TenX bets on Tezos with multi-million token purchase and staking partnership

TenX Protocols has acquired tez (XTZ), the native token of the Tezos network, as part of a strategic staking partnership with the Tezos Foundation.

According to the company, as of 19 January TenX had acquired about 5.54m XTZ tokens at an average price of roughly $0.59 per token. The purchases were made between 2 January and 19 January through a mix of open-market trades and over-the-counter transactions, which are privately negotiated deals typically used to avoid moving market prices. TenX said the acquisition was funded using cash from a financing round that closed in August 2025.

The deal is tied to TenX’s role as a validator on the Tezos network. Validators are operators that run software to process transactions, add new blocks to the blockchain and help keep the network secure. In return, they earn rewards, known as staking income, paid in the network’s native token.

TenX said the Tezos Foundation has indicated its intention, subject to due diligence and internal approvals, to delegate a portion of its XTZ holdings to validators operated by TenX. Delegation allows token holders to support network security and earn staking rewards without running their own infrastructure, while validators receive a share of those rewards for their work.

“As we scale our validator operations, Tezos stands out for its governance model, technical maturity, and reliability,” said Mat Cybula, chief executive of TenX. He added that the company views the investment as a long-term commitment rather than a short-term trading position.

Tezos differs from some other blockchains in how it evolves. TenX highlighted the network’s “self-amending” architecture, which allows protocol upgrades to be proposed, voted on and implemented directly on-chain. For a lay reader, this means changes to the network are agreed through built-in governance processes rather than through disruptive “hard forks”, where a blockchain splits into competing versions.

According to TenX, Tezos has completed 19 successful upgrades using this approach. Recent updates have focused on improving performance, simplifying staking operations and adding features aimed at institutional users. The company said the network is also seeing increased activity in decentralised finance, gaming and digital art.

Part of that growth is linked to Etherlink, an additional layer that makes Tezos compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This allows applications originally built for Ethereum to run on Tezos with minimal changes, potentially broadening its developer base.

“TenX sees what others have missed: Tezos combines battle-tested governance with the scaling and performance the industry has been chasing,” said Arthur Breitman, a co-founder of Tezos. He said validators with a long-term outlook are a natural fit for the network.

TenX said the acquisition is driven by two core objectives. The first is to generate revenue through staking on its own validator infrastructure. The second is to contribute to the security and decentralisation of the Tezos network by operating validators rather than simply holding tokens.

“This is a long-term value decision, not a short-term trade,” Cybula said.

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The move reflects a broader shift among crypto infrastructure companies towards staking and validation as more predictable sources of income than speculative trading. For networks such as Tezos, attracting professional validators with aligned incentives is also seen as key to maintaining resilience and credibility over time.

Whether TenX’s bet pays off will depend on the network’s continued adoption and the economics of staking. For now, the company is positioning itself not just as an investor in Tezos but as an active participant in how the network is run and secured.

The Recap

• TenX acquired about 5,542,935.08 XTZ tokens for staking operations.
• Average cost was US$0.5868 per XTZ token in market purchases.
• Tezos Foundation may delegate tokens subject to due diligence approvals.