highest bids, and reserve data. This is a true act of community support. Out of 106 auctions, only 9 missed their reserves. The result: Team 1 took the win with 549 XTZ in total volume.

TezTalks Live Interview with me, Yoeshi

A personal highlight came when I joined TezTalks Live to discuss my journey as an early Tezos artist and collector. We traced how Tezos art has evolved from grassroots beginnings to the thriving creative network we use and support today.

Other August Highlights

The Mythfits: A large format PFP art project by @clokdhd (The Myth) that sold out and continues to see success on the secondary market.

TTC x Tezos Artists Space #15 (Aug 22): Conversations on artist visibility and the evolving role of collectors.

Tezcapades Curations: Highlighting under-the-radar experimental artists.

Malicious Sheep Spaces: Continuing their steady rhythm of artsy community-building spaces.

TIAR Collective: Raids supporting new collections, including a project by UFPE students in Brazil.

Objkt Updates: Quality-of-life improvements for artists and collectors on objkt.com.

ACTZ: continued its monthly rhythm with “Line,” another open call that showed how consistent curation builds the backbone of the ecosystem.

Tezos Commons Artist Spotlights: ‘ART’icle of August, Artz Fridays and more.

September: Rallies and Signals

September carried the feeling of a deep breath before the next leap. Announcements, tools, and drops all pointed to a community preparing for something bigger, with Berlin on the horizon and new creative experiments unfolding.

Art on Tezos Berlin: Announcement Drops

September confirmed the upcoming Art on Tezos Berlin event, scheduled for November 6–9. Featuring a vast array of art, artists, and art communities, it aims to bridge digital and physical worlds through exhibitions, performances, and installations across the city of Berlin, also to be streamed worldwide.

As part of Tezos Commons, I could feel the anticipation building. It’s proof that Tezos art is scaling from online conversations to global stages with rising acknowledgement and support from heavily influential Tezos entities.

Bootloader: A New Era for Generative Art

Mid-month, @objktlabs launched Bootloader, an open-source platform for long-form generative art using on-chain SVGs. It was both a technical and creative milestone. Find an article that dives into the new platform here.

Teia Open Call: Unique Ingredients for Berlin

Teia’s Unique Ingredients open call, connected to the Berlin event, closed September 29 after a rush of heartfelt submissions. Hosted by @malsheep56, @spike_0124, and @stusontier, the event invited artists to explore their personal “ingredients” in art-making.

#FOChamCity: Heroes and Villains Go Fully On-Chain

Closing the month, @ZeroUnboundArt launched #FOChamCity, a mint-a-thon celebrating superhero and supervillain themes. Using the Zero Contract, artists minted directly on-chain, fee-free. It was playful and spontaneous, yet grounded in freedom and experimentation. Just the kind of spark that continues to define Tezos culture.

PHŌS_ Our Fire: Igniting NXT Festival

From September 25 to October 4, PHŌS_ Our Fire lit up the NXT Festival in Seville. Organized by @sutanz, it brought together artists like @stc, @agoriamusic, @ALCrego, and @Salawaki_3000, blending sound, visuals, and performance to explore fire as a metaphor for creation and resilience.

ACTZ: Shape/Form — Curating the Next Wave

ACTZ closed Q3 with the Shape/Form open call, curated by @328_lad, @spike_0124, and guests including @ariasixthousand and @kerimsafa. The selection featured 40 artists with 1/1 mints starting at 50 XTZ.

Other September Highlights

TTC x Tezos Artists Space #16 (Sep 18): A conversation hosted by @AuRo404 exploring ACTZ’s open call process.

Malicious Sheep Spaces: Weekly spaces like Mellow Mondays and Tezos Tea Tuesdays kept the community grounded.

Edit.art Secondary Marketplace: A major leap for generative art trading.

Art for Humanity Drop: Surpassed 33k XTZ in sales, showing how Tezos art can make a real-world impact.

#GIFDAY2025 (Sep 5): Objkt’s animated mint event filled feeds with creative loops.

Objkt Noise_Media Art Fair Showcase (Sep 17–21): Highlighted 34 Turkish artists.

Objkt Labs Residency Open Call: Closed September 27, offering new frontiers for experimental creators.

That’s a Wrap on Q3: At Least Some of It

Tezos art continues to evolve at its own pace, decentralized, unpredictable, and alive. If you’ve been following along, you know how much can happen in just three months. If you’re new here, welcome. There’s never been a better time to explore, collect, and connect with the creators who keep this network pulsing.

I’ll be back next quarter to reflect on Berlin and beyond. Until then, keep creating, keep collecting, and keep the signal strong.

Q3 2025: Art On Tezos, Reflections was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tezos Community Rewards — September 2025

Announcing the CRP Winners for September 2025!

Greetings Tezos Community,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the “Community Rewards Program” CRP for the month of September 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 September activities.

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

Drill Sergeant Award

@skllzarmy

Helping Hand Award

@TheTezos

@paraxenod

@SkullDegenClub_

@AuRo404

@ariasixthousand

Influencer Award

@VibekeAlvestad

@sutanz

@WiseSigmaToad

@NftyTrap

@ttiimmees

Tez Dev Award

@JackTezos

@webidente

@the1hashbrown

@NFTBiker

@ccubetez

@FromFriends__

Assimilation Award

@malsheep56

@danielwponto02

@StrokeDriven

@growthrev

@ZeroUnboundArt

@xSAMGADx

Patissier Award

@Zir0h

@riseuptez

@paperbuddha

@BakingBenjamins

@blockbakery

Tezos Tutor Award

@lucasoxx_

@TozartWeb3

@proto_designer

Formal Verification Award

@alisis_official

@ryangtanaka

TEO Award

@darkestdollx

@sansfomo

Nominations Are Open For October

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

Welcome, Tezos community! The focus this week turns to what’s next for Tezos X and the growing infrastructure taking shape around it.

Community member Cryptonio took the time to dig deep into one of the most talked-about topics lately: Tezlink, the Tezos-native runtime that will live inside the canonical rollup alongside Etherlink. His write-up offers a clear look at how Tezlink fits into the broader Tezos X vision and what it means for builders who want to stay rooted in the tools they already know.

Meanwhile, Chainspect has brought the entire Tezos ecosystem into focus with live analytics that track scalability, decentralization, and development activity across both Tezos and Etherlink. It’s a real-time view of how the network is growing and the numbers speak for themselves.

Let’s get into this week’s Baking Sheet.

Tezlink and the Future of Tezos X

Over the past few weeks, Tezlink has been one of the hottest discussion points in the Tezos community, often brought up in the context of Tezos X. This week, community member Cryptonio took the initiative to write an in-depth breakdown to help clarify what Tezlink is, how it fits into the broader roadmap, and what it means for builders and users moving forward.

At its core, Tezlink will be a key part of the canonical rollup, the centerpiece of the Tezos X roadmap. Think of the canonical rollup as a massive, non-custodial environment built directly into Tezos, designed to host multiple “runtimes” that share the same secure foundation. Each runtime offers a different view of that environment and Tezlink will be one of them.

Arthur Breitman described it best in Tezos X-plained Episode 8: imagine a single object casting two shadows. One shadow is Etherlink, the EVM-compatible view. The other is Tezlink, the Tezos-native view. Both come from the same source, but they serve different audiences.

That’s the key idea behind Tezlink. It’s not an experimental add-on or a side project. It’s a native execution environment that will live inside the canonical rollup, right alongside Etherlink. Developers who prefer Tezos-native tools like Michelson, SmartPy, or Ligo will be able to build on Tezlink and still connect to everything happening inside Etherlink including DeFi protocols, liquidity, and infrastructure.

In other words, Tezlink bridges what exists today with what’s coming next. It removes the trade-off between building “natively” on Layer 1 or accessing the speed and composability of rollups. Builders can stay within the Tezos ecosystem and still benefit from the low latency, scalability, and interoperability of the Tezos X framework.

And because Tezlink and Etherlink live side by side, they’ll be able to interact directly. A contract deployed on Tezlink will be able to call one on Etherlink, creating a unified environment rather than separate silos.

While the technical details are still evolving, the direction is clear. Tezlink will extend the capabilities of Layer 1 rather than replace it. Governance, consensus, and security will remain anchored at the base layer, while execution expands across multiple interconnected runtimes. Over time, the distinction between “layers” will fade, giving users a seamless experience within Tezos, working faster and more fluidly than before.

For developers who’ve made the Michelson VM their home, Tezlink represents the next step. It’s an invitation to build bigger, faster, and more connected projects without giving up the principles that make Tezos what it is.

The future of Tezos X is modular, open, and interconnected. Tezlink is the bridge that brings it all together and we’re excited to see what developers build with this tech.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Chainspect Integrates the Tezos Ecosystem

As discussions around Tezlink and Tezos X continue to grow, let’s shift focus to a new way to keep track of Tezos Ecosystem in real time. The Tezos ecosystem is officially live on Chainspect, offering a transparent view of scalability, decentralization, and development activity across both Tezos and Etherlink.

Chainspect provides a unified dashboard where anyone can monitor key network metrics from validator distribution to transaction throughput backed by verified, on-chain data. It’s a live snapshot of how Tezos is evolving: modular, scalable, and built to adapt.

The numbers tell the story, Let’s dig into network metrics sourced from Messari and DeFiLlama.🌱 Etherlink TVL: $70.14M💧 Tezos DeFi TVL: $36.7M💥 Transactions on Etherlink: 20.5M+🔒 Tezos DeFi TVL growth: up 22.5% quarter-over-quarter🔗 Top protocols: Curve, Superlend, Midas, Youves, and Sirius

Together, these metrics show an ecosystem gaining momentum on every front. Builders are deploying, users are active, and liquidity is expanding are all signs of a network that continues to grow stronger with each upgrade.

Ebisu Upgrade Activated

Following the growing visibility of Tezos and Etherlink metrics on Chainspect, there’s another major update worth noting on the technical front. The Ebisu upgrade, Etherlink’s fifth kernel release, is now live on mainnet, activated on October 10 at 6:30 AM UTC (block 28,073,013).

This upgrade focuses on performance, stability, and developer compatibility, introducing support for the EVM Prague standard while continuing Etherlink’s evolution as a fast, non-custodial Layer 2 built on Tezos security.

Behind the scenes, Ebisu also replaces the previous SputnikVM with REVM for EVM execution. That switch brings major improvements, increasing Etherlink’s capacity from 8M gas/s to 14M gas/s, while keeping gas prices low at 1 gwei per unit. Developers can also expect a deeper call stack (now matching the full EVM specification at 1,024) and a more flexible system for sequencer key management, allowing smoother operator transitions without governance friction.

The upgrade also includes several developer-facing updates:

Breaking changes to the FA token bridge events for better indexing compatibility.

Support for new EIPs, including account abstraction via EIP-7702, cryptographic precompiles (EIP-2537), and calldata cost adjustments (EIP-7623).

Improved governance tooling, where bakers can now securely vote using dedicated voting keys through governance.etherlink.com.

For bakers, this upgrade highlights the strength of Etherlink’s governance-by-bakers model — thank you to everyone who participated and voted to move Ebisu forward.

Etherlink continues to evolve at a steady pace, extending Tezos’ reach while maintaining the same core values of security, transparency, and community-driven progress.

Tezos Community Events

Art on Tezos: Berlin

Happening November 6–9, Art on Tezos: Berlin is set to bring together over 200 artists, curators, galleries, and platforms for a multi-day celebration of digital creativity, collaboration, and community. It’s the first time so many contributors from the Tezos art ecosystem will gather under one roof and the result promises to be a rich, diverse portrait of the culture that’s been growing since 2021.

With participants like objkt, bitforms, Galerie Met, Office Impart, and The Second-Guess, the event features everything from interactive installations and live performances to film screenings and special curatorial projects. Highlights include:

A performance by Berlin-based artist allapopp

TeleNFT’s newest showcase is turning live teletext into on-chain artworks

Immersive exhibitions and guided tours across the venue

Art on Tezos continues to evolve, and this Berlin event captures the heart of that movement. Make sure you RSVP to attend before space fills up!

🔴 Now Streaming: Building the Retro Man Universe on Tezos with Retro Manni

This week on TezTalks Live, Stu from Tezos Commons catches up with digital artist, storyteller, and world-builder Retro Manni. From art and film to gaming and collectibles, Manni walks us through the evolution of the Retro Man Universe—an ambitious multimedia project built on Tezos. This is Manni’s second time on the show, and the progress he’s made since his first appearance is nothing short of inspiring.

Our guest is Retro Manni, the creative force behind the Retro Man Universe and a passionate builder in the Tezos ecosystem.

🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:

The Retro Man Vision: How a single idea has grown into an interconnected world spanning music, gaming, collectibles, and more.

Why Tezos: What drew Manni to the Tezos ecosystem and how community support has shaped his creative journey.

Samsara Sneak Peek: A first look at the upcoming game set in the Retro Man Universe—and how it’s being brought to life with Tezos-powered collectibles.

Zero Contracts, Zero Barriers: How Manni is embracing Zero Contracts and Zero Unbound to simplify minting and empower fellow artists.

Creating with Purpose: Lessons from building in Web3, adapting to a shifting NFT landscape, and staying committed to a long-term vision for digital art and storytelling.

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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A No-Shill Feel-Good Strategy for Art Appreciation

I remember when sharing a mixtape was a love language. Passing around songs we had just discovered, slipping lyrics to our crushes as coded messages, or getting a recommendation from a friend and feeling like we had just unlocked a secret world. Art was how we connected. We invited loved ones to a show and walked out buzzing, ready to debate every detail of the story, the music, or the production. Sharing was natural and encouraged, not something we second-guessed or avoided.

Somewhere along the way, that spirit got lost. The attention economy, endless ads, and a constant flood of surface-level content made us desensitized and apathetic. Sharing art became tangled up with the word “shilling.” Algorithms began rewarding fear and outrage, instead of beauty and creativity. Artists today often feel stranded, fighting uphill just to be seen, without the evangelizing fans who once built movements around them. Street teams, fan clubs, and the organic excitement that once carried artists forward are mostly gone, replaced by debates, speculation, and distraction.

What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if fans, collectors, and communities brought back the joy of sharing art for what it means, instead of for what it is worth? What if visibility was framed as a gift, not a transaction? We could lift artists out of the battle with algorithms, let them focus on creating, and make sure their work reaches the people who truly need it. Let’s take a few minutes to explore how we can bring back the street team energy for the new age of digital art.

How Art Appreciation Naturally Increases Value

The value of art grows most when people stop obsessing over price. Collectibles, whether vinyl records, comic books, paintings, rare in-game skins or NFTs, become treasured because people connected with something unique and special about them, not because someone planned it.

When fans collect with passion instead of for profit, they create the foundation of culture. They choose things they cherish and attach meaning to them. Years later, those items often become rare, desirable, and valuable. The value followed the love, not the other way around.

Digital art should flourish in the same way. Early adopters who collect from genuine appreciation help shape the narrative. They bring visibility, amplify the artist’s voice, and stand alongside the work long before the broader world takes notice. In doing so, they help artists thrive while also being rewarded for being part of something meaningful from the start.

Passion-driven collecting plants the seeds of value. Culture waters those seeds, and over time, the art, the artist, and early supporters benefit and grow together. This is why quality over quantity, and passion over profit, should guide both collectors and artists.

Rebranding NFTs as a Medium Instead of a Genre

A major challenge for digital art today is perception. NFTs are often treated like a genre, as if buying one means entering a closed-off scene with its own stereotypes and baggage. This makes the conversation about the art smaller than it should be and turns many people off. By the time they are presented with art their blinders are already on.

NFTs are not a genre. They are a medium, just like vinyl records, photography, or streaming platforms. The medium does not determine style or message, it only changes how the work is experienced and shared. A vinyl or cd can hold jazz, punk, or classical music. A photograph can capture portraits, events, or scenery. NFTs are simply a new way to collect, connect, and interact with art that can host every genre of art imaginable.

Seen this way, the technology becomes less intimidating and more exciting. Instead of being about markets or speculation, it becomes about access and connection. NFTs create direct channels between artists and supporters, enabling a kind of super fandom that was never possible before. Owning digital art can mean more than a transaction. It can open doors to deeper interactions, stronger communities, creative collaborations, and innovation.

Reframing NFTs as a medium shifts the conversation away from technical jargon and floor prices. It starts to sound more like the mixtape era, where people shared what they loved and built community around art. This is the path to wider adoption. NFTs can be about art, people, and the passion that fuels appreciation. It can make the power of art more accessible and diverse, but only if we lift up the voices of artists.

Envisioning My Dream Digital Street Team

In the 90s and early 2000s, street teams were the heartbeat of music culture. Fans printed flyers, handed out CDs, made zines, and covered telephone poles with posters. Their reward was belonging. They were driven by love for the art, the thrill of being close to the music, and the satisfaction of helping something grow that they believed in.

Today, artists are often left to do it all themselves. They make the art, run the business, and moderate the community. Discords are built, ads are launched, and social media campaigns are managed, but too often they feel controlled rather than communal. What once felt like a movement now feels like a chore.

The streets of today have turned digital. Instead of gathering with flyers, we gather in feeds and timelines, hidden behind avatars and guided by algorithms. As an artist navigating this world every day, I often find myself wishing for a digital street team, one that helps my music find its audience while allowing me to focus fully on creating and refining my craft.

Some versions of this already exist. Within the Tezos community, for example, T.I.A.R. (This Is A Raid), a collective effort to bring more visibility and support to artists. Rather than focusing on a single artist’s success, T.I.A.R. operates as a democratic process where the community votes to “raid” different artists or projects. Once the vote is cast, the community rallies together to amplify the chosen artist’s work. Timelines light up with art, hashtags, and genuine excitement. It is not about shilling. It is about creating a wave of attention that algorithms cannot ignore. A coordinated burst of energy that spreads feel-good content with actual depth.

This is what a digital street team looks like in action: organized, passionate, and creative.

Now imagine if every artist had that kind of support every day. Imagine that energy applied more broadly. Fans and collectors could create visibility campaigns around the art they love, sharing not just links but personal stories about why the work matters. They could remix the art, make memes, create digital zines, or build playlists that extend its reach. With people across different time zones, art could find new audiences around the clock, much like how old street teams once blanketed cities with posters.

The reward is not speculative value but cultural impact. Artists gain the space to create, knowing their work is carried forward by people who care. Fans and collectors become more than spectators. They become storytellers, amplifiers, and cultural anchors. They are the modern street team ensuring that art continues to find its audience.

Share the Meaning Instead of the Mooning

If we want artists to thrive, we need to shift how we talk about their work. Not with charts, flips, or floor prices, but with stories and opportunities to attach memories. Think about the last piece of art that moved you. Did it remind you of a childhood memory or capture a feeling you thought you were alone in? That impact is what makes art timeless, relatable, and valuable.

When collectors post about art, the difference is in the framing. You can simply share a link, or you can take a moment to write why the piece matters to you. What emotions did it spark? What ideas did it unlock? How did it shift your perspective, even for a moment? That kind of storytelling resonates far beyond speculation. It makes the art approachable to anyone, even those who might not yet care about NFTs, because everyone knows what it feels like to be moved by creativity.

This practice also restores dignity to artists. Their work is not reduced to market activity. It is elevated to its rightful place as culture, something alive, intentional, and meaningful. Sharing art this way helps the artist gain visibility, fight algorithms, and invites others to experience it for more wholesome reasons.

If you love an artist’s work and want to see them flourish, tell the world why. Be the street team. Be the evangelist. Share the impact it had on you, and let that ripple outward. In a space where attention is fleeting, meaningful moments last. While you are at it, use the hashtag #tezARTicle so I can feature them in a future ‘ART’icle of the Month.

Art thrives when people carry it forward together. If we can bring back the spirit of sharing, free of shills and speculation, we can build a culture that feels alive again with more long-term benefit for all of us. Let’s build a shill-free feel-good environment where people can enthusiastically share their ideas and creations, and let the rest happen naturally. Let’s keep the focus on the art, and the charts will reflect our efforts.

Share The Art, Not The Chart 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 — September 2025

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

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

September kept the Tezos momentum rolling, with upgrades, new proposals, and community initiatives all pushing things further. It was another reminder of how much the ecosystem continues to evolve, quietly, steadily, and with purpose. Builders stayed active, communities engaged, and the network kept proving its strength through seamless upgrades and growing participation.

Let’s break it all down.

Ecosystem Insights

Seoul Upgrade Goes Live

September brought a major milestone for Tezos with the Seoul protocol upgrade officially activated on mainnet. The 19th upgrade in Tezos’ continuous evolution arrived smoothly, introducing protocol-native multisig accounts (tz4), a cleaner, more secure way for wallets to be co-managed without external contracts.

It also introduced aggregated attestations, an optimization that could reduce validator bandwidth from roughly 900 MB to just around 14 MB per day as bakers adopt the feature. On the user side, staking became simpler thanks to automatic finalization after the four-day unbonding period. Altogether, Seoul continues the network’s steady push toward efficiency, usability, and readiness for more advanced use cases.

#Staketember Campaign

September was all about staking, with the #Staketember campaign rallying the community to put more tez to work securing the network. The month-long effort mixed education with a dose of fun, guides, visuals, and a meme contest that rewarded creativity while spreading awareness about how easy it is to stake on Tezos.

The current staking ratio sits at 27.22%, while issuance recently dropped below 4% (~3.82%), the lowest it’s been in a long time. It’s a healthy sign of Tezos’ evolving economics, but also a reminder that there’s still work to do. Even though the campaign has wrapped up, the push for broader participation continues, with a goal to raise the staking ratio closer to 50%, both strengthening security and lowering the issuance even more.

Etherlink’s Ebisu Upgrade Proposal

September saw the introduction of Ebisu, the fifth upgrade proposal for Etherlink. The proposal outlines several core improvements, including expanded EVM compatibility through the integration of Prague features and a migration from SputnikVM to REVM for contract execution, a move aimed at boosting performance and alignment with Ethereum standards. It also includes a few breaking changes, such as adjustments to event emissions on the Tezos FA bridge, which indexers and developers will need to account for.

At the time of writing, Ebisu has advanced to the promotion period in Etherlink’s governance process. Once adopted, it will further refine the network’s performance and developer experience, keeping Etherlink on pace with its vision of a fast, sustainable, and deeply Tezos-aligned EVM layer.

News From The Tezos Ecosystem: Quick Bits

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

KuCoin Adds Native XTZ Support on EtherlinkKuCoin added support for XTZ deposits and withdrawals via Etherlink, making it easier for users to move tez directly between the exchange and the EVM-compatible network. With this update, KuCoin becomes the third centralized exchange to support the Etherlink network, further extending its accessibility and reach.

DAO Maker × Etherlink (via TZ APAC)DAO Maker announced a new collaboration with TZ APAC to bring its launchpad and growth platform to Etherlink, enabling upcoming projects on Tezos’ EVM layer to access DAO Maker’s fundraising and community-building tools. The partnership marks another step in expanding Etherlink’s reach to broader Web3 audiences.

Messari Q2 2025 ReportMessari’s State of Tezos — Q2 2025 report highlighted a surge in activity driven largely by Etherlink, which accounted for nearly 75% of total network fees. Transaction volume jumped 474% quarter-over-quarter, and smart contract deployments exploded from 806 to over 203,000. Network fees hit an all-time high, rising 324% compared to Q1. The report paints a clear picture of momentum across Tezos’ ecosystem, from DeFi and gaming to the expanding EVM layer, as builders continue to push growth on both the main chain and Etherlink.

Koinly Adds Etherlink SupportCrypto tax platform Koinly integrated Etherlink, allowing users to seamlessly track, import, and report their transactions on Tezos’ EVM-compatible network. The update makes it easier for both users and developers to stay compliant while engaging with the growing DeFi and on-chain activity on Etherlink.

Rarible 2.0 Features EtherlinkRarible rolled out its redesigned Rarible 2.0 platform and highlighted Etherlink among its supported networks. The new version brings a fresh UI, faster performance, and a more streamlined multichain experience. The update reinforces Etherlink’s growing presence across major NFT platforms, expanding its visibility within the broader Web3 space.

Bootloader.art by Objkt LabsObjkt Labs launched Bootloader.art, an on-chain framework for generative art on Tezos. It lets artists write and store their code directly on-chain, ensuring every output is fully autonomous and permanent, no external servers, no dependencies, just pure on-chain creativity.

Events

Tuesday🎙Tezday Community Call — September 2nd

Artz Fridays w OMGiDRAWEDit — September 5th

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Ben Elvidge (uranium.io) — September 9th

Artz Fridays w NENX — September 12th

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Nikolay Mitev (Sugarverse) — September 16th

Artz Fridays w Tito.png — September 19th (Part 1 — Part 2)

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Jams2Blues— September 23rd

Artz Fridays Community Call — September 26th

Tuesday🎙Tezday w Paper Buddha — September 30th

Tezos Town Hall #11: Seoul Upgrade — September 30th

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

Welcome back, Tezos community. It’s been an exciting start to October, and this week has something for everyone. From early access to Reaper Actual’s Foundation Alpha to new movement in DeFi, and art.

Players can now dive straight into Marova, secure their base, and start shaping Reaper Actual alongside the team at Distinct Possibility Studios. It’s a major milestone for the game and a proud moment for Etherlink as more projects move from vision to playable reality.

Meanwhile, the DeFi scene on Tezos just got a lot more interesting. Stacy.fi and TezFin have launched the first lending market for staked tez, letting users earn more from the same balance. Liquidity continues to grow with TZ APAC welcoming Kyber Network to the ecosystem, making it easier than ever to find the best rates in one place.

And on the creative side, the Tezos Foundation is joining forces with the Processing Foundation to showcase p5.js 2.0 through a new series of artist-led tutorials connecting two communities that have always believed in open, accessible creation.

Let’s get into this week’s Baking Sheet.

Reaper Actual Foundation Alpha is Live

It’s finally here. On October 8, Reaper Actual, the open-world persistent shooter built on Etherlink, officially opened its Foundation Alpha, marking the first time players can deploy into Marova and start building the world alongside the developers.

Led by veteran game designer John Smedley, known for creating EverQuest, H1Z1, and PlanetSide, the game drops players into a vast island locked in a civil war between five NPC factions. Every mission, base, and skirmish adds to a living world that continues even when you log off which means your Reapers fight, defend, and build in your absence.

Foundation Alpha gives players a first look at that dynamic world. By purchasing a Foundation Pack, players secure their first base, unlock Reaper characters, and gain access to early playtesting. Packs start at $29.99 and scale up to the $74.99 Stygian Oath Edition, which includes four Reapers, two bases, and access to special feedback channels with the developers.

Smedley emphasized that Reaper Actual is, above all, a skills-based shooter and that its blockchain layer is fully optional featuring an Etherlink-powered marketplace, where Reapers, bases, and cosmetics can be traded like digital collectibles.

“Reaper Actual is first and foremost a skills-based shooter, and that will never change,” Smedley told Decrypt. “But building on Etherlink with the help of Sequence lets us give players something unprecedented: true ownership of their in-game assets. Just like you can buy and sell a home in the real world, you’ll be able to do the same with your bases in Reaper Actual.”

The Foundation Alpha phase will run for a limited time, and quantities of Series 1 packs are capped at 10,000. Players can mint directly through the official marketplace or purchase a standard copy via reaperactual.com using either USDC on Etherlink or a credit card.

This launch marks a major milestone not just for Distinct Possibility Studios, but for Etherlink as well showcasing how builders are starting to tap into on-chain ownership without compromising gameplay.

With Foundation Alpha now live, players can jump in and start shaping the future of the game. Every session, bug report, and balance note feeds directly into development as the team builds toward Early Access in 2026.

You can claim your pack, deploy your Reaper, and be part of that process today.Play Now | Mint a Foundation Pack

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Stacy.fi and TezFin Launch Tezos’ First Lending Market for Staked XTZ

As players were dropping into Marova for Reaper Actual’s Foundation Alpha, another kind of launch was taking shape on Tezos. This one is about making your staking work harder.

Stacy.fi and TezFin have introduced the first Layer 1 lending market for staked XTZ, giving tez holders a way to earn more without giving up their staking rewards.

Here’s how it works. You can stake your tez on Stacy.fi to mint stXTZ, a liquid staking token that keeps earning staking rewards in the background. You can then supply that stXTZ to TezFin to earn lending interest or use it as collateral to borrow against. In other words, your tez keeps working while you do.

Until now, most holders had to choose between staking for yield or supplying XTZ to lending pools. The new stXTZ lending pool on TezFin changes that. It lets users combine both, earning staking rewards and lending interest at the same time, with the option to borrow if they want extra flexibility.

Another interesting feature: a liquid staking token is now available as collateral directly on Layer 1. That opens the door to more creative strategies, from looping staked positions for steady growth to using borrowed assets for added exposure.

For most users, it’s simple. Stake on Stacy.fi, supply stXTZ on TezFin, and start earning on both sides.

Both teams see this as just the beginning. Next up, stXTZ will extend to Layer 2 environments like Etherlink, where it can move easily between faster apps such as Tezlink and Jstz. That means the same staked position could soon earn rewards on multiple layers of the Tezos ecosystem.

With this launch, staking on Tezos becomes more open and connected. You can stake, lend, borrow, and still earn — all from the same balance.

Start here: stacy.fi | tezos.finance

TZ APAC Welcomes Kyber Network to the Tezos Ecosystem

After a week that gave stakers and lenders new tools with Stacy.fi and TezFin, attention turns to liquidity itself. TZ APAC has officially welcomed Kyber Network to the Tezos ecosystem, expanding access to the best trading rates across leading decentralized exchanges in one place.

Through Kyber’s integration, users can now visit a single site and compare live prices across Curve Finance, Oku Trade, Iguana DEX, and Hanji Protocol, while also exploring the growing list of tokens available on Etherlink.

Kyber Network acts as a liquidity hub, pulling rates from multiple Tezos-based DEXs to help users get the most efficient swaps possible. It simplifies what used to take several tabs and transactions into one seamless experience, making on-chain trading on Tezos faster and more intuitive.

For builders and token projects, this integration also means deeper liquidity visibility and easier discovery across the network.

One spot, better rates, and a clearer view of everything Tezos has to offer.

Tezos Foundation Partners with Processing Foundation for a New Creative Coding Series

Lastly, let’s shift focus from DeFi to art & education, two areas that have long shaped Tezos culture.

The Tezos Foundation and Processing Foundation are partnering on a new tutorial series built around p5.js 2.0, the next generation of Processing’s open-source creative coding library. The initiative will feature in-depth lessons from generative artists and highlight how accessible tools can unlock creativity through code.

Each tutorial will also launch as a curated series on EditArt, giving collectors and learners a shared space to explore new works and learn how they were made.

This collaboration connects two deeply aligned communities: Processing’s 20-year legacy of creative coding and the Tezos Foundation’s commitment to digital art and open learning. Together, they’re making it easier for anyone to learn, experiment, and publish work in the open.

The first episodes are set to roll out later this year.

Follow @processingorg, @tezos, and @editart_xyz for updates as the series begins.

Tezos Community Events

Art on Tezos: Berlin

Happening November 6–9, Art on Tezos: Berlin is set to bring together over 200 artists, curators, galleries, and platforms for a multi-day celebration of digital creativity, collaboration, and community. It’s the first time so many contributors from the Tezos art ecosystem will gather under one roof and the result promises to be a rich, diverse portrait of the culture that’s been growing since 2021.

With participants like objkt, bitforms, Galerie Met, Office Impart, and The Second-Guess, the event features everything from interactive installations and live performances to film screenings and special curatorial projects. Highlights include:

A performance by Berlin-based artist allapopp

TeleNFT’s newest showcase is turning live teletext into on-chain artworks

Immersive exhibitions and guided tours across the venue

Art on Tezos continues to evolve, and this Berlin event captures the heart of that movement. Make sure you RSVP to attend before space fills up!

🔴 Now Streaming: Kevin Mehrabi on Stablecoins, USDtz, and Tezos DeFi

We trace Tezos from a grassroots “revolution” in 2017 to a concrete plan for DeFi growth that links governance, stablecoins, and the art economy. Kevin Mehrabi shares how USDTZ prepared for U.S. clarity under the Genius Act and why Etherlink should bridge value, not hype.• 2017 fundraiser, community-led governance shift, and decentralization as a standard • choosing Tezos after deeply reading the white paper and rejecting hard-fork risk • LA community building, the rise of Tezos art, and what “punk” really means for culture • lessons from launching USDTZ early: integrations, trust, reserve-backed design • why the Genius Act matters for compliant, treasury-backed stablecoins • surplus as an on-chain financial battery: grants, art, hackathons, DAO treasury • Etherlink strategy: export L1 value, import EVM liquidity, bridge interest-bearing assets

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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The Power of Words and The Importance of Kindness

“Treat others the way you want to be treated.” That simple phrase shaped my childhood, and it’s a practice I’m still refining as I stumble through a life full of contradictions. I’ve lost count of the times my kindness has been taken advantage of, but I carry no regrets. Choosing to be nice, to be considerate, is a strength, not a weakness.

In today’s world of constant debate and turmoil, how we communicate matters more than ever. The digital era has amplified our voices, but it has also magnified our divisions. Kindness, patience, and thoughtful communication are the threads holding societies together, keeping us from unraveling into seas of disinformation and distrust. Too many people forget that there’s a human being on the other side of the screen, reducing people into stereotypes, borders, or beliefs, without even attempting to befriend or understand each other’s differences.

This is where diplomacy is needed more than ever. Not the diplomacy of politicians and power brokers, but the diplomacy we practice every day as people of Earth interacting online. Imagine civilization as an amphitheater. We the people are the orchestra. The audience is the universe watching “Earth” like a live concert. Diplomacy is how we collaborate to compose that masterpiece. For the finale, let’s send out a frequency that receives a standing ovation instead of rotten tomatoes. I know we can do it, together.

The Four Agreements: Foundational Practices Towards Diplomacy

One of the most practical guides to life I’ve ever come across is, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Though simple on the surface, these principles are powerful tools for everyday diplomacy. These four concepts have played a significant role in my life, and therefore, it seems important to share in the context of this article so readers can further understand how I’ve come to form my perspective. Below is a summary of the four agreements and how I apply them.

Be impeccable with your words. Words carry weight. In diplomacy, whether global or personal, the tone and phrasing we choose can heal or divide.

Don’t take anything personally. Many conflicts stem from ego and assumptions. Diplomacy requires setting ego aside to understand the bigger picture. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Ask for clarity before assuming something was personal.

Don’t make assumptions. Misunderstanding fuels division. Asking questions and clarifying intent is at the heart of communication. This goes hand in hand with how to not take things personally.

Always do your best. Effort matters. Even imperfect diplomacy, when rooted in genuine care, creates progress. Say what you mean clearly. Don’t take things personally. Don’t make assumptions. These are ways you can do your best.

Taken together, these agreements remind us that diplomacy is a skill for all of us to refine, not just politicians and diplomats in suits. It’s a daily practice that can benefit our communities, starting with how we choose our words, how we listen, and how we respond to each other.

A Digital Commonwealth Instead of A Battleground

Social media has given us the ability to speak to anyone, anywhere, at any time. That kind of access is revolutionary, but it also carries risk. Without care, our online spaces collapse into echo chambers, battlegrounds, and marketplaces of misinformation. Words now travel faster than bullets, with no terminal velocity. Even for those with “thick skin,” the constant barrage of negativity can overwhelm the nervous system, leaving us desensitized to the world around us.

Without diplomacy, we risk losing the ability to connect with one another. Empathy and sympathy begin to fade. We stop feeling, and feeling is a vital part of being human. It breaks my heart to see so much “shit posting” and trolling from people I know are simply numb. I still believe there is a kind and ambitious person in there somewhere, and that belief helps me stay diplomatic.

The challenge of our age is not just communication, but communication with consideration. How do we preserve kindness and patience in a world that rewards speed, hot takes, apathy, and empty rhetoric? This is where diplomacy becomes more than a political skill. It is a daily practice, essential for anyone navigating digital communities.

Tezos: A Living Example of Digital Diplomacy

There are places online where a different model is emerging. A model that empowers people, giving them a permissionless playing field to become global diplomats, pioneers, and community builders. One of those places is found within the Tezos Blockchain’s network, home of numerous online communities and initiatives that many who have experienced refer to as the Digital Common Wealth.

Unlike most online networks controlled by corporations or gatekeepers, Tezos is designed to evolve through people’s cooperation. In other words, its rules and upgrades are decided by the people who use it. Anyone can propose an improvement, and the community debates, refines, and votes on whether it should be adopted. That process is not always easy, but it reflects a new digital form of decentralized diplomacy in action. A protocol aligned with the goals of finding common ground, weighing different perspectives, and moving forward together to build improvements to how we can interact online.

Tezos is also home to a vibrant community of artists, developers, and thinkers who collaborate across borders and cultures. From grass roots initiatives developing and exploring ways to expand the network, to the official Tezos Trailblazers program, there are countless examples of how seriously the community takes representation, encouraging people to act as bridges between regions and voices. In this sense, diplomacy is not an abstract ideal, but a practice lived out daily.

Tezos community sets an example of diplomacy that could be applied on a global scale, free from centralized powers that turn everything sour through control and greed. It proves that decentralized communities do not have to dissolve into chaos and it’s very important that we preserve this example.

Every individual has a right to express themselves freely, but any community is only as strong as its most divisive voice. Don’t spoil this for everyone by lacking diplomacy. With dialogue, respect, and patience, we can thrive, on a network that serves as a global commonwealth. This is a lesson that matters for every digital community searching for healthier ways to coexist. Let’s continue leading by example.

Continuing To Create The Masterpiece of Civilization

Diplomacy will always feel challenging because it asks us to rise above instinct and meet one another with patience and a willingness to compromise. Yet if we let it slip away, we lose something essential. We lose our ability to connect, to feel, and to create a shared future.

The Tezos community shows us that another path is possible. It is not perfect, but it continues to evolve through governance and the diplomacy practiced between people. It proves that when dialogue is chosen over division, we can build something resilient, open, and enduring.

This is a reminder for us all: diplomacy is the key to expanding what it means to be civilized, both online and in real life. It lives in the choices we make every day, the words we choose, the care we show, and the bridges we build.

Civilization is a canvas, and every interaction is a brushstroke. Whether in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our online communities, or in revolutionary digital spaces like Tezos, the masterpiece depends on us. The art of diplomacy begins here, with you and me. It is in how we treat others, how we listen, and how we speak. If we can honor those simple ingredients, the finale waiting for us may yet be a symphony worth hearing, a painting worth remembering, and a future worth building together.

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

Welcome back, Tezos community. The Seoul upgrade has been live for only a couple of weeks, yet the focus is already turning to what’s ahead.

On October 6, Reaper Actual begins its Foundation Alpha, giving players their first chance to step onto Marova, claim a base, and work directly with the developers as the game takes shape. It’s an early look at what will grow into one of the most ambitious projects built on Etherlink.

Tezos also made its mark at Token2049 in Singapore. From panels to community gatherings, the energy around the ecosystem was contagious, showing just how much momentum is building as we move into the final months of the year.

Let’s get into it.

Reaper Actual Foundation Alpha: Your First Drop into Marova

The countdown is almost over. On October 6, 2025, Distinct Possibility Studios will open the doors to the Foundation Alpha for Reaper Actual, the highly anticipated open-world persistent shooter built on Etherlink.

If you haven’t been following along, Reaper Actual drops hundreds of players onto the war-torn island of Marova, where rival NPC factions and player-built bases turn every corner into contested territory. Foundation Alpha is the first time players will be able to step into this world, secure their own base, and test drive Reaper characters ahead of the game’s Early Access launch in 2026.

Foundation Alpha is an early access and also an invitation to shape the game with your feedback. Players who grab a Foundation Bundle will join the earliest playtests, unlock a dedicated role in the community Discord, and give direct feedback to the dev team as systems and maps evolve.

Foundation Bundles (limited supply):

Standard – $29.99

1 Base: Bunker

1 Reaper: Havoc

Charon’s Pact – $49.99

1 Base: Bunker

2 Reapers: Havoc & Luna

Stygian Oath – $79.99

2 Bases: Bunker & Warehouse

4 Reapers: Havoc, Luna, Thor & Vibora

For players opting into the Web3-enabled version on Etherlink, these bundles come with tradable assets, letting you own, collect, and exchange Reapers, bases, and cosmetics through the game’s marketplace. Importantly, this optional layer never impacts gameplay balance, but adds a layer of ownership for those who want it.

John Smedley, CEO of Distinct Possibility Studios, put it simply: “Foundation players who purchase directly through our marketplace will receive tradable items, enabling ownership and the ability to trade Reapers, bases, and cosmetics with other players. We believe this offers the widest range of choice for players.”

With Foundation Alpha, the studio is setting the stage for what Reaper Actual will become: a living, evolving battlefield shaped by both devs and players. Quantities are highly limited, so if you want to be part of the first wave, you’ll need to be ready on October 6 at 12 PM EST / 4 PM UTC.

Explore Foundation Bundles Register for later waves

Eyes up, Reapers. The island of Marova is waiting.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Tezos at Token2049: Sights and Sounds from Singapore

Given how Reaper Actual sets the stage for what’s possible in Tezos gaming, it was fitting to see the project featured in Arthur Breitman’s remarks at Token2049 in Singapore. From there, the spotlight widened to show how Tezos is capturing attention across gaming, art, and finance.

Arthur joined the panel “The Race to Scale: Who Will Power the Next 100M Users?”, sharing perspectives on how scaling is largely solved for, why consumer-facing brands matter, and the use cases that can bring Tezos to millions of new users. Games, art, and finance all featured heavily in his comments with Reaper Actual called out as an example of how Tezos-powered gaming is breaking new ground. You can catch key snippets from his talk in this thread from our friends at TZ APAC.

The Tezos booth also drew plenty of attention thanks to Sogni Protocol’s AI photobooth, which let attendees strike a pose and walk away with custom AI-generated prints. It was a playful reminder of how Tezos continues to always lead in key pillars like gaming and art.

With a full week of panels, gatherings, and new connections, Token2049 showed just how far the ecosystem has come. The week will close out on October 3 with the Tezos Breakfast Club, a relaxed morning meetup with good coffee, familiar faces, and space to reflect on it all. RSVP here.

Previewing Protocol T: Block Times Headed to 6 Seconds

Wrapping up this week, the focus now turns back to core development and the next protocol upgrade on the horizon. Nomadic Labs has previewed the upcoming T proposal, which aims to cut block times from today’s 8 seconds down to 6 seconds.

That means quicker transactions and faster finality. At 6 seconds, layer 1 finality would shrink from 16 seconds to 12 seconds, an important step for both apps and everyday users.

To make sure the change can be handled by the network, Nomadic Labs simulated mainnet-like conditions across 260 bakers and tested everything from consensus and bandwidth to hardware performance. The results show that:

Bakers consistently produced blocks at round 0.

Block quorum was reached in under 3 seconds (half the block time).

Bandwidth use came in at ~5 Mbits/s per baker.

Storage needs rose ~30% in line with more blocks being added.

DAL commitments and attestations behaved as expected.

The key takeaway: 6-second blocks worked safely on the test network, including on modest setups like recent Raspberry Pi models. Minimum recommendations have been updated to ensure smooth operation, especially for bakers who are also running DAL nodes.

Protocol T is set to enter stabilization on October 14, with a governance injection about a month later. Bakers and community members are encouraged to share their setups, raise questions, and leave feedback.

Join the discussion here: Agora thread

Tezos Community Events

Art on Tezos: Berlin

Happening November 6–9, Art on Tezos: Berlin is set to bring together over 200 artists, curators, galleries, and platforms for a multi-day celebration of digital creativity, collaboration, and community. It’s the first time so many contributors from the Tezos art ecosystem will gather under one roof and the result promises to be a rich, diverse portrait of the culture that’s been growing since 2021.

With participants like objkt, bitforms, Galerie Met, Office Impart, and The Second-Guess, the event features everything from interactive installations and live performances to film screenings and special curatorial projects. Highlights include:

A performance by Berlin-based artist allapopp

TeleNFT’s newest showcase is turning live teletext into on-chain artworks

Immersive exhibitions and guided tours across the venue

Art on Tezos continues to evolve, and this Berlin event captures the heart of that movement. Make sure you RSVP to attend before space fills up!

🔴 Now Streaming: Kevin Mehrabi on Stablecoins, USDtz, and Tezos DeFi

We trace Tezos from a grassroots “revolution” in 2017 to a concrete plan for DeFi growth that links governance, stablecoins, and the art economy. Kevin Mehrabi shares how USDTZ prepared for U.S. clarity under the Genius Act and why Etherlink should bridge value, not hype.• 2017 fundraiser, community-led governance shift, and decentralization as a standard • choosing Tezos after deeply reading the white paper and rejecting hard-fork risk • LA community building, the rise of Tezos art, and what “punk” really means for culture • lessons from launching USDTZ early: integrations, trust, reserve-backed design • why the Genius Act matters for compliant, treasury-backed stablecoins • surplus as an on-chain financial battery: grants, art, hackathons, DAO treasury • Etherlink strategy: export L1 value, import EVM liquidity, bridge interest-bearing assets

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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Expanding the Spotlight on The Artists of Tezos

Every month, Tezos artists remind us that creativity and sources of inspiration are still abundant in the world, and recognizing that is the heart of ‘ART’icle of the Month. We pause, look around, and spotlight five creators whose work has been nominated by the community through #tezARTicle.

For September 2025, the spotlight shines on @neuraldaydreams, @stipinpixel, @thisisautorun, @huemansuniverse, and @TheCircleArt. Each brings something different to the canvas that further showcases just how wide the range of Tezos art truly is.

As always, the nominations belong to you. Keep using #tezARTicle when you discover work that resonates. Every tag eventually equals a spotlight because nominees stay on the list until the wheel of names picks them. Just make sure the artist actually has art minted on Tezos or Etherlink, please.

Now, let us dive into this month’s featured artists.

Neural Daydreams: 3D, Glitch, AI Art, Conceptual Explorations

Neural Daydreams is a twenty-plus-year trade artist who has a stand out and unique approach to blending artificial intelligence with human creativity. Exploring surreal and dreamlike aesthetics often composed into looped animated sequences, each artwork offers an opportunity to reflect on life.

In the artwork titled “Instructions”, I am reminded of the emotions I faced when I witnessed a banana taped to a wall suddenly become fine art, worth millions of dollars. Only to then watch the “collector” eat it. My nervous system malfunctioned that day, feeling like I had witnessed a glitch in the matrix. Many artists expressed their emotions through art. This stands out for its raw representation of how the event made many artists feel. Apparently…all we had to do was care less, and slap a banana on a wall. This is one of those things that makes art so powerful. Instead of giving up, it allows creative minds to express their longing to give up through art. This helps us heal, and move forward. We eat the pain and let it fuel us, like a banana.

In a similar juxtaposed composition, “Starchild”, an element of sadness is represented by the way a human shaped figure is walking through a dark plane. However, the figure itself is composed of sparkling light. NeuralDayDreams has a way of getting the viewer to stop and look for more, while also using the title and description to nudge perceptions in a positive direction. “Don’t be sad Starchild, you are more than you know.”

Experience the REBIRTH collection on OBJKT here, and visit NeuralDayDreams Linktree here.

StipinPixel: Pixel Art, Digital Storytelling

StipinPixel is a designer, artist, and curator whose pixel-based work transforms minimal grids into expressive works of art. When exploring this artist’s objkt profile, many of the artworks reminded me of video games I used to play as a kid, like an entire world exists within each framed experience.

“Home of Humita” frames one of those worlds perfectly. If I were presented this scene with a controller in hand, I may rush to whatever hides out of view eager to explore. Before blockchain and NFTs, art like this often only existed within a video game format. Through mediums like Objkt, innovative artists like StipinPixel can now present animated pixel art almost like how photographers frame real life. Taking an interactive world and capturing a significant moment to be framed as art.

In StipinPixel’s genesis “Trick Or Trip”, we are taken deep into another world I’d love to experience as a gamer, but appreciate how it is presented as an artwork. I especially love the playfulness and suggestive nature of this Halloween party. The details and numerous animations are incredible. The more pixels you can fit in a frame, the less and less the creation looks like “Pixel art”. Looking at this the other way, you can understand why some say everything is in fact pixel art. All images and videos are composed of pixels. To discover more amazing art by StipinPixel visit their Objkt profile here or their website here.

Autorun: Gif Maker, Pixel Manipulator

Taking pixel art to the extreme with colorful glitching GIF based compositions is our next spotlight, Autorun. In the bio it states that “everything is scripted”, suggesting a workflow that involves creative coding. With some stunning artworks available on Objkt and Skurpy, let’s take a look at a few together.

When I first found “You Might Transcend When It Kicks in-” on Skurpy it really moved me. I absolutely love how this style of animation suggests perpetual motion without disrupting the composition as a whole. The color choices feel rich and vibrant, yet the pixelated lay out leaves a lot of room for the imagination to take over. As someone who recently quit vaping, I can imagine sitting on that rock exhaling a cloud of vapor into the sky as I let the static noises of nature soothe my mind.

In “I Walked The Path You’ve Led me-”, also on Skurpy, we get a different scene and mood within the same style. Here, it feels much darker with what appears to be a river of lava below the cliff. The posture of the figure suggests exhausted forward motion, weight leaning into the edge of the cliff just a few steps ahead. The scene gives the soft glitching pixels an implied “suspension” especially around the figure’s back. Almost as if matter itself wants to keep them from falling. Discover more from Autorun by following them on Skurpy here or Objkt here.

Huemans Of The Universe: Sketches, Illustrations

I had the pleasure of getting to know this artist through the WTF Gameshow community, and every time we were given an art creation challenge I was consistently impressed by what Huemans of the Universe would create. The ability to hand draw a sequence of frames to then animate is a talent I’ve always admired, but something about how Huemans applies that skill results in art that feels extra playful, meaningful and refined.

One of those artworks made for a gameshow challenge is “Alpha Betting.” Depicting the classic magnet letters on a refrigerator, with a hand moving them around to form a “WTF”, referencing the gameshow. It even has an inside joke in there that you had to be part of the game to understand.

In “Watch Your Step” two people meet face to face, but we as the viewers, only see their legs. The background turns from grey to colorful as they meet and begin to dance together. A powerful statement that together there is simply more joy in the world. More things to dance about. How much more peaceful would the world be if we just started dancing every time we came face to face with a stranger? To discover more beautiful and playful art by Huemans of the Universe visit their linktree here.

The Circle Art: Artist, Writer, Photographer

This artist speaks through their artwork and poetry. A balanced feeling of dark and light with a tendency to lean into romance is my first impression. From photography to mixed media compositions and explorations of shapes you can really gather an idea of what makes The Circle Art revolve.

In the black and white photograph, “Window The Entrance….”, we capture some of that balance. Looking through a window into a prison like void. From the outside standing in daylight it feels like an artsy recognition of textures and architecture with the mystery of what may be inside, but when I imagine being on other side of those bars looking out, it likely would be with feelings of despair. My curious longing to look inside the window could be met by something or someone’s desperate glare outward.

Another black and white photograph, “The Street Art Photography #1”, captures another type of art that doesn’t wait for permission. The Circle Art aimed to capture the rebellious nature of graffiti, and how it demands to reclaim the mundane and bring more life to the streets. I find myself imagining just how unspectacular this old strip of buildings looked before it was “tagged” by street artists. I like it better now for sure. Thank you The Circle Art for capturing it in frame. To discover more from The Circle Art, visit their linktree here.

See You Next Month

As we wrap up this month’s spotlight, take a moment to revisit the work of @neuraldaydreams, @stipinpixel, @thisisautorun, @huemansuniverse, and @TheCircleArt. Each artist brings a unique perspective, showing just how diverse and inventive the Tezos art ecosystem continues to be.

When art on Tezos catches your eye, keep the conversation going. Use the hashtag #tezARTicle. Every nomination helps lift artists into view, expands our shared archive of inspiration, and ensures that the Tezos community continues to grow stronger and more connected.

Explore, reflect, and share. The next ‘ART’icle can only be written through your nominations.

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

The Seoul protocol upgrade has been officially live for a week and with it, a smoother staking experience has finally arrived. This 19th upgrade not only brought native multisigs and a leaner consensus to Tezos, but it also unlocked a long-awaited fix for one of the more tedious parts of staking: finalization.

In this edition, we meet Finn, the new Tezos bot built to automate the unstaking process and eliminate backlogs for good. We also have an upcoming Tezos Town Hall, a recap Arthur Breitman’s uranium talk on Nasdaq, and give you a full look at where to find the Tezos community this month from Token2049 to Berlin’s Art on Tezos showcase.

Let’s dive into this week’s Baking Sheet.

Meet Finn: Smoother Staking with Tezos’ New Finalization Bot

Tezos stakers, meet your new friend, Finn, a finalization bot developed and maintained by Trilitech that takes advantage of Seoul’s open unstake finalization feature. If you’ve ever forgotten to finalize an unstake operation (or didn’t even know you had to), you’re not alone and that’s exactly what Finn is here to solve.

Before Seoul, unstaking was a two-step process: you’d initiate the unstake, wait four cycles (about four days), and then manually finalize it to free up your funds. Many users either forgot this second step or submitted it too early, leaving hundreds of tez in limbo. In fact, as of just before the upgrade, over 1,000 unstake operations were sitting unfinalized, some for nearly six months.

Seoul changes all that. With its activation, any account (not just the original staker) can now finalize unstake requests. That means bots like Finn can do it automatically, for everyone, cycle by cycle.

So how does Finn work?

Every cycle, Finn checks the network for unstake operations that are ready for finalization.

It batches them together, up to 200 per batch and submits them, covering the gas fees.

It continues this loop until all finalizable requests are processed.

Finn launched on testnets like Seoulnet and Ghostnet ahead of Seoul’s activation, and it’s now live on mainnet. Starting cycle 999, Finn is fully operational and will begin clearing out the existing backlog, including some ancient finalizations dating back to cycle 748.

Best of all, it’s entirely non-custodial. Finn never touches your funds. The tez always ends up in your account, and stakers don’t pay anything for Finn’s help.

This one small upgrade has a big impact, not just in convenience, but in setting a new bar for staking UX. Tools like stake.tezos.com are already being updated to reflect the simplified flow. Finalization will just happen.

Welcome, Finn. We’re glad you’re here.

Tezos Town Hall #11: Seoul in Focus

With Finn now live and cleaning up old unstake requests, the focus turns to a broader conversation about what Seoul unlocks for Tezos. That’s where the next Tezos Town Hall comes in.

Coming up on September 30, the next Tezos Town Hall will take a deep dive into the Seoul protocol upgrade. The session features a lineup from Nomadic Labs, including:

Vincent Poulain – Manager of Technical User Relations

Yann Regis-Gianas – Head of Engineering

Zaynah Dargaye – Core Layer 1 Engineering Manager

Hosted by Cryptonio of Tezos Commons, the discussion will walk through Seoul’s key features like native multisigs to open unstake finalization, and give the community a chance to hear directly from the teams behind the upgrade.

🗓 September 30🕕 18:00 CEST | 12:00 EST📍 Watch live on YouTube or join the conversation on 𝕏

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Arthur Talks Uranium on Nasdaq

While the Town Hall will unpack the technical gains of Seoul, Arthur Breitman took to the Nasdaq stage to highlight a different kind of transformation underway, one that connects Tezos with global commodities.

In a recent episode of Nasdaq TradeTalks, Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos, joined Stephanie Ramezan, CEO of The Crypto Collective, to explore how Tezos is enabling the tokenization of uranium and what that says about the future of real-world assets.

Watch the full conversation here, hosted by Jill Malandrino: Tokenization & Uranium on Nasdaq.

Tezos Community Events

Tezos at TOKEN2049: Here’s Where to Find Us

All eyes are on Singapore as TOKEN2049 kicks off this fall and once again, Tezos will have a strong presence with a variety of events.

On October 1–2, Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos, takes the main stage to share his thoughts on what it takes to keep a decentralized network adaptive. His talk explores the careful balance between shipping upgrades quickly and safely, maintaining user confidence, and protecting momentum across years of development. With Tezos nearing its 19th protocol upgrade and a consistent track record of forkless evolution, it’s a topic the network is uniquely qualified to address.

But the conversation doesn’t stop when the conference does.

📍 September 30 – Fortify Labs Open HouseStart the week strong with the Fortify Labs Day 0 gathering. TZ APAC is opening its doors for founders, builders, and investors to meet, connect, and explore new ideas without the pitch decks.RSVP here.

📍 October 2 – Hack Seasons ConferenceTZ APAC Managing Director David Tng will take the main stage at the Hack Seasons Conference to talk about building ecosystems that last.RSVP here.

📍 October 2 – Web3 Grants Day #3Imran from the Fortify Labs team will be speaking on how the program supports early-stage teams and accelerates growth on Etherlink. You’ll also find the team at Booth #1 throughout the day.

RSVP Here.

📍 October 3 – Tezos Breakfast ClubWind down the week with the Tezos Breakfast Club — a laid-back morning meetup for builders, bakers, and everyone in between. Great coffee, friendly faces, and space to reflect on a packed week.RSVP here.

Art on Tezos: Berlin

Happening November 6–9, Art on Tezos: Berlin is set to bring together over 200 artists, curators, galleries, and platforms for a multi-day celebration of digital creativity, collaboration, and community. It’s the first time so many contributors from the Tezos art ecosystem will gather under one roof and the result promises to be a rich, diverse portrait of the culture that’s been growing since 2021.

With participants like objkt, bitforms, Galerie Met, Office Impart, and The Second-Guess, the event features everything from interactive installations and live performances to film screenings and special curatorial projects. Highlights include:

A performance by Berlin-based artist allapopp

TeleNFT’s newest showcase is turning live teletext into on-chain artworks

Immersive exhibitions and guided tours across the venue

Art on Tezos continues to evolve, and this Berlin event captures the heart of that movement. Make sure you RSVP to attend before space fills up!

4 Days left for Staketember!

It’s that time of year again. Staketember has returned, and with it comes Tezos’ most sacred tradition: making fun of network infrastructure for internet points (and a little tez).

Whether you’re a baker, delegator, or just someone who knows how to explain consensus with SpongeBob templates, the Staketember Meme Contest is your time to shine.

 What to meme about:

Staking and delegating — the why, how, and hilarious misconceptions

Tezos’ unique security model (yes, nerd jokes welcome)

Bakers, rewards, governance… if it keeps Tezos running, it’s fair game

How to enter:Quote repost this post with your meme and tag @Tezos

Prizes:

🥇 Top 3 memes win 100 tez each

🥲 Eternal bragging rights and chain-wide clout

🗓️ Winners announced September 30

So load up your meme folders, channel your inner staking strategist, and make September the funniest month on Tezos.

🔴 Now Streaming: Building for Bakers, Builders, and the Future of Tezos with Beata Lipska

This week on TezTalks Live, Stu welcomes Beata Lipska from Trilitech to unpack what’s happening behind the scenes with Etherlink, the Seoul protocol upgrade, and how her team is helping builders and bakers shape the future of Tezos from the ground up.

🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:

The Builders Behind the Chain: How Beata’s squad works directly with developers to simplify onboarding, support innovation, and make building on Tezos more efficient.

Supporting the Bakers: What a Tezos baker actually is, why it matters, and how her team helps them keep the network secure and decentralized.

Hackathons, Firsthand: A behind-the-scenes look at what this summer’s biggest Tezos hackathons revealed about the next wave of projects and builders entering the space.

Etherlink’s Momentum: How Tezos’ rollup architecture is progressing, where adoption stands today, and why deeper EVM compatibility is opening doors for new users and use cases.

Seoul and Beyond: What the 19th Tezos protocol upgrade means for the ecosystem, and how it shows the maturity of on-chain governance in action.

Watch the full episode on YouTube.

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A New Playground For Generative Art On Tezos

ObjktLabs recently unveiled Bootloader.art, an experimental, open-source playground for long-form generative art on Tezos. Within its first week, the platform saw more than 200 generators created, several successful sellouts, and a steady flood of artist participation. So what about this new platform has everyone excited? Let’s figure that out together by exploring all there is to know so far.

Built by the team behind Objkt.com as the first ObjktLabs experiment, Bootloader aims to explore generative SVG-based artworks while storing each creation entirely on-chain. This approach eliminates the need for external storage like IPFS and creates permanent, immutable works that live directly on Tezos. The design also emphasizes accessibility, with a clean and simple layout that invites quick experiments, vibe coding, and exponential room for growth. Within the first week of its release the updates have been steady and impressive. For me, this feels like a well-timed expansion from the Objkt team, and I instantly enjoyed the experience as a user.

In response to some initial concerns, the team has made it clear that it isn’t aiming to replace fxhash. However, many in the Tezos ecosystem are still adjusting to fxhash’s recent decisions, and Bootloader might serve as an appealing, fresh alternative hub for generative art experimentation.

What Makes Bootloader Different

At its core, Bootloader offers a flexible and transparent user interface for creators to explore the potential of SVG-based generative art. Its modular design allows for different types of “bootloaders,” which are environments where long-form generative code can run. That definition is intentionally broad, leaving room for surprises and new creative directions. Just as importantly, every token’s final URI is assembled directly on-chain at the moment of minting, ensuring full transparency and permanence in how each artwork is defined.

Both creators and collectors get clear estimates of minting and storage fees, which become more significant with on-chain minting. These visible storage fees have also sparked conversation around code optimization. In short, better-optimized code for generative projects results in lower minting costs for collectors. In turn, this allows more of the tez to go to creators and gives collectors more budget to support artists. Offering this fresh playground and sparking conversations in the community are just a few things that make Bootloader special from day one.

Since launch, Bootloader has already delivered several key updates. The help page has been refreshed to better guide both artists and collectors. A new activity feed now makes it easy to follow drops and trades in real time, complete with filters for starting soon, sold out, or active sales, plus tools to search and sort projects by date or popularity.

On the creative side, the update code feature allows artists to evolve their projects without breaking ties to the original mint. I minted an early drop by Marcelo Moura for example, who contacted me a few days later telling me I could “update my artwork”. It was a simple, optional process, but I enjoyed updating my minted artwork, Ecodesing do jogo #1.

Together, these changes strengthen Bootloader’s commitment to open, on-chain systems while giving creators (and collectors) more room to experiment.

Early Artist Activity

Bootloader’s rapid adoption is being driven by artists who immediately saw its potential. In just the first week, established names and newcomers alike launched projects that drew quick attention. This has me wanting to keep a close eye on the platform. I feel like any day now I’m going to see a Zancan drop in the “Starting Soon” tab, and I am not going to miss it.

One of the earliest highlights was Nanoholiday by Piter Pasma, which spread quickly across feeds. Soon after, Mark Knol’s SMOL BLOBS sold out almost instantly, with a not-so-smol nod to his well-loved Smol Skull series from fxhash.

Other projects expanded the visual range of the platform as well including, Tezumies’ WarpField of cosmic landscapes through shifting palettes, while Liasomething’s Sashiko drew from Japanese stitching traditions to produce elegant geometric patterns.

Momentum has already created some higher price points too. Artist, Qubibien continued their experimental streak with projects like Yesterday and 0xNovus debuted ꜩ DNA On-Chain, a palette-driven genetic simulation.

These were only some of the many noteworthy projects. Contributions from artists across the Tezos ecosystem continue dropping. A blend of OGs and new creators gives Bootloader a mix of nostalgia and fresh energy. Could this be a signal of its potential to shape the next chapter of generative art on Tezos? I’ll be watching, collecting, vibe coding, and cheering on the team at Objkt from the front row.

Community Response

The community is showing up in numbers. By September 15, Bootloader was trending on Objkt homepage, reaching the number one spot with a total volume surpassing 6,420 tez, while high-value secondary trades underscored the platform’s traction. Even the spike in storage fees is leaving a footprint, nudging Tezos burn rates upward with metrics that some follow closely. This has sparked conversations and enthusiasm in Tezos Telegram and Discord channels, where speculators beyond the art are realizing the potential benefits of the success of on-chain NFT marketplaces. Essentially, they are excited to see more tez getting burned for gas.

What Comes Next

With new bootloader environments, upcoming community events, and a Discord server on the horizon, the platform’s future potential feels as endless as the variations of generative art it supports. Its viral potential rests on timing, accessibility, and the community’s hunger for fresh generative playgrounds.

Bootloader.art may have started as an experiment, but it has already emerged as a significant cultural touchpoint for Tezos in 2025. For collectors, generative artists, vibe coders, and anyone who values transparency in digital art, it is a space worth watching closely.

Bootloader: By ObjktLabs was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Why now is a good moment to stake your tez. High rewards, lower emissions, stronger network.

September is here, and in the Tezos world, that means one thing: Staketember! A community-driven campaign to get more people staking.

Now, before you roll your eyes and think, “Another staking pitch?” hear me out. I’m not talking just about squeezing a few extra percentage points of APY from your wallet. It’s about making your tez actually work, for you, for the protocol, and for everyone else in the ecosystem. And right now, the stars are aligned.

The State of Tezos Staking Today

Tezos staking has quietly reached a new phase. For the first time, more than a quarter of the supply, about 26%, is staked and actively securing the chain. Another chunk, roughly 38%, sits in delegation, which helps bakers grow but doesn’t contribute to consensus in the same way.

The reward gap between the two roles is striking. Delegators are earning a steady 3–4% APY, while stakers are collecting closer to 10%+, roughly triple (3x). That difference reflects the deeper role stakers play in keeping the chain secure.

At the same time, Tezos’ adaptive issuance has been quietly at work. Issuance has already slipped down to 4.15%, compared to the ~4.6% average before adaptive issuance.

In short, participation is climbing, rewards are healthy, and the economics are tightening, exactly as Tezos’ design intended.

Why Isn’t Everyone Staking Yet?

If the numbers are this good, why isn’t staking participation higher? I think much of it comes down to psychology and a few stubborn misconceptions. Let’s clear them up.

The Lock-Up Misconception: People imagine staking means locking funds for ages. On Cosmos you wait 21 days, Polkadot takes 28, and Ethereum’s timelines can stretch into months. Tezos? Just four days. That’s it. Yes, you’ve read that correctly, just 4 days!

The Custody Misconception: Some assume they’ll lose control over their tez. In Tezos, staking is fully self‑custodial. Your funds never leave your wallet and only you can touch them.

The Validator Misconception: There’s also the idea that staking requires heavy validator infrastructure. The staker role that was introduced in Tezos last year changed that, anyone can stake directly just with their wallet and with just a couple of clicks.

The “Delegating Is Enough” Misconception: Delegation was the original path, but it doesn’t secure the chain in the same way. Today, delegation feels more like a half‑step, while staking is the real deal, with about three times the rewards to prove it.

The “All or Nothing” Misconception: Some think staking means locking up your entire wallet. Not true. You can choose to stake only a portion of your tez, say 70%, while keeping the other 30% delegated and liquid. That way, if an NFT drop comes along or you need quick access, you’ve got funds ready without touching your staked balance.

These misconceptions don’t hold up under scrutiny. And Staketember is the right moment to finally leave them behind.

Why More Staking Helps Everyone

In my opinion, staking is one of those rare win-win scenarios where individual action multiplies into collective impact. As we saw earlier, the rewards are clear, but the impact goes further.

When you stake, you’re not just earning rewards, you’re actively contributing to the chain’s security. You’re also tightening the supply by pushing issuance down, which means fewer new tez entering circulation. Over time, that makes tez more scarce, which benefits every holder, not just the stakers.

It’s like the classic flywheel effect: the more people stake, the stronger and leaner the system gets, which makes staking even more attractive, which brings in more stakers. Around and around it goes.

Make This Your Staketember

A lot of tez are still sitting idle, some on exchanges, some delegated but not staked. In both cases, they’re not reaching their full potential.

That’s really all Staketember is about, making the simple choice to move idle tez into action. No complicated setups, no long lockups, no handing over control. Just staking on your terms. The tools are simple.

Go to stake.tezos.com, connect your wallet, choose a baker (you can compare their fees, free space, and performance on tzkt.io/bakers), think about how much tez you feel comfortable locking for four days, it doesn’t have to be all of it, just a portion, and click stake.

So if you’ve been putting it off, let this be the month you give it a try. Stake some tez, see the rewards flow in, and know you’re part of the reason Tezos keeps getting stronger.

Staketember and the State of Staking on Tezos was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Everything You Need To Know Before Tuning In.

When I think about what makes blockchain worth caring about, it isn’t just the technology or the markets. It’s the connections, the collaborations, and the communities that form around shared visions. On Tezos, an example of that spirit has taken shape through TezTones, a grassroots experiment where artists from around the world come together to compete, create, and push boundaries in live matchups. These matches bring musicians and visual artists together to produce team-based collaborative works in real-time. At its core, it’s an art competition streamed live, but in practice, it’s a magical experience worth your attention.

In a permissionless space like Tezos, artists can exchange ideas, sounds, images, and code to build something bigger than themselves. This vast network of people enables collectives like TezTones to form, and that’s what makes it special. It’s a living example of how art and community thrive when barriers are removed. Now that Season 3 is here, let’s take a look at what’s planned and what has already happened along the way.

Catching Up From the Beginning

In Season 1, teams of artists were assigned prompts and challenged to create audio-visual works with up to a month to complete their entries. Matches played out in the metaverse and quickly drew attention, culminating in a historic season that featured artists representing 14 countries. It was proof that Artletics could be a truly global format.

Season 2 raised the bar by changing the format. Instead of live reveals, matches turned into live creation, with musicians and visual artists composing under the clock during streamed sessions. Using tools like BandLab, teams built their work live in front of an audience, and the results were electric. Despite no prize pool or financial incentives, artists showed up week after week. Team Bigfoot emerged as champions, and the season wrapped up with the planning of TezCon 2025. You can find a full recap of this year’s TezCon in Seattle, in an article written by Tezos Gaming, available here.

What’s New in Season 3

Now we enter Season 3, and TezTones is evolving again. The league format continues, with eight teams of artists competing across a full schedule of live matches. The wheel of prompts will spin, the clock will tick, and creativity will be tested under pressure. All of this now has a strong foundation in the new TezTones app, the best way to experience everything happening in TezTones Artletics Premier League (TAPL).

The dApp is an impressive feat of “vibe coding”, developed by league commissioner, Hashbrown. You’ll be surprised at how polished and intuitive this app feels. Users can create a profile, view recent matches, vote, interact with players in chat, and earn points toward real-world TezTones merch like hats and digital playing cards.

Players get a vastly improved experience through the app as well, with scheduling tools, built-in communication, and customizable notifications to keep them on track for match days (Saturday and Sunday 5 pm UTC).

Personal Experience With My Team’s First Match

As someone who has experienced every step of TezTones’ evolution, my recent first match of season 3 as a player on the team Seed Phrase was a strong signal of what’s ahead. The workflow felt more natural, the process of streaming was smoother, and the app tied everything together in a way that made it all feel organized and accessible. Plus, my team is super talented and multi-cultural. I’m very happy to get to create with them all season long. Go Team Seed Phrase!

Even while juggling tabs and tools during the live creation, I could pull up the app on my phone to see the stream from the fans’ perspective and even join in on the chat. That small detail made the whole thing feel connected, like the players and fans were part of the same room. Next time I am mid-creation on live-stream I hope to chat with you through the TezTones app.

Fantasy Leagues Assemble

If you’ve ever watched a TezTones match, or any sports match-up, and thought, “I knew that talent was going to shine in this format”, Season 3 gives fans the chance to put that intuition to the test. A parallel fantasy league is now built into the app, where you can draft your own roster of artists and compete head-to-head with other managers. Check out the Fantasy tab in-app to get started once it’s live.

Looking Down The Road

Season 3 is expanding the vision of Artletics into something both artists and fans can engage with more deeply. Ideas are also being explored for how the season’s works might live on in a dedicated OBJKT gallery or collection, where captains mint original pieces and fans follow the unfolding story through NFTs. These ideas are still in development, but they point to the growing potential of TezTones as both a league and a cultural hub. In some form, we can be sure the art made during matches will be minted on Tezos.

TezTones remains what it has always been: a global community of artists creating together under pressure, pushing the boundaries of collaboration, and showing what’s possible when art, collaboration, and competition intersect on Tezos.

Join the Journey

For returning fans, curious newcomers, music lovers, art lovers, tech lovers, and fantasy league enthusiasts ready to test their skills, Season 3 is a chance to get involved in something meaningful. Watch the matches, support the artists, draft your dream team, and be part of the growing legacy of Artletics.

Season 3 officially begins September 13, with the matches so far considered pre-season. The clock is set, and the artists are preparing to step back into the arena. Let’s make this season unforgettable and let the creativity flow!

You can follow along at TezTones.com. When viewing from mobile, a prompt will show you how to set the “app” to your home screen. From that icon you will get the app experience. You can also visit TezTones on X here, and YouTube here. See you at the next live match!

TezTones Season 3 Debut was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.