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What Is IOTA?

IOTA is a Layer 1 blockchain built around the Move programming language and an object-centric data model, secured by a delegated proof-of-stake validator set. Founded by David Sonstebo, Sergey Ivancheglo, Dominik Schiener, and Serguei Popov, the project held its token sale in 2015 and launched in 2016. For most of its history IOTA ran on a directed acyclic graph called the Tangle rather than a blockchain, but in May 2025 the network completed a major redesign, known as the Rebased upgrade, that moved it onto a Move-based Layer 1 with validators and staking. The IOTA Foundation, a non-profit based in Berlin, Germany, leads protocol development.

The original Tangle was IOTA's defining feature. It had no blocks, no chain, and no dedicated miners: each new transaction validated two previous transactions by performing a small proof of work, coupling the act of transacting with the act of securing the network. The design was intended to enable feeless microtransactions for machine-to-machine payments across billions of connected devices, and it theoretically became faster as more participants joined. In practice, confirmation relied on a central Coordinator node that issued periodic milestone transactions to determine finality, which critics argued made the network fundamentally centralized. Removing that dependency, long discussed under the "IOTA 2.0" or "Coordicide" banner, was the Foundation's central research goal for years.

The Rebased upgrade, which went live on the mainnet on May 5, 2025, replaced the Tangle and the Coordinator entirely. The new network is a Move-based Layer 1 whose object-centric architecture is derived from the same technology family as Sui, using a delegated proof-of-stake consensus in place of the Tangle's coupled validation. The network launched on the Mysticeti consensus engine and later upgraded to Starfish, and it is designed to support up to 150 validators; token holders can delegate their stake to validators to help secure the network and earn rewards. Existing holders did not need to migrate their tokens. This shift turned IOTA from a feeless DAG for value transfer into a general-purpose smart contract platform with parallel transaction processing and instant settlement.

The token now trades and is denominated simply as IOTA; the older MIOTA denomination, where 1 MIOTA equalled one million iota, has been retired. With the move to proof of stake, the supply model also changed: IOTA is now inflationary, minting roughly 767,000 new IOTA per epoch (about a day) to fund staking rewards, and no longer has a fixed cap. As of mid-2026 circulating supply is around 4.5 billion IOTA with a total near 4.9 billion, and market trackers list the maximum supply as unlimited. This replaces the earlier model of a fixed roughly 2.78 billion supply created entirely at genesis with no inflation.

IOTA's earlier eras left a technical trail worth noting. Its original protocol used a trinary hash function called Curl and quantum-resistant Winternitz one-time signatures; the Curl function drew cryptographic controversy in 2017 when researchers at MIT and elsewhere flagged potential vulnerabilities, and the Foundation later replaced it with standard binary primitives. In February 2020, the Trinity wallet was compromised through a third-party dependency, prompting the Foundation to halt the network using the Coordinator, an episode that underscored both the security risks and the centralization concerns of that role. The Foundation has pursued enterprise and public-sector work over the years, with past collaborations involving companies such as Volkswagen, Bosch, and Fujitsu.

Before the Rebased upgrade, IOTA operated a staging network called Shimmer (SMR), where features including EVM-compatible smart contracts were tested with real economic value ahead of deployment to the main network. Much of that framing has been superseded by the Move-based mainnet, though it remains part of the network's development history.

Getting Started With IOTA

Since the Rebased upgrade, getting started with IOTA follows the familiar pattern of a proof-of-stake Layer 1: set up the official wallet, acquire IOTA, and optionally delegate your stake to a validator to earn rewards.

  1. Step 1: Install the IOTA Wallet browser extension, the wallet the IOTA Foundation now promotes for managing tokens on the Move-based network. The legacy Firefly wallet is no longer supported.
  2. Step 2: Purchase IOTA from a cryptocurrency exchange such as Binance or KuCoin. The token is now denominated simply as IOTA; the older MIOTA unit has been retired.
  3. Step 3: Withdraw your IOTA to your wallet for self-custody. The exchange may charge a withdrawal fee.
  4. Step 4: Explore the network: delegate your stake to a validator to earn staking rewards, or interact with applications on the Move-based Layer 1.

How to Get an IOTA Wallet?

IOTA Wallet (Browser Extension)

The IOTA Wallet is the browser extension promoted by the IOTA Foundation for the current Move-based network. It handles token management, staking, and delegation, and is designed for onboarding onto the network after the Rebased upgrade. It replaces Firefly, the Stardust-era desktop wallet, which is no longer supported.

Staking and Delegation

Because IOTA now runs on delegated proof of stake, holders can delegate their IOTA to a validator directly from the IOTA Wallet to help secure the network and earn a share of staking rewards, without giving up custody of their tokens.

IOTA Resources

How to Buy IOTA?

IOTA is available on several exchanges:

Centralized Exchanges

IOTA can be purchased on Binance, KuCoin, and other exchanges. Trading pairs typically include IOTA/USDT and IOTA/BTC. After purchasing, withdraw to the IOTA Wallet for self-custody, keeping in mind that the exchange may charge a withdrawal fee.

Decentralized Exchanges

With IOTA now running as a Move-based Layer 1, decentralized trading takes place through applications built on the new network rather than the earlier Shimmer staging environment. On-chain liquidity and DeFi tooling for the network are still developing following the 2025 upgrade, so availability and depth vary by application.

Latest IOTA News

The dominant development in IOTA's recent history is the Rebased mainnet upgrade, which went live on May 5, 2025 and moved the network from the Tangle and Coordinator design to a Move-based Layer 1 secured by delegated proof-of-stake validators. The upgrade retired the old "IOTA 2.0 / Coordicide" roadmap by delivering decentralized validator-based consensus directly. Since launch, the focus has been on expanding the validator set toward its target of up to 150 validators, growing staking participation, and building out smart contract applications on the new object-centric architecture. The change also introduced an inflationary, staking-based token model, a significant shift from IOTA's original fixed-supply design. The IOTA Foundation, based in Berlin, continues to pursue enterprise and public-sector applications in areas such as supply chains and digital identity.