What's New With Algo: A dive into Algorand in July

Algorand is an intriguing cryptocurrency in our current market, despite constant news around the project, it is often seen as a long term hold but well worth it to have in your portfolio.

Created in 2019 by computer scientist Silvio Micali, Algorand is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) coin on it's own developed blockchain, built on recent advancements in Cryptography compared to the "old tech" of the Bitcoin blockchain. Algo is built on 5 basic principles;

Speed - Transaction speeds of up to 4.5 seconds without sacrificing security of the transaction.

Scale - The Algorand chain is built to withstand billions of potential users, if it can actually handle that level of usage is yet to be seen but it is built with those potential issues in mind.

Trustworthy - Algorand is "impossible to fork" which means the Algorand blockchain will always be the Algorand blockchain.

Transparent - Algorand is completely searchable, you can view any transaction on the blockchain.

Secure - Through the use of "unbreakable digital code", Algorand doesn't sacrifice security for transparency and seed.

With that out of the way, let's get into current developments around the project for July of 2021.

Community Governance Referendum:

The Algorand Foundation is currently working on decentralization, and views becoming a decentralized currency as one of their key pillars going forward. It's an important step, moving Algorand governance out of the hands of the foundation and into the hands of Algorand holders will go a long way towards the vision of a "borderless and frictionless" crypto. The significance of putting the decision making into the hands of the people can not be overstated, and doing so less than 2 years after launch shows that the Algorand Foundation is staying true to their initial vision. So many projects talk of decentralization and community governance but don't follow through once the time comes to implement changes. The growth of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) this past year show just how big of a step this is for the project.

The first Algorand Governance vote will be October 1st, 2021 and the Algorand Foundation will release further instructions on how to participate.

Relay Nodes

As a PoS coin, relay nodes are critical to the integrity of the Algorand network. Relay nodes are responsible for relaying (obviously) communications, such as routing blocks, to non-relay nodes used for governance. As a result, relay nodes must be capable of handling a large number of transactions and rely on the community to fulfill that purpose.

With that in mind, the Algorand Foundation has accepted grants from individuals interested in operating these nodes and has asked for proposals involving funding. Running a node isn't free of cost and backing of the Algorand Foundation will be crucial to the added security and speed of the network.

Fortier Blockchain

The Algorand Foundation issued 3 grants this month but the most intriguing recipient was Fortier Blockchain. Fortier Blockchain is a MIT Hackathon winning program that will use AI and Quantum Computing to make governance decisions as well as building an algorithm that will better inform potential investors to volatility on the blockchain.

What does that mean exactly?

Fortier will be releasing their project ChoiceCoin on the Algorand protocol, ChoiceCoin will be responsible for Smart Contract architecture, a voting protocol using ChoiceCoin as the governance token, and an open source volatility indicator for Algorand.

What To Expect?

Algorand has seen price volatility the past few months - along with the entire Crypto market - but with new on-chain developments, greater decentralization, and new partners working within the Algorand infrastructure, Algorand has a great future ahead of it and should be a huge player in the next Crypto cycle.

Thanks for reading.

*I own Algorand, so take any additional commentary with a slight grain of salt*