On March 12, 2025, Tezos’ L2 solution, Etherlink, successfully deployed its third protocol upgrade, named Calypso, heralding significant enhancements to the network’s performance. This upgrade paves the way for quicker, more resilient, and efficient decentralized applications (dApps) on the Tezos blockchain, positioning Etherlink as a competitive solution within the Ethereum ecosystem.
The Calypso upgrade comes shortly after the successful deployment on the testnet, showcasing the rigorous governance process led by Tezos bakers before the mainnet launch. These bakers serve as key components in the Tezos ecosystem, ensuring broad consensus and governance across various developments.
One of the standout features of the Calypso upgrade is its promise of up to a 30x boost in performance. This high degree of enhancement is crucial in the fast-evolving world of decentralized finance (DeFi) and exchanges, where quick transaction times significantly impact user experience. Furthermore, the upgrade introduces, among other improvements, a new precompiled contract entrypoint to facilitate faster withdrawals of the native token, XTZ, from Etherlink back to the Tezos layer 1 chain.
Beyond performance improvements, Calypso also optimizes smart contract storage and governance updates, enabling a seamless and non-custodial experience for users looking to bridge tokens across networks. Users can currently bridge the native Tezos token, tez (XTZ), effortlessly from layer 1 to Etherlink and vice versa, making the entire process more user-friendly.
The road to Calypso’s successful rollout has seen Etherlink evolve significantly over the past two years, including the introduction of its alpha testnet in 2023 and beta version in early 2024. Future milestones look promising, with plans for integrating oracle price feeds and introducing advanced decentralized functionalities.
As of now, with the recent activation of the Quebec upgrade on the Tezos network, there’s an observable trajectory towards enhancing the overall ecosystem, drawing more developers and users alike. With these changes, Tezos not only confirms its commitment to innovation but also underscores its position as a formidable player in the blockchain landscape.
- Calypso Upgrade: Enhanced network speed, resilience, and efficiency for dApp developers.
- Performance Boost: Up to 30x better performance metrics for users.
- Improved Token Bridging: Simplified processes for moving XTZ tokens between layers.
In conclusion, as Tezos continues to grow and adapt to the demands of the blockchain community, upgrades like Calypso are vital to improving user experience and ensuring seamless operation within its expanding network.
