Tezos Network to Onboard More Developers Through JavaScript Integration

The developer team behind the layer-1 network Tezos has introduced a new layer-2 rollup to onboard new developers and users into the L1 ecosystem. Dubbed Jstz (pronounced justice), the upcoming L2 rollup promises to seamlessly integrate support for JavaScript, a widely known programming language. Tezos’ native coin, XTZ, saw a mild 7.5% price surge following news of the integration.

JavaScript: the world’s most popular programming language with ~23M devs. What if they had a fast track into Tezos?

Well, soon they will. It’s called Jstz (pronounced “justice”). 👀

A vital step to #TezosX, Jstz is an upcoming JS-powered rollup in a league of its own. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/BICncCOsp7

— Tezos (@tezos) July 9, 2024

Why is This A Big Deal?

Tezos supports four programming languages: Michelson, SmartPy, LIGO, and Archetype. With its latest announcement, Tezos users will soon see decentralized applications (dApps) developed using JavaScript.

JavaScript is among the most widely used programming languages globally. About 23 million developers are familiar with it. By adding support for JavaScript, Tezos makes it easier for these developers to start working on the blockchain without the need to learn a new language, thereby lowering the entry barrier.

JavaScript’s integration into the Tezos ecosystem sets the pace for increasing the blockchain’s developer base. It also allows these developers to bring new perspectives and inventive solutions to blockchain development. JavaScript’s adaptability across web and server platforms expands the range of dApps possible on Tezos. This is designed to draw in a larger community of developers, speeding up the growth of the Tezos ecosystem and Web3 adoption.

Following Tezos’ big reveal, the L1 blockchain’s native coin, XTZ, gradually rose to a trading price of $0.738, representing a 7.5% increase over the past 24 hours.

Source: CoinStats

Not the First

While Tezos’ move is applaudable, it is not the first blockchain to embrace a different programming language to grow its ecosystem.

Last July, the layer-1 blockchain Solana launched Solang, a channel through which developers familiar with Solidity and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) build dApps on the Solana mainnet. Since then, the network has recorded significant growth, signaling that Tezos may see a similar growth over time.