Tezos Clears $4 a Token in 17% Uptick

The price of Tezos (XTZ) has risen by 17% in the past 24 hours, according to data from metrics site Nomics. One XTZ token is now worth $4.07 and the blockchain’s market cap is $3.4 billion.

Tezos started to rise at about 6:40 pm (EST) last night, when it began its climb from about $3.3. It has risen ever since, peaking at highs of $4.12.

In the same time period, daily trading volume has more than tripled, according to data from CoinGecko, from $108 million to $322 million. Tezos token’s most recent upswing is its first since early May, when XTZ hit highs of about $8.27.

Tezos launched in 2018 as one of the first proof-of-stake coins. Proof-of-stake coins are mined (“baked” and “staked” are also popular equivalents) by people who pledge lots of coins. This contrasts with proof-of-work, which has miners run energy-intensive software to process transactions.

Proof-of-work fell out of favor last month after Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and one-time Bitcoin bull, slammed Bitcoin for using this mining mechanism. 

Musk, one of the richest men in the world, vowed to support energy-efficient projects. Though he has not mentioned Tezos, the blockchain carries none of the baggage that its proof-of-work rivals do. 

Since Tezos does not rely on computationally intensive mining, it is also unaffected by crackdowns on mining anticipated to come out of China. The government crashed the price of Bitcoin when a state committee added Bitcoin mining and trading to a laundry list of dirty industries it intends to monitor. 

This past month, NFTs have also thrived on Tezos, boasting cheaper transaction fees and faster validation times than Ethereum. In May, Tezos-based NFT project Hic Et Nunc surpassed volume on OpenSea, a popular marketplace for Ethereum NFTs, reported Art News.

"Tezos is home to the largest and fastest-growing NFT community and a booming DeFi ecosystem: factor in its on-chain governance where conversations on upgrades give a glimpse of what's ahead, no wonder people are finally waking up to the sleeping giant that is Tezos," Reid Yager,  head of communications at BlokHaus, told Decrypt.

Yesterday, Sergio “Checo” Perez won the Grand Prix in Azerbaijan in a car featuring a Tezos logo. No matter the cause, XTZ holders are riding this latest bullish wave for all it is worth.