Welcome to this week's issue of the The Baking Sheet, your weekly newsletter for all the latest and greatest in the world of Tezos.

Great work by the Tezos community to vote, Nairobi, has passed the exploration phase which is a strong signal that this proposal will be implemented. We will now enter the cooldown period for the next two weeks before going into the final voting phase

Week by week, you can see the Tezos ecosystem evolve. This week we will focus on a refresher for Nairobi, another grand scale Tezos event, and an airdrop targeted at ETH users — Let's Dive In!

Nairobi -- Why it's Significant

Never. Stop. Evolving. — That has been Tezos motto since the launch of mainnet as the only blockchain that consistently upgrades in the most efficient manner with actual consensus. After implementing a significant upgrade, the Tezos developer ecosystem were have already proposed a new upgrade named Nairobi.

What does Nairobi consist of? This new protocol proposal contains a variety of updates and improvements, including an up to 8x increase in transactions per second (TPS) for specific manager operations, a revamped gas model for signatures, and faster consensus.

Increased TPS Through Finer-Grained Gas Model

The Nairobi protocol proposal refines the gas cost model for signature verification of manager operations, making their cost dependent on the cryptographic curve used and the payload size. This finer-grained approach enables a significant increase in the maximum number of manager operations that can be included in a block. The result is an 8x performance boost for specific operations, such as basic Tezos transactions between tz1 or tz2 accounts.

Endorsements Rebranded as Attestations

The term "endorsement" is being replaced with "attestation" to more accurately reflect the role of bakers (validators) in the Tezos ecosystem. Attestation better communicates the fact that validators merely attest to the production of a valid block, rather than endorsing the block's content. This change begins with the deprecation of the endorsing_rights RPC endpoint and the introduction of attestation_rights as a replacement.

Faster Consensus Through Fine-Tuned Validation Pipelining

The Nairobi proposal fine-tunes the Mempool module to speed up consensus by validating and propagating consensus operations more efficiently. This update allows bakers to communicate their votes in the pre-attestation voting phase faster, resulting in quicker consensus on block proposals.

Continuous Improvement of Smart Rollups

Smart Rollups, Tezos' general-purpose Layer 2 solution, is evolving with additional host functions and new internal Layer 2 messages, which notify all rollups of new Tezos protocol upgrades on Layer 1.

ETH Gas fees too high? Let us help you!

Are you a frequent user of Ethereum, with a history of ETH gas fees hitting a minimum of $100? If so, this opportunity is tailor-made for you. Freetez, is an initiative providing a unique opportunity for eligible ETH wallet holders to claim 5 free tez. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to seize this opportunity and leverage your free tez in multiple ways.

Step 1: Connect Your ETH Wallet

To initiate the process, navigate to freetez.tezos.com. Once you're there, you'll find an option to connect your ETH wallet like MetaMask. Simply click on one of the wallet options, and allow the necessary permissions to connect your wallet with the site. The system will automatically check if you meet the eligibility criteria of having spent a minimum of $100 in ETH gas fees.

Step 2: Claim Your Free XTZ

If you meet the eligibility criteria, you can proceed to claim your free XTZ. The website will guide you through the process. Once complete, your free Tezos will be deposited directly into your Kukai wallet.

Step 3: Making the Most of Your Free tez

Once you have your free tez, the world of Tezos opens up to you. Here are a few exciting ways to use your newly claimed XTZ.

Collect NFTs

Platforms like obkjt, fx(hash), and teia offer a wide variety of NFTs that you can add to your digital collection.

Participate in DeFi

Tezos also hosts various DeFi applications like Plenty, Youves, and Kord.fi.

Play Games

Tezos isn't just about finance and art. It also opens up the world of blockchain-based gaming. Games like Tezotopia, Cricket Stars, and Dogami are not only fun but also provide opportunities to earn more digital assets while playing.

In conclusion, freetez.tezos.com offers not just a chance to get free XTZ but also opens the door to the thriving ecosystem of Tezos. It's a golden opportunity for those meeting the eligibility criteria to explore the world of NFTs, DeFi, and blockchain-based gaming. So, connect your wallet today and embark on your Tezos journey.

TezDev is Back

Developers, mark your calendars! #TezDev 2023 is back and set to happen in the city that has deep Tezos roots, Paris, on July 21, 2023. Known for its blend of technical sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities, #TezDev is a pure Tezos experience for every participant.

TezDev 2023 will be packed with a myriad of activities designed to foster learning and innovation. Attendees will have the chance to participate in engaging workshops led by industry experts, technical talks, and networking opportunities.

Don't miss your chance to be part of this remarkable event. To register, please visit: https://tt-tezos.typeform.com/to/sNCWVhIF.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

AirGaps newest product: AirGap Knox

AirGap created by Papers, the same organization responsible for successful Tezos dApps like the DeFI platform Youves, Oracle service Acurast, and voucher system Ecoo is now back with a new product launch: AirGap Knox.

AirGap was also one of the the first to utilize Tezos' Sapling feature, which enables optional privacy-preserving smart contracts for dApps, allowing for private and anonymous transactions.

AirGap Knox, is a new feature that enhances security by automatically disabling all forms of network on an OS level, assuring true offline security. Once installed, AirGap Knox blocks all connections - wifi, cellular, NFC, or Bluetooth - on a deep system level, preventing them from being reactivated. This converts the device into a genuine hardware wallet.

Learn more about AirGap Knox from the Papers team and XTZ News

This Week in Tezos Development

How Tezos Self-Amendment Works | Marigold

Blockchains have a problem — It is hard to implement major upgrades. Fundamental changes are possible through socially coordinated hard forks, but this method has several issues:

• There is a technical risk of a temporary network split due to incompatible nodes running in the network.

• There is a social and economic risk of a permanent network split due to the lack of a formal process for resolving disagreements.

• It is unclear who has the final say. The core devs? The stakeholders? Or people with the loudest voice?

This difficulty in updating blockchains hinders their ability to integrate innovations, leading to technical stagnation. What we need is a chain that can seamlessly evolve while minimizing technical and social risks.

And from this need, Tezos, the self-amending blockchain, emerged.

What’s Cooking for Smart Rollups in Nairobi? | Nomadic

Nomadic Labs released an article on the next the Nairobi protocol upgrade, which introduces new features and improvements to Smart Rollups, making them more developer-friendly. The key points to note:

1. Nairobi Protocol Upgrade: This proposal comes on the heels of the recent Mumbai upgrade. Nairobi will improve Smart Rollups for all on Mainnet, including those deployed prior to Nairobi's activation. It reaffirms Tezos core developers' commitment to continuously maintain and improve Smart Rollups.

2. Protocol_migration Internal Message: Nairobi introduces a new type of internal message called Protocol_migration, which alerts Smart Rollup kernels of new protocol activations. This allows the kernel to take advantage of new features as they become available.

3. Typed_transactions_batch Outbox Message: Nairobi introduces a new kind of outbox message that allows the kernel to specify the types of the batched transactions it wants to execute on Layer 1. This addition addresses potential vulnerabilities related to untyped transactions.

4. First WASM PVM Upgrade: Nairobi features the first upgrade to the WASM Proof-generating Virtual Machine (PVM), an important aspect of Smart Rollups. Nairobi introduces the WASM PVM version 2.0.0-r1, which is key to the new features in the protocol upgrade. The upgraded PVM is backwards compatible with the interactive fraud proof system introduced in Mumbai.

5. Stack Size Limit Increase: The stack size limit of the WASM PVM has been significantly increased in version 2.0.0-r1, making it more compatible with the standard execution engine, Wasmer.

6. Two New Host Functions: Version 2.0.0-r1 of the WASM PVM introduces two new host functions – store_create and store_delete_value. The former lets you preallocate large values in the durable storage, while the latter is a more specific version of store_delete that only deletes the value under a given key.

7. Warning against store_get_nth_key: The article advises against using the store_get_nth_key host function due to potential incompatibility with the refutation game.

Overall, the Nairobi upgrade will make Smart Rollups easier and more secure for developers.

LigoLANG v0.65.0 Release | Marigold

LigoLANG is excited to announce the new release of LigoLang, version 0.65.0. This version primarily includes internal enhancements and sets the stage for the next release, which will bring more visible changes. For more information, visit this link.

Now Streaming

Join us for our next TezTalks featuring DNS

Join us as we discuss the upcoming social platform release from DNS.xyz. Chris Catoya, COO of DNS.xyz will discuss some of the exciting new features and teasers of the upcoming platform as the launch date nears.

Now Streaming on YouTube