What is Algorand (ALGO)?

What is Algorand (ALGO)?

Algorand is a layer-one, proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain.

Algorand launched in 2019. It bills itself as a scaleable, enterprise-grade blockchain focussed on solving real-world use-cases for both large organizations and ‘everyday people’. 

Algorand was created by Silvio Micali, a recipient of the Turing Award in computer science and a long-standing faculty member of MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. 

The Algorand whitepaper was published in 2017, and co-written by Silvio Micali and Jing Chen, a member of Stony Brook’s Computer Science department. 

Algorand - in their own words

Algorand claims to have unrivaled point-of-sale transaction speed and industry-leading uptime. 

Marketing materials also position Algorand as a particularly developer-friendly blockchain - Algorand offers 24-hour ‘concierge-style’ developer support, and claims developers can build their first dApp (decentralized application) in under ten minutes using the AlgoKit.

ALGO token utility?

ALGO is the Algorand blockchain’s native token. It is used for all on-chain transactions and as a governance token.

ALGO tokenomics

There is a total supply of 10 billion ALGO tokens. These will be gradually released until 2030.

For the latest breakdown of ALGO token distribution, check out Algorand Foundation’s page.

Developments within the Algorand ecosystem

Algorand technology has been adopted by a number of businesses across the music, art, travel, and payments industries (to name a few).

For the most recent use-cases of the Algorand blockchain, check out their Ecosystem announcements page.