Tezos, a layer 1 proof-of-stake blockchain network, implemented its latest protocol upgrade on Saturday, Tallinn, which reduced block times on the base layer to 6 seconds.
The latest update is the 20th protocol update, which reduces blocking timesreduces storage costs and latency, leading to faster network completion times, according to a Tezos announcement.
Tallinn also allows all validators in the network, called “bakers”, to attest each block, rather than a subset of validators attesting blocks, which is how validators verified blocks in previous versions of the protocol, Tezos spokespersons explained:
“This is achieved through the use of BLS cryptographic signatures, which consolidate hundreds of signatures into one per block. By easing the load on nodes, this also opens the door to further reductions in block time.”
The upgrade also introduced an address indexing mechanism that removes “redundant” address data, reducing storage requirements for applications running on Tezos.
Tezos spokespersons said the address indexing mechanism improves storage efficiency by a factor of 100.
The latest Tezos upgrade shows the desire to faster, higher throughput blockchain networks capable of handling more transactions per second and reducing settlement times to accommodate a growing number of use cases.
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Block times have come a long way since the first generation of blockchains
The first generation of blockchain networks, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, had speeds of around seven transactions per second (TPS) and 15-30 TPS, respectively.
The Bitcoin protocol produces blocks approximately every 10 minutes, presenting a challenge for everyday payments and commercial transactions on the base layer.
These slow network speeds have prompted both protocols to evolve via Layer 2 (L2) networkswhich manage the execution of transactions.
In the case of Bitcoin, this is done via the lightning networkOpen payment channels between two or more parties that handle a series of off-chain transactions, displaying only the net balance on the base layer once the payment channel is closed.
The Ethereum network relies on an ecosystem of Layer 2 networks to scale and takes a modular approach, separating execution, consensus and data availability layers.
Monolithic blockchain networkslike Solana, combines all these functions in a single layer, instead of going through L2s.
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