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This thread 🧵 is a PSA for the #Tezos community. It's not about anything dangerous or any security risks. But if you care about the future of Tezos, please read this.

In my opinion, Tezos has a narrative problem that is hurting its wider reputation.

Long thread, TLDR up front.
"Tezos is cheaper to use because its technology is more advanced than Ethereum's"

This is NOT true. Many people say this, but they are misled (or lying).

This falsehood is also repeated by users of every other "ETH killer" chain. But I care most about Tezos, so that's my focus.
The TLDR of my thread is: please stop telling people the above myth, because it's a lie and it damages Tezos' reputation.

If you care about why I think this narrative is so bad for Tezos, or if you want to understand why the statement is false, then continue reading.
I feel this is bad for Tezos because it makes the Tezos community look deceptive

When outsiders see Tezos users post about that myth, those who know it to be false will think things like "Tezos users are desperate enough to market their coin by lying about it"

It's a bad look
It's also especially bad in that it positions Tezos against Ethereum.

It's fine to compare these chains. But if you say something false about Ethereum while promoting Tezos, any fan of Ethereum will think that you're trying to deceive people.

Why not want ETH fans on your side?
🚨🚨🚨 Believe it or not, "killing ETH" is not a prerequisite for the success of Tezos! 🚨🚨🚨

I don't see any valid reason to exclude Ethereum users from participating in Tezos.

Plenty of people can see the benefits of both chains. Having more of those users would be great!
I know a lot of Tezos users dislike Ethereum for similar (but opposite) reasons to those I describe in this thread

(For example, seeing Ethereum users perpetuate the "Tezos is a ghost chain" myth)

But responding with more lies in the other direction is not a useful approach
I don't think every Tezos user believes this myth.

And I don't think (most) people who spread it are malicious. They believe the myth, and are truly trying to teach others.

But regardless of its falsehood, when enough people repeat it, the narrative becomes an accepted reality.
This myth is not "reality" for every Tezos user.

But I've noticed it consistently for more than a year now, especially within Tezos' large NFT community.

And I do believe that this myth is shared commonly enough to hurt Tezos' adoption, e.g. by Ehereum NFT artists & collectors.
Tezos' lower transaction cost is itself a good reason to use Tezos!

In many cases, for example NFTs, it enables people to participate in ways they otherwise couldn't afford to.

But in attaching it to a falsehood about the chain's technology, the point loses its effectiveness.
Another analogous myth within the Ethereum community is:
"the merge will make Ethereum transactions so much cheaper"

It's not true, but a large number of people believe it. And to those who understand the merge, it appears disingenuous (or at least naive) when people say it.
If you disagree with the above tweets, please read the rest of it before replying.

Here are some facts:

1. Tezos is far cheaper to use than Ethereum

2. By some metrics, Tezos' protocol technology is more advanced than Ethereum's

I'm saying that (2) is not the cause of (1).
Tezos and Ethereum, in their modern mainnet states, are within an order of magnitude in terms of transaction capacity

Whether one is faster than the other can depend on how you measure it

Tezos is far cheaper to use *because demand for block space is far lower*
This lower demand means transactions are almost always included in the next few blocks, allowing gas prices to stay constant (denominated in XTZ) at their default wallet-suggested values.

In Ethereum, there is always competition for "process my transaction in the next minute".
The demand for transaction inclusion is consistently far higher on Ethereum than on Tezos.

This persistent demand is what makes Ethereum so much more expensive to use.

THIS is why it is disingenuous to say that Tezos' lower transaction cost results from superior technology.
Tezos is not magically protected from the same costs, if it ever achieves similar levels of demand.

Tezos already has some most advanced core R&D of any smart contract protocol, especially as a non-EVM chain!

We should celebrate this, but without creating false expectations.
IN CONCLUSION:

This is far from the only narrative problem in crypto (or in Tezos). But I do think it's important to spread awareness about this myth and others like it.

If you care that Tezos isn't a ghost chain, you should also care enough not to misrepresent the protocol.
If you read this far, thanks for your attention! Any questions?

I don't normally ask for shares. But if you found any of this thread important, please consider retweeting or replying or QTing with your own opinions. I don't have much reach with my threads, thanks to shadowbans.
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