Exchange Algorand (ALGO)

Algorand is an institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure that claims to be environmentally sustainable and aims to be the first on the list of decentralized, scalable, and secure projects while supporting the smart contracts' functionality. The vision of the project is to build a future where anyone can create and exchange value efficiently, transparently, and securely. Global trust is to be created through decentralization. The project team believes that the world of traditional finance can be bridged with the decentralized economy and thus facilitate the massive adoption of blockchain technology. 

The network was developed to speed up transactions and make the blockchain more effective with decreased transaction fees. Algorand allows developers to build on it by applying its elegant technology and simple design. It can be used to build customized Layer-1 networks and also to launch new types of decentralized applications. 

The project was founded in 2017 by professor Silvio Micali, a computer scientist from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The Algorand mainnet went live in June 2019 and at the same time, its native cryptocurrency ALGO was launched. 

The Algorand platform applies the Proof-of-Stake mechanism and has a permissionless mechanism. The distinctive part of the platform is the smart-contracts architecture that includes a number of tools to help the users solve several kinds of problems. For the “everyday needs” there are Layer-1 smart contracts that can be used for everyday transactions. Also, there are Layer-2 off-chain transactions for the long tail that can be customized.

The project implemented Pixel technology, a pairing-based forward-secure multi-signature scheme optimized for use in blockchains that helps to save bandwidth and storage while reducing the computing requirements for nodes. Pixel signatures consist of two elements, no matter how many signers there are. It can be integrated into any existing blockchain. Pixel signatures reduce the size of a block consisting of 1500 transactions by 35% and reduce the block verification time by 38%. 

The team also presented a simple Byzantine agreement protocol with leader election. The agreement can be achieved by at least ⅔ of the honest majority. The participants don’t need to have synchronized clocks. 

In February 2022 the grant was announced by the Algorand Foundation to develop a London bridge that will bring the compatibility of Ethereum to Algorand as the main issue of the project was attracting liquidity. So the bridge will link the Algorand network with the richest dApps ecosystem and thus attract more liquidity. In the future, the team plans to strengthen the DeFi ecosystem on the network. 

The native token of the project is called ALGO and it has a total supply of 10 billion. According to the plan, all of them will be distributed by 2030. The users can just hold the token in non-custodial wallets with a 5%-8% APY. This feature made it popular among users that don’t want to stake the coins. The asset can be used to pay transaction fees and generate consensus. The native block explorer of Algorand keeps an official count of the tokens in circulation. As of July 2022