Tezos, a layer 1 proof-of-stake blockchain network, deployed its latest protocol update in Tallinn on Saturday, which reduced block times at the base layer to 6 seconds.
According to Tezos’ announcement, the latest update is the 20th update to the protocol, which reduces blocking times, lowers storage costs and reduces latency, resulting in faster network finalization times.
Tallinn also allows all network validators, called “bakers”, to certify each individual block rather than a subset of validators certifying blocks, as validators verified blocks in previous versions of the protocol, Tezos spokespersons explained:
“This is achieved through the use of BLS cryptographic signatures, which aggregate hundreds of signatures into one per block. By reducing the load on nodes, it also opens the door to further reductions in block times.”
The update also introduced an address indexing mechanism that removes “redundant” address data, reducing storage requirements for applications running on the Tezos platform.
Tezos spokespeople said the address indexing mechanism increases storage efficiency by a factor of 100.
The latest Tezos update shows the drive to create faster and more capable blockchain networks that can handle more transactions per second and reduce settlement times to accommodate the growing number of operate cases.
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Blockchains have come a long way since the first generation of blockchains
The first generation of blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum had rates of around seven transactions per second (TPS) and 15–30 TPS, respectively.
The Bitcoin protocol generates blocks approximately every 10 minutes, which poses a challenge for everyday payments and commercial transactions at the underlying layer.
These tardy network speeds have prompted both protocols to scale on Layer 2 (L2) networks that support transaction execution.
In Bitcoin’s case, this is done via the Lightning Network, payment channels open between two or more parties that handle a series of off-chain transactions and, once the payment channel is closed, only transmit the net balance to the underlying layer.
The Ethereum network relies on an ecosystem of Layer 2 networks to scale and takes a modular approach, separating the execution, consensus, and data availability layers.
Monolithic blockchain networks like Solana combine all of these functions into a single layer, rather than scaling through L2 layers.
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