Algorand is a new blockchain and cryptocurrency that went live in June 2019 and that seeks to accelerate transaction speeds and reduce the costs associated with making transactions on the blockchain. Additionally, Algorand has developed a totally new consensus mechanism called Pure Proof of Stake (PPOS), which it says is "one of the most significant breakthrough inventions in the blockchain industry."
Algorand's mainnet went live in June 2019 and today handles over 1 million transactions per day, with the latest peak reaching 2,796,290 transactions on November 17th, 2021.
You can view Algorand's transaction metrics on their developer portal.
Also, you can deposit your ALGO coins in Nebeus wallet.
Who Are the Founders of Algorand?
The founder of Algorand is Silvio Micali, an Italian computer scientist, and professor at MIT. Micali is an expert in cryptography and information security, and his work won him the Gödel Prize in 1993 and the RSA Award for Excellence in Mathematics in 2004. In 2012 Micali won the world-renowned Turing Award, equivalent to the Nobel prize in the computer field.
Silvio Micali wrote and published the original whitepaper of Algorand in April 2019.
What makes Algorand different?
Pure Proof of Stake (PPoS)
Algorand is the first blockchain to have developed a new consensus mechanism called Pure Proof of Stake (PPoS). Pure Proof of Stake is different from Proof of Stake (PoS), and the big difference is that the protocol selects nodes that will propose blocks randomly and irrespective of their stake in the Algorand network. This random selection mechanism is called "cryptographic sortition."
The process for validating a block on Algorand happens in three stages:
- Block proposal.
- Soft vote.
- Certify vote.
Randomly selected nodes propose the block, and a randomly selected committee of voters verifies the block and votes on it to validate it. Such a consensus mechanism, built on randomness, makes it impossible for a group of nodes within the Algorand blockchain to take control of the blockchain and try to manipulate it.
PPoS ultimately solves the blockchain trilemma by rendering a monopoly situation or a 51% attack impossible while at the same time boosting decentralization and increasing the blockchain's security.
Immediate Transaction Finality
Algorand's PPoS consensus mechanism makes it that two blocks can never be added to the chain at once because only one node is randomly selected to propose the block, and only that block will receive the votes from the randomly selected committee. A situation where different nodes simultaneously add two blocks can never occur because no other node has the possibility to propose a block.
This means that a fork can never occur on the Algorand blockchain, and there is no need to wait for several block confirmations when a transaction is made before the transaction is considered valid and final. Transactions are executed in under 4.5 seconds, and once they are executed, they are immediately regarded as final, hence the name "Immediate Transaction Finality."
How many Algorand (ALGO) coins are there?
Max Supply: 10,000,000,000.
Circulating Supply (15/12/21): 6,328,573,979.
Currently, approximately 63% of the total supply is already in circulation.
What is the Current Price and current Market Cap (15/12/21)?
Current Price: $1.39.
Current Market Cap: $8,812,249,078.73.
Current Market Cap Position: #23.
6-Month Low: $0.688 on July 20th, 2021.
6-Month High: $2.3939 on September 13th, 2021.
You can sign up for a Nebeus account to buy and hold your Algorand investment.
