This week the Tezos blockchain has successfully transitioned to the Ithaca proposal! To celebrate we focus on just one visual in this weekly article, zooming in on the moment of truth:

At block level 2244609 the Tezos mainnet blockchain started to use the Ithaca protocol.

(Full hash: Psithaca2MLRFYargivpo7YvUr7wUDqyxrdhC5CQq78mRvimz6A)

From the last block of the previous protocol, it took about an hour with a couple of delayed blocks for the network to fully transition over. But after that brief period, block production returned to its regular 30-second interval. With even more consistency* because of the upgrade.

*The Ithaca protocol upgrades the consensus algorithm, bringing fast deterministic finality.

Read on here about what’s new with the Ithaca upgrade: https://forum.tezosagora.org/t/ithaca-2-psithaca2/4206

For those unfamiliar with how Tezos can upgrade itself, read on for a short summary.

What is a Tezos upgrade?

The Tezos blockchain has a unique capability in that it can upgrade itself through an on-chain democratic governance process. In a cyclical process, network participants can propose upgrades or changes to the core protocol. These proposals are then put up for a vote to the rest of the people with a stake in the network in two rounds of voting.

In the first round of voting the choice is between different proposals. Out of this round of voting one proposal emerges as a winner but will not be adopted just yet. First, the community gets a period of time to further investigate and test the proposal before the second round of voting.

In the second round, people can either vote for or against adopting the winning proposal of round one. If enough of a majority is reached the proposal is then selected for adoption. The community then gets a period of time to get all the necessary software upgrades in place to prepare for the new protocol.

For more details read on at the Nomadic Labs knowledge center.