The recent Ushuaia upgrade on Tezos has significantly increased the network's data availability and staking capabilities. Activated on June 30, 2026, at 00:31:52 UTC, this upgrade reportedly boosts data throughput to 10 MB per second, a fifteenfold increase from the previous capacity of around 0.66 MB per second. This enhancement allows for larger rollup batches and improved transaction speeds, providing a substantial improvement to application performance.

Key Features of the Ushuaia Upgrade

With the Ushuaia protocol upgrade, Tezos has introduced critical changes that optimize network performance:

  • DAL Bandwidth Expansion: The Data Availability Layer (DAL) now supports up to 10 MB/s, enabling a significant increase in data transmission capacity.
  • Faster Confirmations: The time it takes for DAL confirmations has been dramatically reduced from approximately 66 seconds to between 12 and 18 seconds, provided that 66% of the attesting power is confirmed.
  • Introduction of sTEZ: Tezos has implemented a protocol-native liquid staking model named sTEZ, currently available for testing on testnets, with plans for mainnet activation in a future Protocol V upgrade.

Implications for Developers and Users

The enhancements from the Ushuaia upgrade present several opportunities for developers:

  • Increased rollup throughput allows applications to handle larger volumes of transactions during peak demand.
  • The improved latency means users will experience quicker data availability, enhancing overall user experience.
  • The introduction of liquid staking could provide more flexible staking options, increasing liquidity for users once mainnet activation occurs.

Tezos now features a dedicated layer for data availability, crucial for rollups to post their data effectively, thereby facilitating state reconstruction when necessary. With the upgrade, the network's capacity has evolved from a limited size to one that can support a broader range of applications and transactions. The changes made with the Ushuaia upgrade set the stage for a more solid ecosystem on Tezos, offering both developers and users enhanced functionalities.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.