Many cryptocurrencies made modest gains over the weekend. Yet, the headlines were dominated by the Tezos price surge. What is this coin and why has it gained so much ground?
“Tezos logo under magnifying glass” (CC BY 2.0) by wuestenigel
The Background Story on Tezos
This coin was launched through an ICO early in 2017. The ICO raised $232 million, making it one of the biggest ICOs in history at that point.
It is an open-source blockchain platform that can modify its own rules with little disruption. It also uses proof of stake instead of proof of work mining. The main purpose of this platform is to run smart contracts.
2019 has seen Tezos start to work with the likes of Bank BTG Pactual S.A. and Elevated Return. These companies will use it to run smart contracts. The native token is Tezos (XTZ).
How Much Has the Tezos Price Risen By?
Tezos is now on the verge of breaking into the top ten cryptocurrencies. At the time of writing, its value is $1.62. This gives the coin a total market capitalisation of over $1 billion.
It has been on a steady upward climb for the last few days, as more people looked to buy XTZ. This has seen it comfortably out-perform the rest of the altcoin market. It started the weekend at $1.30, so its rise has been impressive.
The Tezos price surge has seen it overtake Cardano (ADA) on the list of the most valuable currencies. It is now in 11th place, very close to 10th placed Stellar Lumens (XLM).
What Are the Reasons Behind This?
It is important to remember that Tezos has had a strong 2019. This currency has gained over 250% during the course of this year.
A couple of major exchanges supporting XTZ could possibly be one of the factors for the reason. Both Coinbase and Binance have been pushing the currency with different initiatives lately.
There have also been suggestions of Tezos joining up with the Ethereum Foundation team too. This cross-blockchain approach would almost certainly have a positive effect on the Tezos price if it were to happen.
There are also some projects about to go live. These include a Smart Contract API for Tezos that is due on December 12. This improvement is designed to make it easier for developers to produce new applications without coding complications.
The rising Tezos price is one of the big stories in the cryptocurrency market just now. The big question is how high it can climb. This is definitely a cryptocurrency to keep an eye on in the next few days.