I've been reading about Tezos for the past few days and am extremely impressed. I am a believer in Ethereum and it is my largest crypto holding, but I understand the criticisms and downsides: difficulty scaling, too much central control in Ethereum Foundation, and the split chains. Tezos addresses these issues in a unique way, and I think the project has a lot of potential.
When EOS was first announced, it was shrouded in mystery and nobody really knew what it stood for or was. Some speculated that it stood for "Ethereum on Steem". I think Tezos is actually Ethereum on Steem: a smart contract platform using a delegated proof-of-stake system, with self-amending rules.
Sources of Information
Here is some reading and videos worth watching that I have been pulling information from.
Tezos Overview (like a layman's version of a whitepaper): https://tezos.com/static/papers/Tezos_Overview.pdf
Epicenter Bitcoin show with lead Tezos developer Arthur Breitman:
What is Tezos?
Tezos is, like Ethereum, a smart contract platform built on top of a blockchain. It uses Delegated Proof-of-Stake similar to Steem and Bitshares witness system.
How does Tezos differ from Ethereum?
This quora post by Arthur Breitman does a great job explaining the differences. I'll summarize them here:
Governance
There is a three-step system for making changes to the Tezos network.
- Protocol upgrades in Tezos are proposed by developers and stakeholders pick the proposals they like best.
- The most popular proposals are voted on.
- If proposal passes the voting process, then it moves on to a testing network. If the confirmation voting is held, the proposal is implemented on the network.
In this system, developers have incentive to work on maintaining the network through bounties and contributions that come from passed proposals. This prevents a central organization like the Ethereum Foundation having too much power. It also allows for changes to be made more easily as the network grows -- think of how seamlessly changes to Steemit have happened despite its growth.
Smart Contracts
Tezos smart contracts implement simpler business logic: it is more important to be correct and avoid bugs than to be extremely efficient using a lower-level language. Heavy computational based contracts can have the more complex stuff performed off chain.
Tezos was programmed in OCaml with an aim towards better formal verification: mathematically proving code works. This will help prevent bugs like the DAO reentrancy attack, and Solidity's (Ethereum's higher level language) Application Binary Interface vulnerability.
Consensus
As stated above, Tezos uses Delegated Proof of Stake. Everyone with a stake can vote on proposals, but unlike the DAO which had low voting percentages, Tezos allows people to delegate their stakes to someone they trust. The quorum required for passing a proposal is adjusted based on the percentage of voters in previous proposals.
General Philosophy
Ethereum is a thin protocol: applications are meant to be built on top of it, and each application issues their own tokens. Tezos aims to be a fat protocol, with many features. The creation of appcoins is supported, but not emphasized.
Crowdsale Information
The crowdsale starts tonight at 11pm PST. There is no need to rush like in other ICOs that sold out quickly: Tezos is uncapped. However, there is incentive to contribute early.
The Tezos ICO will last 2000 bitcoins blocks. A block takes roughly 10 minutes to mine, meaning the crowdsale period will last roughly 2 weeks. But this 2 week period is broken down into 5 slots, with bonuses given to those who invest earlier:
By investing within the first 400 bitcoin blocks, you will receive a 20% bonus on top of your investment. As I said above, there is no rush: 400 blocks will occur in roughly 66 hours, or nearly 3 days. Each subsequent period results in 5% less bonus. So the incentive is to invest within the first few days, but don't feel compelled to fire away instantly after the ICO starts.
Counter Arguments
This system is still somewhat an oligarchy: the richest stakeholders have the most influence. Although they may not be centralized like the Ethereum Foundation, that doesn't mean they can't align themselves together and wield power.
This tongue-in-cheek twitter response from Vlad Zamfir, the lead strategist for the Ethereum Foundation, sums up the problem:
In a way, the plutocracy aimed for mimics the power of the Ethereum Foundation. That said, it's better to have power in all stakeholders hands that in the hands of centralized miners like Bitmain, or a centralized organization.
Don't just trust my analysis and opinions
As stated, there is less of a rush on this ICO due to its uncapped nature. You have the next 3 days to take advantage of the largest bonus offered for investing. Take your time, read he material thoroughly, and draw opinions for yourself.
My name is Ryan Daut and I'd love to have you as a follower. Click here to go to my page, then click 
I am a professional gambler, and my interests include poker, fantasy sports, football, basketball, MMA, health and fitness, rock climbing, mathematics, astrophysics, cryptocurrency, and computer gaming.