What IOTA is doing now can be summed up in one sentence: it has repositioned itself as digital infrastructure for global trade. Its core network has been rebuilt using the Move language and an object model, and the token is used for payments, staking, and governance. If you want to know exactly what it is doing, what the token is for, and where it is actually being used, here is a clear breakdown along those three lines.
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Move is not IOTA's invention, but it is now its execution layer
IOTA's Tangle architecture was fully replaced in the Rebased upgrade in May 2025. The original Coordinator was removed, and the network switched to delegated proof of stake based on Mysticeti consensus, with throughput above 50,000 TPS and sub-second finality. Smart contracts on the new chain use Move, and the architecture and object model draw on Sui's implementation.
The core role of Move here is to turn on-chain assets into programmable objects. Every object has a unique ID, transaction inputs must explicitly state which objects are being operated on, and non-overlapping transactions can run in parallel. IOTA has made adjustments on top of this: it removed Move's original global storage model and adopted an object-centric design, with the goal of reducing state contention and improving parallel throughput.
For developers, Move's selling point is safety. Its resource-oriented model enforces that assets cannot be copied or accidentally destroyed, and it can catch some common errors at compile time. But that does not mean code is guaranteed to be free of vulnerabilities. The official documentation also recommends that even when using Move, contracts should still be audited.
IOTA's roadmap is a multi-VM architecture: Move serves as the core Layer 1 execution layer, while EVM compatibility is provided through Layer 2 or a separate environment so that Solidity developers can also connect.
The XTZ comparison does not apply: IOTA's token is called IOTA
First, a possible confusion needs to be cleared up: IOTA's native token is not called XTZ. XTZ is Tezos' token. The token of the IOTA network is simply IOTA, and after Rebased its functions have become clearer.
Paying gas and storage deposits. Every transaction requires paying computation fees and storage deposits. Storage deposits can be refunded when objects or data are deleted. This is more transparent than the old Tangle "zero-fee" model, but the trade-off is that users need to pay for occupying on-chain state.
Staking to participate in consensus. IOTA uses delegated proof of stake, and users can delegate tokens to validators. Validators need at least 2 million IOTA in delegation to apply for entry into the validator set. Below 1.5 million there is a grace period, and below 1 million they are removed. About 767,000 IOTA are minted per epoch for staking rewards, and some transaction fees are burned to balance inflation.
Delegation does not lock tokens. Unlike many PoS networks, IOTA delegation does not require a lock-up period, and users can withdraw delegated tokens at any time. A liquid staking token called stIOTA is available, so staked assets remain tradable.
TWIN is the key project for judging IOTA adoption
IOTA's most concrete real-world use case right now is TWIN (Trade Worldwide Information Network), an open digital trade infrastructure built on the IOTA network. Its goal is not to be a general-purpose blockchain application, but to connect trade data among customs, ports, and tax authorities so that data stays at the source while still being visible across institutions.
What has already been implemented includes:
Multi-node connectivity in Kenya. Secure communication has been established among KenTrade, the Kenya Revenue Authority, and TLIP community nodes, allowing trade documents to remain at the source while authorized parties can view them.
Information-sharing network at Teesside port in the UK. IOTA is working with the UK Department for Business and Trade and the International Chamber of Commerce to build an information-sharing network at Teesside port as part of the UK's digital trade testbed.
The ADAPT initiative in Africa. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Tony Blair Institute, ADAPT aims to digitize trade infrastructure across the African continent. A coffee export pilot in Rwanda is also moving forward.
Institutional identity on-chain in Argentina. Argentina's national organ transplant authority, INCUCAI, migrated institutional identity to the IOTA network. This was disclosed in the Q3 2026 report, and the use cases include identity verification and record management in organ transplant processes.
These projects are characterized by participation from government or quasi-government institutions, not crypto-native DeFi applications. IOTA's strategic focus has clearly shifted from being a "general-purpose blockchain" to becoming "digital public infrastructure for trade and supply chains." The engineering team was vertically integrated in 2026, with all research and development concentrated on this single line.
What this means for ordinary users and developers
If you just want to hold or trade IOTA, you need to know that after Rebased it is no longer a zero-fee network. On-chain operations require paying gas and storage deposits. The barrier to staking is not high, and delegation does not lock tokens, but validators themselves need a large amount of delegation to enter the active set.
If you are an Ethereum developer, IOTA's EVM path is still under construction. Move is its current core. Learning Move takes time, but if you are building applications for trade, identity, or anything requiring strong asset security guarantees, IOTA's Move implementation and the institutional network it is building may be a better fit than a general-purpose L1.
If you care about whether IOTA has real adoption, the government collaborations in Kenya, the UK, and Africa through TWIN are currently the most verifiable progress. These projects are still in an early stage, but by the standard of "real institutions actually using it," IOTA has moved further than many L1 projects that remain stuck on testnets.
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References
- IOTA Blog·IOTA & TWIN Progress Update: Q2 2026, page published or updated: 2026-06-30; checked: 2026-10-16.
- IOTA Documentation·Move Concepts, page published or updated: no update date indicated; checked: 2026-10-16.
- IOTA Blog·IOTA Q1 2026 Progress Update, page published or updated: 2026-04-01; checked: 2026-10-16.
- IOTA·IOTA Technical and Tokenomics Whitepaper, page published or updated: 2025-05-30; checked: 2026-10-16.
- IOTA Documentation·About IOTA, page published or updated: no update date indicated; checked: 2026-10-16.
- KuCoin·IOTA is building toward multi-VM blockchain architecture, page published or updated: 2026-09-13; checked: 2026-10-16.
- CoinPaprika·IOTA Cryptocurrency: Tangle, Rebased, and IoT Payments, page published or updated: 2025-12-28; checked: 2026-10-16.
- IOTA Blog·IOTA 2025: A Year of Rebirth, Growth, and Global Impact, page published or updated: 2025-12-30; checked: 2026-10-16.
- Blockchain News·IOTA Deploys Starfish Consensus as TWIN Trade Network Goes Live in Kenya and UK, page published or updated: 2026-04-01; checked: 2026-10-16.
- IOTA·IOTA Tokenomics, page published or updated: no update date indicated; checked: 2026-10-16.
- Blockchain News·IOTA Ships Starfish-Speed Consensus Upgrade and Faster Node Sync in Q3 2026, page published or updated: 2026-10-12; checked: 2026-10-16.
- Springer·IoT data notarization oracle on IOTA rebased: performance and cost evaluation on edge deployments, page published or updated: no update date indicated; checked: 2026-10-16.
