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- The Baking Sheet - Issue #252
The Baking Sheet - Issue #252
Apple Farm Episode 3 is LIVE!
April is winding down, but the energy across the Tezos ecosystem is only picking up. This week, Apple Farm enters its third chapter with new yield opportunities and a growing community behind it. We also checked in with Arthur Breitman, who shared his long-term perspective on where Tezos is heading. And with just seven days to go, the Rio protocol upgrade is nearly ready to go live.
We’ll also take a moment to reflect on the closing of Compositions in Code, plus look ahead to two big events on the horizon: Arthur’s keynote at Consensus and the return of TezDev in Cannes.
Let’s get into it.
🍏 Apple Farm: Episode 3 Is Now Live
Episode 2 is a wrap, and what a run it was. In just two weeks, Apple Farm helped drive Etherlink’s incentivized TVL from around $7M to over $20M. Now, Episode 3 is here with a fresh set of opportunities, dialed-in rewards, and some smart adjustments to keep things sustainable as more users pile in.
Here’s what’s new:
New opportunity: You can now supply WETH on Superlend and start earning Apples on Ethereum’s native asset.
Reward boosts: Incentives have been bumped up for lower-yield pools like mTBILL, mBASIS, and wBTC, offering more ways to earn.
Adjustments for sustainability: High-yield opportunities like USDC/XTZ, WETH/XTZ, and xU3O8 (tokenized uranium) have seen slight reductions to keep the program balanced and fair as usage increases.
As always, Apple Farm adapts every two weeks based on activity, usage, and TVL. With each new episode, the incentives shift so savvy farmers know to keep an eye on the dashboard and move quickly.
But Apple Farm isn’t just about numbers. With a clean interface, straightforward onboarding, and support across DeFi favorites like Superlend, IguanaDEX, Uranium.io, and Hanji, it’s become one of the easiest ways to experience what Tezos Layer 2 can really do.
And for those looking to get even more out of the program, the community is already offering guidance.
X user Tindorr recently published a deep dive into Apple Farm strategy, outlining top-yielding pools and how to approach them.
If you’re new to Apple Farm, now’s the time to hop in. Opportunities are live at applefarm.xyz, and the Etherlink community is just getting started.
See you in the fields!
Arthur Breitman on Tezos: "Triumphant" in Five Years
What does the future of Tezos look like five years from now? For Arthur Breitman, the answer is simple: triumphant.
In a new in-depth interview with CoinShares, Arthur sat down with CoinShares Editorial Manager JLB to unpack the story behind Tezos, the challenges it’s faced, and the bold roadmap that lies ahead.
From his early thoughts on governance and proof-of-stake to the rise of Etherlink and the demand for tokenized uranium, Arthur offered a wide-angle view of what makes Tezos different and why he still believes it has staying power in a crowded ecosystem.
Here are some highlights:
Why Tezos was built the way it was: Arthur reflects on the early ideas that led to Tezos in 2014, including the absence of governance in Bitcoin and the inefficiencies of proof-of-work systems.
The reality of Layer 2: While most rollups are heavily centralized, Arthur makes the case that Etherlink is "Layer 2 for real," offering decentralized infrastructure, honest validation, and alignment with Tezos holders through its use of tez.
Real-world assets with real demand: Arthur doesn’t shy away from big use cases. He points to uranium as an ideal asset for tokenization—one with growing demand, limited retail access, and strong alignment with crypto-native interest in commodities.
Lessons from the past: Candid about where Tezos fell behind on throughput and latency, he acknowledges the slow pace of early development—but also makes clear that catching up has been a focus since 2021.
What makes Tezos different today: From protocol-level governance to rollup-native scalability and language flexibility with Tezos X, Arthur sees Tezos as moving past catch-up and into a leadership position—especially for developers looking for composability, real decentralization, and long-term alignment.
If you want a deeper look into Arthur’s thinking and why he believes Tezos is positioned to thrive, this interview is well worth your time.
One Week Until Rio Goes Live
Following Arthur’s forward-looking conversation on Tezos' next five years, let’s bring it back to what’s happening this week because the next protocol upgrade is right around the corner.
With just seven days to go, Rio is nearly here.
The 18th protocol upgrade for Tezos officially enters its adoption phase this week and is scheduled to go live on April 30. For bakers and node operators, now is the time to get your infrastructure ready: make sure you’ve upgraded to the latest version of Octez (v22.0), which includes all the necessary protocol support and improvements.
Here’s a quick refresh on what Rio brings to the protocol:
Shorter cycles – Cycle length drops from ~3 days to 1 day, enabling faster staking adjustments and quicker reward payouts.
DAL incentives – Bakers who support the Data Availability Layer (DAL) will earn enhanced rewards, aligning staking incentives with the network’s scaling needs.
More responsive validator set – The inactivity grace period has been shortened, ensuring that inactive bakers are rotated out more quickly to improve performance and security.
Fee adjustments – A small update to storage fees for wallet-to-wallet transfers, with smart contract costs left unchanged.
Rio helps make Tezos leaner and faster, and lays important groundwork for Tezos X and future scaling strategies.
🧱 Bakers, upgrade to Octez v22.0 now to be ready ahead of the April 30 activation. Full release notes and instructions can be found here.
This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem
Final Days to Visit Compositions in Code at MoMI
If you haven’t had a chance to experience Compositions in Code: The Art of Processing and p5.js, this is your last call. The installation series at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York co-presented by MoMI and the Tezos Foundation closes Sunday, May 4.
This thoughtful pairing of artists from the Processing and p5.js communities has brought a generative art experience to life, with every piece fully on-chain and collectible via Tezos. Visitors can mint fragments of each work either in person at the museum’s minting station or online.
Featured artists include:
It’s a rare crossover between software heritage and blockchain-native expression, with Tezos playing a key role in how the works are shared and preserved.
Catch it before it closes.
→ movingimage.org
Nomadic Labs Teams Up with Spotlight: France’s Largest Web3 Startup Competition
After wrapping up a major presence at Compositions in Code, the momentum continues as Tezos steps into the startup spotlight.
Tezos, presented by Nomadic Labs, has officially joined as a key partner of Spotlight, France’s largest Web3 startup competition hosted by Cube³. This initiative is designed to help early-stage Web3 founders scale their ideas with funding, mentorship, and ecosystem support.
Through Spotlight, participating teams get the chance to:
Accelerate their Web3 project with backing from seasoned mentors and blockchain experts.
Earn thousands of euros in funding to scale their idea.
Connect directly with the Tezos ecosystem, including access to builders, infrastructure, and tooling.
Apply before April 30 to join this year’s cohort.
Tezos’ involvement reflects its continued mission to empower ambitious projects and foster sustainable innovation in Europe’s growing Web3 space. Whether you're building the next DeFi protocol, gaming platform, or decentralized identity tool—Spotlight is a launchpad worth your attention.
📅 Deadline to apply: April 30
🔗 Apply now on Cube³
If you’re ready to accelerate your idea and grow within a thriving ecosystem, now’s the time to step into the Spotlight.
Upcoming Events
Arthur Breitman at Token2049: Uranium On-Chain
Join Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman at Token2049 in Dubai for a keynote exploring how Tezos is unlocking access to new markets through tokenization.
Arthur will share insights on bringing commodities like uranium on-chain, and how Tezos is pushing boundaries with real-world asset infrastructure.
🗓️ Date: April 30
⏰ Time: 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
📍 Location: io.net Amphitheatre Stage, Token2049 Dubai
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear how Tezos is expanding the frontier of what’s possible with Web3.
You're Invited: Tezos Breakfast Club at Token2049
Start your Token2049 experience with fresh coffee, baked treats, and some of the brightest minds in the Tezos ecosystem.
Join the Tezos team for an informal morning meetup at Rascals Deli and Bakehouse in Dubai.
🗓️ Date: May 1
⏰ Time: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM (GMT+4)
📍 Location: Rascals Deli and Bakehouse, Dubai
🔗 RSVP: lu.ma/TezosBreakfastClubDubai
Spots are limited, so be sure to RSVP soon.
Arthur Breitman Keynote at Consensus 2025
Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos, is headed to Toronto this May for Consensus 2025, one of the largest and most influential gatherings in the Web3 and digital assets space.
He’ll take the stage to explore a frontier that’s turning heads across finance, energy, and tokenizing uranium.
In his keynote, "Uranium Onchain: Bringing Yellowcake to the Digital Economy," Arthur will walk through the real-world impact of tokenized commodities, how Tezos and Etherlink are enabling new forms of access to global markets, and what this means for the future of real-world assets (RWAs) onchain.
🗓️ Date: May 14–16
📍 Location: Toronto, Canada
🎤 Keynote by: Arthur Breitman, Co-founder of Tezos
🔗 Learn more at Consensus 2025
TezDev 2025 – Cannes Awaits
The biggest builder event in the Tezos ecosystem returns this summer—this time on the shores of the French Riviera.
TezDev 2025 is set for July 3 in Cannes, France. Join developers, founders, creators, and community members from across the globe for a day of talks, demos, and deep dives into everything being built on Tezos.
Following a packed 2024 edition in Brussels, this year’s TezDev promises even more insight into the evolving world of Tezos Layer 1 and Etherlink Layer 2, with updates from core teams, spotlights on the latest tools and projects, and chances to connect directly with those shaping what’s next.
🗓️ Date: July 3, 2025
📍 Location: Cannes, France
🔗 Details and RSVP: tezos.com/events/tez-dev
🔴 Now Streaming: : Baking with Libertez
This week on TezTalks Live, we’re joined by Fernando Fierro—aka Libertez—Tezos baker, advocate, and educator. From the banking crisis in Argentina to crypto-powered solutions in Venezuela, Fernando shares how Tezos is gaining ground in one of the world’s most active regions for real-world blockchain adoption.
Our special guest is Libertez, bringing Tezos to the streets of Latin America.
🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:
Libertez’s Journey: – From baker to educator, how Fernando is helping communities navigate financial uncertainty with Tezos.
Crypto in the Real World: – Why Latin America has become a proving ground for practical, everyday crypto use cases.
Banking, Inflation & Access: – How Tezos can support unbanked populations and offer stability in volatile economies.
Education & Onboarding: – What’s needed to grow Tezos adoption, and how language, tools, and community play a role.
What’s Next: – The future of Tezos in Latin America and how Libertez is helping shape it.
Watch the full episode on YouTube.