Algorand’s Pure Proof of Stake (PPos) blockchain is designed with the future of financial products in mind, removing friction, fees, and third-parties from the movement of money and information. With exceptional scalability in both the speed and cost savings of PPOS transactions, Algorand stands out as a powerful developer platform for major decentralized applications (dApps) without sacrificing performance or security. This all leads to a greener blockchain.
The brainchild of Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand is powering the DeFi evolution by building the infrastructure for a new era of financial tools and services, bringing the benefits of blockchain to more of the world’s real world assets.
Where Algorand stands apart from existing blockchain innovations is in offering a true solution to the “blockchain trilemma,” simultaneously achieving decentralization, scalability, and security.
Algorand Founder Silvio Micali
Micali is best known for some of his fundamental early work on public-key cryptosystems, pseudorandom functions, digital signatures, oblivious transfer, secure multiparty computation, and is one of the co-inventors of zero-knowledge proofs.
MIT professor who, in 2007, was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to modern cryptography, through the development of zero-knowledge protocols and the theory of pseudo-randomness. In 2012, he received the Turing Award for his work in cryptography.
Coinbase Algorand Video Series
Coinbase put together a great 3 part video series to help explain the basics of Algorand.
Layer-1 Smart Contracts
Algorand offers layer-1 smart contracts that are written in TEAL, Transaction Execution Approval Langauge, a turning-complete language.
The benefits of DeFi applications are too many, too big, and too important to be stalled by the shortcomings of the first generation blockchains. DeFi gives the world access to an essentially unlimited number of financial products and services, helping the 1.7 Billion people who are unbanked worldwide, including in the U.S. (25% of U.S. are unbanked or underbanked).
All of this amazing technology positions Algorand to provide fast transactions, requiring very little energy, without sacrificing security leads to an incredible opportunity to provide financial services while being carbon negative.
How to buy Algos
Below is a simple PDF with instructions on how to buy Algos, the native currency of the Algorand blockchain, through Coinbase (referral link). There are instructions for simplicity and instructions to reduce fees.
Algorand Official Wallet
You may feel comfortable allowing an exchange to hold custody of your Algos, but one of the greatest innovations of cryptocurrency is Self-Custody. I encourage users to research cold storage wallets; reputable companies such as Ledger and Trezor. Or you can use Algorand’s official wallet without a cold storage wallet or in conjunction with a cold storage wallet.
Algorand Governance Rewards
Governance is a way for the holders of Algos to help share the Algorand blockchain. Read how Algorand Governance Rewards are calculated.
NFT Series
For all the reasons stated above, I have chosen to use Algorand to create an NFT Series to engage the community and create a unique mesh between artists and environmentalists.
