Algorand(ALGO)

Launched in June 2019 by the Turing Award winner and MIT Professor Silvio Micali, Algorand (ALGO) is an open-source, decentralized and "self-sustaining" blockchain, which intends to solve the blockchain trilemma - that any such network can at most have two out of three important properties, namely: security, scalability and decentralization.

The main purpose of creating Algorand is to improve the efficiency and transaction speed of other blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, while reducing the transaction costs. In order to accomplish this, Algorand uses a special, more scalable, ‘Proof of Stake’ consensus mechanism referred to as ‘Pure Proof of Stake’ (PPoS), which secures its network.  

While the core development of Algorand protocol is managed by the Boston-based private corporation Algorand Inc., the umbrella organization Algorand Foundation oversees the decentralization, ecosystem growth, on-chain governance, cryptographic research and award funding of the Algorand network.

ALGO price

Algorand was funded through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in June 2019, at a price of $2.4 per coin. Its value appreciated quickly by almost 50% within a few days of launch, with the coin reaching its all-time high of $3.56 on June 20, 2019. ALGO’s fully diluted valuation crossed $35 billion that day. Its value dropped gradually thereafter, dipping to $0.16 by late September, and closing the year at around $0.2, according to our ALGO live price chart.

The price of ALGO, in USD terms, rallied again in February 2020, touching $0.50 before correcting down below $0.1 in the March 2020 crypto crash. Its next big jump came in August 2020, as it peaked around $0.75 before another correction saw it ending the year below $0.35.

2021 was a good year for crypto markets in general, and ALGO also continued to attempt a breach of $2, before finally succeeding in September 2021, and even went on to test $3 in November. However, the year ended around $1.8 for ALGO.

2022 saw a sharper decline in ALGO's price, where the cryptocurrency was trading around $0.35 in May 2022.

How ALGO works

Algorand employs something known as Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus mechanism to secure its network and validate transactions. PPoS was developed by Silvio Micali and is meant to provide scalability, decentralization and security, in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner.

Anyone can participate as a validator, depending upon the amount of ALGO coins they hold in their wallet, as compared to ALGO holdings of other interested participants. The ‘Pure’ in PPoS implies that the participants can freely come and go, without the need of locking up their ALGO coins for a specific time period.

ALGO, the native coin of the Algorand blockchain, is used to pay for transactions done on the Algorand network. You can also use ALGO for staking purposes and to participate in the functioning and governance of the Algorand network. At the time of writing, ALGO holders have staked over $3.9 billion ALGO for simultaneous participation in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Algorand governance, by the ALGO holders. 

Algorand has an average transaction throughput of 11 TPS, while 1,100 transactions can be processed per second at peak. The block creation time is well under 5 seconds and the average transaction fee for using the network’s resources is 0.002 ALGO. Algorand blockchain is actively used to deploy and run DeFi apps as well as mint non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

ALGO news, updates and highlights

In an important ALGO news, Six Clovers, a Fintech infrastructure provider led by former Ripple and PayPal executives, launched a cross-border payments network on Algorand, in June 2021. It uses fully regulated stablecoins to facilitate global transactions between merchants, payment providers and banking establishments. The same month Arrington Capital also launched a $100 million ecosystem fund, to promote project development and coin minting on the Algorand blockchain. Both these developments contributed positively to ALGO price action in 2021.

In another major news for ALGO, the Algorand Foundation put up a $20 million fund in February 2022 to accelerate development on its ecosystem. From the fund, $10 million were awarded as a grant to Applied Blockchain, for building a trustless bridge called ‘London Bridge’. This initiative holds great significance for the Algorand network as it will connect the blockchain with Ethereum’s robust dApp ecosystem, thus bringing in more liquidity.

Frequently asked questions about ALGO

• Is it possible to mine or stake ALGO?

While you cannot mine ALGO coins, it’s certainly possible to stake ALGO to earn staking rewards.

• What are some of the best ALGO wallets?

Algorand recommends the mobile Pera wallet to store your ALGO coins. However, you can also opt for other popular choices like Ledger Nano X, Atomic Wallet and Trust Wallet.

• What can you do with ALGO cryptocurrency?

You can use your ALGO coins to pay fees for using apps running on the Algorand network. It’s also possible to stake ALGO to participate in Algorand’s operations and governance. In addition, the coin can be used to trade against other crypto assets on well-known exchanges, as well. 

• How to buy ALGO coins?

The ideal way to buy ALGO is on established crypto exchanges. You may use fiat currency to buy ALGO or exchange your already-owned crypto coins for ALGO. Use trading pairs like ALGO/XRP, ALGO/USDT, ALGO/BTC, ALGO/MATIC, ALGO/ETH and so on, to make the purchase.