What is Algorand and Is It Worth The Investment?

If you’ve been paying attention to the cryptocurrency news and trends in the past couple of years then you might have heard of Algorand in one way or another. It’s not recent but it has a lot of backers and investors.

If you’re curious why a lot of people support Algorand, then we’ll answer your question starting from what the project is all about in the first place.

What is Algorand?

Algorand is a blockchain that uses its pure proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm to scale in a multi-layer networking stack similar to the internet itself. As a pure proof-of-stake blockchain, Algorand may well be the first of its kind. 

Algorand’s technology delivers a set of high-performance Layer-1 blockchains that provide security, scalability, complete transaction finality, built-in privacy, and advanced smart contracts. All of the things mentioned above will be crucial in the future of decentralized computing. 

Algorand’s Potential

Using Algorand, developers may construct digital assets and smart contracts that are stored on the Layer-1 network of the blockchain. Users can connect using fungible and non-fungible currencies from various blockchains. 

Algorand has created a way for initiating multichain projects that is simple and effective. Developers can design a wide range of applications that are compatible with a variety of different blockchains. 

In short, Algorand is interoperable and is a platform that multiple blockchain projects can interact with. This is one of the major reasons why people see a lot of potential in Algorand.

Overview of Algorand

Algorand Mission and VIsion

Algorand’s mission and vision is to create exchanges that are more efficient, transparent, and secure. 

They hope to develop technology that will speed the convergence of decentralized and traditional finance by enabling the creation of next-generation financial products, protocols, and value exchange in a simple manner.

The project has fairly good intentions and they want to further blockchain technology to remove barriers so that everyone has a shot at being prosperous.

Algorand Features

Algorand Smart Contracts

Developers utilizing blockchain can utilize smart contracts to automatically execute transactions using smart contracts that are stored on the blockchain. Sadly this is slower than expected causing a lot of inconvenience for the users. This is where Algorand’s smart contracts come into the picture.

Algorand’s smart contracts are trustless programs that run on-chain, allowing users to be confident that the program was executed without error and that the results were not tampered with. They are integrated into Algorand’s Layer-1, inheriting the same powerful speed, scale, finality, and security as the Algorand platform itself, and are error-free.

To put it simply, their smart contracts serve as a trusted, seamless solution with proven performance that is not only faster, scalable, and cost-effective, but also functionally advanced to enable sophisticated and complex applications. 

Eco-Friendly

Cryptocurrencies have often been tied with global warming thanks to the high amount of energy it takes. Algorand was built with the environment in mind which is why it has taken steps to remove this stigmatized view of cryptocurrencies in general.

As part of a collaborative effort with ClimateTrade, a carbon credit marketplace, Algorand is tracking and purchasing carbon offsets to maintain its overall footprint carbon negative. 

Additionally, Algorand doesn’t use a lot of energy, to begin with, so its carbon footprint is low from the get-go. According to the Algorand Foundation, the amount of energy required to power an Algorand network node is so little that it can be accomplished on a Raspberry Pi.

Algorand Standard Assets (ASA) 

ASA is a Layer-1 standardized mechanism for representing any form of an asset on the Algorand blockchain, and they were made to make things more convenient for everyone. These assets can be fungible, non-fungible, restricted fungible, or restricted non-fungible, depending on their characteristics.

ASAs are exceptionally fast and safe since they are integrated directly into Algorand’s Layer-1 architecture. Because of the minimal transaction fees charged by Algorand, ASAs are a low-cost investment to make as well.

Thanks to ASAs asset issuance is a straightforward and straightforward process. Additionally, ASA ensures that all assets issued on Algorand are interoperable with all other assets in the world.

Atomic Transfers

Atomic Transfers are a trustless method for asset transfers in Layer-1, allowing numerous parties to transfer assets securely at the same time without compromising security.

Because atomic transfers are used, people who use Algorand will have a lot simpler time processing transactions than they would otherwise. 

Instead of having to wait and worry if your money went through, you don’t have to check back minutes or hours late. You receive practically instant confirmation that your payment has been received and processed. 

Additionally, there is no need for escrow or reliance on hash time-locked contracts are truly atomic transactions. This is a new method of smooth and fast technical execution of complex transfers after all.

Another benefit of atomic transfer is that they are extremely low-cost to execute thanks to Algorand’s minuscule transaction fees. Lastly, they Allow for multi-party transfers and support all Algorand assets.

Rekeying

Before we explain what “rekeying” is we need to explain how keys are used in the first place. 

Ever since the inception of blockchain technology, there has been a system for using keys in cryptography. 

When a compromised Private Spending Key needs to be changed, an entirely new account with a new Public Address and Private Spending Key must be created. Additionally, they need to transfer assets from the old address to the new one. 

While this is effective, it is inconvenient in terms of operation. Changing keys causes interruptions in recurring transactions with peers or institutions. Algorand has solved this problem thanks to rekeying.

Rekeying reduces these operational inefficiencies by allowing users to change their Private Spending key without having to alter their Public Address, which saves time and money. Rekeying is required whenever the Private Spending key is modified, as it provides greater flexibility, continuity, and lower overhead.

Aside from this, rekeying can make blockchain technology more accessible to businesses. When rekeying is used, businesses can create and set up accounts for their users ahead of time, and then reassign them with assurance when the situation demands it. This simple feature makes it very appealing for large-scale businesses with a huge customer base.

Algorand’s Team

Founded in 2017, Algorand is a decentralized, secure, and scalable blockchain that serves as a platform for creating products and services that are accessible across borders. Algorand’s research is overseen by Silvio Micali, who oversees theory, security, and crypto finance.

Silvio Micali – Founder

Silvio Micali is a very capable person. His educational background includes a Laurea in Mathematics from the University of Rome and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California in Berkeley.

Among Silvio’s many contributions to modern cryptography are his work on probabilistic encryption, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Verifiable Random Functions, and numerous more protocols.

He has been awarded the Turing Award in computer science, the Gödel Prize in theoretical computer science, and the RSA Prize in computer science research (in cryptography).

Steve Kokinos – CEO

Steve serves as the CEO of Algorand and is responsible for the overall vision and direction of the company.

He has prior experience in the data center automation industry as a co-founder of BladeLogic Inc., a market leader with Fortune 500 clients including GE (General Electric), Time Warner (Time Warner Cable), Microsoft (Cable & Wireless), Walmart (Sprint), and Sprint (Sprint). In 2010, Bladelogic went public with a successful initial public offering (IPO), and the company was later acquired by BMC Software for around $800 million.

In his most recent role, Steve served as co-founder and Executive Chairman of Fuze, where he was in charge of the company’s overall strategy. Under his leadership, the organization transformed the way businesses think about collaboration as a fundamental driver of business visibility, process improvement and results for all stakeholders.

Fuze today employs more than 700 employees and serves more than 1500 enterprise customers in over 150 countries around the world.

Sean Ford – COO

Sean serves as Algorand’s Chief Operating Officer, and he is responsible for the company’s go-to-market strategy and operations, which include product management, engineering, marketing, and international community development.

His undergraduate degree in English from Williams College, as well as his Master of Business Administration from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business, distinguishes him in the field.

After leaving LogMeIn, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer, he joined Algorand where he was in charge of the company’s worldwide marketing strategy as well as product marketing, e-commerce, marketing communications, brand leadership, and demand creation. 

He also led the Integration Management Office for LogMeIn’s acquisition of Jive Communications in early 2018, which he oversaw as well. As a former member of Avid Technology’s Executive Leadership Team, Sean was responsible for the company’s global marketing strategy and operations. 

Other Members

These are just a small glimpse of the capable team handling Algorand. If you want to know more about their full team, we recommend that you check out their website’s team page right here.

Algorand Backers and Investors

Source: https://www.algorand.com/about/our-partners 

Algorand Tokenomics

Conclusion

We hope that you have a better understanding of Algorand and its potential in the blockchain market. The project itself has a lot of potential, not to mention that it’s meant to be eco-friendly as well.  Its potential makes it worth investing in as well as knowing that it has a capable team behind it. 

* We hope this information will help you in your investment process, but this is not investment advice. Every investment carries risk, especially in this industry, so DYOR before making a decision.