Question 1

What is Wrapped XTZ (WXTZ)?

Accepted Answer

Wrapped XTZ (WXTZ) is a wrapped representation of XTZ, the native asset of the Tezos blockchain.

Tezos is a proof-of-stake smart contract platform whose protocol can be upgraded through an on-chain governance process. Tezos is designed to support regular upgrades without relying on contentious hard forks. Its smart contracts are commonly written in Michelson, a language built to support formal verification, which is a method for mathematically checking contract behavior.

In practice, “WXTZ” is used in more than one place, so the exact token depends on the network:

* **On Etherlink (an EVM-compatible Layer 2 powered by Tezos smart rollups),** Etherlink documentation describes WXTZ as a wrapped form of XTZ that mirrors how WETH works, meaning it provides an ERC-20-like token interface for XTZ on Etherlink.
 
* **On Tezos Layer 1, “wXTZ”** is also used to refer to wrapped versions of XTZ issued by third parties for Tezos DeFi use cases.

Question 2

What is Wrapped XTZ (WXTZ) used for?

Accepted Answer

* **Using XTZ in token-based app flows on Etherlink:** Etherlink positions WXTZ as the tokenized form of XTZ for dApps and protocols that expect ERC-20-like tokens.
 
* **Wrap and unwrap mechanics (1:1):** Wrapping typically locks XTZ in a contract and mints an equivalent amount of WXTZ, while unwrapping burns WXTZ and releases XTZ.

Question 3

Who created Wrapped XTZ (WXTZ)?

Accepted Answer

For Etherlink WXTZ, Etherlink documentation describes WXTZ as an Etherlink token intended to replicate WETH-style behavior for XTZ on Etherlink.
For other “wXTZ” deployments, issuance depends on the specific provider (for example, StakerDAO describes its own wrapped Tezos product in its documentation).


WXTZ	ERC20	ETHERLINK	0xc9B53AB2679f573e480d01e0f49e2B5CFB7a3EAb	2024-06-21
WXTZ	ERC20	ETH	0xc9B53AB2679f573e480d01e0f49e2B5CFB7a3EAb	2024-06-21
WXTZ	ERC20	ARB	0x7424f00845777a06e21f0bd8873f814a8a814b2d	2024-06-21
WXTZ	ERC20	BASE	0x91F9cc2649ac70a071602cadE9b0C1A5868af51D	2024-06-21