First published 17 September 2020, two years after mainnet. Expanded in October 2026 so a delegation is not described as a transfer, and so a 2018 reward figure is not described as the current one. Tezos is a proof-of-stake chain designed by Arthur Breitman and Kathleen Breitman. A 2017 public sale was held up by a fight inside the foundation that was supposed to hold the proceeds, and the coins reached buyers late. That delay is a company story. It is not a rule of the ledger. The betanet opened on 30 June 2018. Mainnet opened on 17 September 2018. XTZ pays the fee and is the stake.
Baking is the name for producing a block. You can bake if you hold enough XTZ, or you can delegate to a baker who does. Delegation does not send the baker the coins. The baker cannot spend them. A website that asks for the spending key in order to bake is not the protocol. The amount required to bake directly is a parameter, and amendments have changed it. The wallet shows the current line. A reward number from the 2018 papers is not the reward after those amendments.
A vote can change the protocol without a split
The chain is built to amend itself. Holders vote, through their bakers, on a proposal. A proposal that passes is activated on this chain. You do not have to pick a new piece of software the way a Bitcoin split forces a choice. A vote can still be a bad change. Self-amendment is a procedure. It is not a promise the procedure is wise. What is Bitcoin Cash (BCH)? is what a split looks like when the two sides do not stay on one ledger.
New XTZ is minted for bakers. There is no ceiling of 21 million. A dashboard rate is that cycle. A baker who signs two blocks for the same height can lose a bond. This page will not describe how that signature is made. Staking is a lock and a queue, not a savings account. Delegation here is not even a lock of the coins. It is still not a savings account.
A Tezos address starts with tz. A contract address starts with KT1. Neither will receive an Ethereum transfer, and an Ethereum address will not receive XTZ. The wrong network is still the wrong city. Nothing here is an instruction to bake, to delegate, or to buy XTZ.
