This white paper introduces Tezos, a novel self-amending crypto-ledger designed to be both generic and evolutionary. The document outlines its architecture, enabling the instantiation of various blockchain types through a network shell abstracting core functionalities. Critically, Tezos incorporates a seed protocol that allows stakeholders to vote on and implement changes to the protocol itself, including its governance mechanisms. Furthermore, the paper details Tezos's proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, economic model with incentives and bonding, and support for Turing-complete smart contracts executed within a sandboxed environment.