Tezos implements Tallinn upgrade and reduces block times to six seconds

The Tezos network, a Layer-1 blockchain with proof-of-stake consensus, has activated the Tallinn upgrade – the 20th protocol update in the network’s history. With this measure, Tezos reduces the block times of the base layer to six seconds, aiming to significantly improve network efficiency through lower storage requirements and reduced latency. The Tallinn upgrade marks a significant step toward faster finality times, giving the network a higher transaction throughput.

The Technical Core: New Attestation Mechanisms through Tallinn

The Tallinn upgrade allows all network validators – known as “bakers” in Tezos terminology – to confirm every produced block, instead of just a subset as before. This functionality is achieved through BLS cryptographic signatures, which aggregate multiple individual signatures into a single signature per block. This aggregation greatly reduces the load on blockchain nodes, enabling further reductions in block times in the future.

Additionally, the upgrade introduces an address indexing mechanism that eliminates redundant address data. According to Tezos officials, this mechanism improves storage efficiency by a factor of 100 – a significant optimization for applications on the Tezos blockchain. This improvement lowers the entry barriers for node operators and further decentralizes the network.

Blockchain Performance in Context: Why Tallinn Matters

To fully understand the significance of the Tallinn upgrade, it’s helpful to look at the performance figures of established blockchains. Bitcoin processes about seven transactions per second (TPS), while Ethereum achieves 15 to 30 TPS. Bitcoin’s protocol produces new blocks every ten minutes, making everyday payment traffic on the main layer practically impossible. This limitation has led to the development of Layer-2 networks, which offload scaling to separate layers.

In Bitcoin, this is realized through the Lightning Network, which enables off-chain payment channels between parties and only records the net balance on the blockchain when the channel is closed. Ethereum follows a modular approach with an ecosystem of various L2 solutions that separate execution, consensus, and data availability. In contrast, monolithic blockchains like Solana use an integrated approach that bundles all three functions into a single layer, thus foregoing separate L2 solutions.

With the Tallinn upgrade, Tezos positions itself as a contender for efficient Layer-1 performance without sacrificing decentralization. The upgrade underscores ongoing innovations in the blockchain ecosystem to create ever faster and more powerful networks capable of supporting a growing range of use cases.