Hello, crypto world! We’re thrilled to present our first Biweekly update on Algorand Inc.!
Algorand built the world’s first open source, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol for the next generation of financial products. Algorand provides a blockchain that is truly decentralized, scalable, and secure. Every single token can participate in the consensus protocol, with the same power as any other token. Billions of users can generate a block in seconds, using a trivial amount of computation. What’s more, it cannot be subverted by a few miners or delegates, or by the owners of a small percentage of the tokens.
The Algorand protocol relies on its unique cryptographic sortition and its super-efficient Byzantine agreement. The Algorand blockchain does not fork. Each new block is separately agreed upon and is guaranteed to remain on the Algorand chain forever.
An Algorand co-chain is a special, permissioned version of the Algorand blockchain that enjoys customizable decentralization, transaction finality, layer-1 smart contracts, and benefits from continued innovation on the main Algorand chain.
In this Biweekly you will learn about The Algorand Wallet. It’s Algorand’s official mobile wallet that allows users to hold, transact, and request Algos or one of the hundreds of assets built on the Algorand blockchain. Within Algorand Wallet, you can access your various accounts along with their respective public and private keys.
By using the Ledger Nano X hardware wallet to store your Algorand Wallet private keys, your private keys now never even touch your phone. The transaction signing process is simple and secure.
Furthermore, you can check out the tutorial on how to Opt-In and add Tether’s USDt to your Algorand wallet in My Algo in order to be able to receive it.
Another exciting news! Meld partnered with Algorand and the Australian gold industry to tokenize gold and its supply chain. With the gold industry on the Algorand blockchain, the companies expect users will be able to find buyers and sellers quicker, trade instantly, and track the origins of their gold — all from a digital wallet or in person with a partner dealer.
Last but not least! Help build an open global database to fight COVID-19. IReport-Covid leverages blockchain technology to provide you with the means to share information in a timely, transparent and permanent way. It serves as a tool for informing the current crisis and for supporting research into pandemics for the indefinite future.
Read on for more details and stay in the loop!
Development
Github metrics:
Developer activity (from Coinlab.io):
Check out the latest developer resources at developer.algorand.org
Algorand Co-Chains. The Need for Both Public and Private Blockchains
The Algorand protocol is a public permissionless blockchain platform that enables all organizations, individuals and governments to exchange value in a manner that is efficient, secure and transparent. However, governments, central banks and traditional financial organizations have complex regulatory, control and compliance requirements that frequently require a different solution.
Understanding this need for both public and private blockchains, Silvio Micali has recently shared his latest for Algorand Co-Chains, which are private permissioned chains that interoperate with the Algorand MainNet.
A co-chain
- Is totally independent from the public chain, shields its transactions from all outsiders, chooses its own validators, and runs its own Algorand consensus algorithm;
- Interoperates with the Algorand main chain to transact with other co-chains, and everyone else, with the same ease and security with which the members of Algorand’s permissionless chain transact with each other; and
- Enjoys, both in its internal and external interactions, the same atomic transactions, layer-1 smart contracts, and all other primitives and tools offered by the permissionless Algorand protocol. In fact, it automatically inherits all the improvements and upgrades that will be added to Algorand’s permissionless protocol.
Read the full article on Algorand Co-chains
the Mule framework
Mule is a framework that generalizes the concept of a unit of automation, and allows you to organize their execution through an intuitive, declarative yaml format.
Automation is decoupled from project repositories
It allows users to define automated tasks as python scripts in one centralized location without any need for scripts in the application repositories.
Automation can be consumed in a convenient way
It provides a simple, intuitive yaml language for declaring configurations for automated tasks and their execution order.
Automation is consistently executed by both users and their CICD process
It provides a cli that can consume any valid mule yaml file and execute the automated tasks the same way everywhere
Mule Concepts
Tasks
A task is an individual unit of automation. You can make a task for any activity you would like to automate. For a list of currently available tasks, see the task documentation. Details on how to write and use custom tasks will be available in the coming weeks.
Jobs
A job is a series of executable tasks, and a task itself for that matter. When you provide a job with a list of tasks, the job handles evaluating the chain of dependencies of the tasks you would like to execute and guarantees that all tasks required by the job and their dependencies are executed once in the order that they are needed.
This framework will empower the team to build consistent, reliable and portable pipelines for their core product and all of their supported SDKs.
Find out more about the key features of the Mule yaml language here
Other links:
https://github.com/algorand/mule/
The IReport-Covid App. Help build an open global database to fight COVID-19
Please, fill the survey which can help inform the public and studies on the pandemic now and into the future, even if you do not have symptoms and update when changes happen. Responses will be publicly posted on the Algorand blockchain to guarantee free and permanent access to anyone. Information you share cannot be changed or removed. Soon the team will start publishing aggregate statistics from the reported data and will introduce tools for the community to build applications using the collected data.
The main features of IReport-Covid:
Anonymous self-reporting: While there are multiple sources of information related to COVID-19, there is limited data coming directly from individuals in the community.
Decentralized, open, accessible-by-all data: A universally available source of timely data for real-time studies to inform health authorities and the public.
Permanent, unmodifiable storage: Data is preserved in its original form for the indefinite future, enabling future research on always-available and verifiable-by-all original data.
This app does not provide medical advice; constitute the evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment of any illness or condition; or otherwise provide any healthcare item or service. If you believe you have or likely have COVID-19, seek medical advice.
Social encounters
Q&A session with the Algorand team on the latest release from the Research Team, Algorand Co-Chains
Silvio Micali,Algorand Founder, has recently shared his latest for Algorand Co-Chains, which are private permissioned chains that interoperate with the Algorand MainNet.
The main topics of the discussion: upgrades to the two versions, interoperability, validators, blocktimes and network efficiency, synchronization, working directly with the Algorand team on these types of solutions and more.
Silvio Micali was online to kick the virtual event off, followed by a session with Naveed Ihsanullah (Head of Engineering Research), Jing Chen (Head of Theory Research) and Paul Riegle (Head of Product).
Algorand and Central Bank Digital Currency
Algorand’s Director of Business Solutions David Markley presents on the Algorand blockchain and their project to build the world’s first national digital currency, the Marshallese sovereign.
David and Dr. Andrea Civelli, Senior Economist at Algorand and Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Arkansas, answer questions from the audience following the presentation.
Session Description:
Current methods of cross border economic exchange are riddled with challenges that include lengthy wait times to send funds, exchange and transactions fees, operational risks, settlement issues, tracking issues and more. Central bank digital currency initiatives need to solve for these issues, but also bring into play the required regulations and compliance mechanisms.
The Marshall Islands recently chose the Algorand protocol as the technology for its digital currency due to the blockchain’s speed, scalability, security and ability to effectively implement required compliance controls and the transaction finality needed for a national currency.
AMA with FlexFinTx
March 24, 2019
Victor Mapunga: CEO Flexfintx, a serial entrepreneur from Zimbabwe with a background in finance. He manages day-to-day operations at FlexFinTx.
Haardik Haardik: CTO Flexfin tx, an engineer with over 10 years of experience in the field of trading, finance, gaming, and blockchain.
About FlexFinTx: A self-sovereign identity platform built with interoperable standards on top of Algorand.
The main topics were: Flexfintx, the future of DID and how Algorand helps solve the identity solution.
Upcoming events
The Algorand team regularly hold meetups and events with those looking to learn more about blockchain, understand what is possible with Algorand technology, or even build their business on Algorand.
Check out this community.algorand.org page for more information on upcoming events.
Finance
Mainnet stats (information from https://algoexplorer.io)
Create an Account on the Algorand Wallet
In these series of posts the team will be taking you through the step by step workflow all the way from generating an account on the Algorand Wallet to taking custody of your Algos on a ledger hardware device. Check it out here.
Pairing Your Algorand Wallet with Ledger Nano X
The Algorand Wallet is Algorand’s official mobile wallet that allows users to hold, transact, and request Algos or one of the hundreds of assets built on the Algorand blockchain. Within Algorand Wallet, you can access your various accounts along with their respective public and private keys.
By using the Ledger Nano X hardware wallet to store your Algorand Wallet private keys, your private keys now never even touch your phone. The transaction signing process is simple and secure, made even easier with the Ledger Nano X’s bluetooth capabilities.
Follow the link to go through the end-to-end process of setting up your Nano X, pairing the Nano X with your Algorand Wallet, and finally, signing transactions with the Nano X’s bluetooth capabilities.
Those who don’t have a Nano X device, can check out the article on how to Create an Account on the Algorand Wallet in the series of Algorand Wallet tutorials.
How to add Tether USDT to your Algorand wallet
In Algorand, to avoid spamming your address with tokens and assets, you need to manually opt in to the asset that you wish to receive. This Opt-In transaction involves sending a 0 amount of the asset you wish to add to your account to yourself.
Check out this tutorial on how to Opt-In and add Tether’s USDt to your Algorand wallet in My Algo in order to be able to receive it.
You can choose to watch the tutorial which will help you to facilitate the whole process.
Meld taps Ethereum rival Algorand to put gold on blockchain
Meld partnered with Algorand and the Australian gold industry to tokenize gold and its supply chain. According to Meld, Algorand is “best-suited to connect all components of the gold marketplace: bringing suppliers, dealers, and buyers directly to where they want to trade their assets.”
“At the core of the Meld ecosystem is the partner network,” the director of Meld Gold, Michael Cotton, told Decrypt. “Unlike other solutions, Meld is developing an industry solution that interconnects the entire supply chain, creating efficiencies such as decreased costs, increased transaction speed and greater liquidity.”
Several companies, among them Paxos, have issued stablecoins backed by physical gold. But an Australian startup wants to go beyond tokens to target the entire supply chain of gold.
Algorand will host a new stablecoin and track the supply chain between users and partner members.
Consumers will be able to transact over the counter and online with gold dealers. Big and small businesses , such as pawn shops, scrap metal dealers, mints, refineries, and vaults will be able to join the partner network to refine and sell their gold. Furthermore, traditional bullion investors and new users will be able to tap members of the partner network to withdraw and have their gold delivered to them on demand.
With the gold industry on the Algorand blockchain, the companies expect users will be able to find buyers and sellers quicker, trade instantly, and track the origins of their gold — all from a digital wallet or in person with a partner dealer.
Read the full article on the official Decrypt page
Enabling Limited Key Rotation for the 200M ALGO Staking Rewards Program
The Foundation has recently received requests to enable key rotation for registered addresses in the 200M ALGO Staking Rewards program. While key rotation provides security benefits in some settings, it can introduce operational complexity and potential errors. Having considered the trade offs, the Foundation has decided to provide a limited rotation window during which participants in the 200M staking program can replace their current registered wallet addresses. The rotation program is open to all participants, however, it is completely optional. Participants can either choose to replace their address OR stay with their current registered addresses.
Roadmap
By combining cutting-edge research and innovation with an ecosystem that enables ease and speed of development, the Algorand Foundation strives to anticipate and fulfill future technology needs.
The Algorand Foundation has contracted with Algorand, Inc. to begin development on several advancements to the foundational Algorand public blockchain.
VAULT™
Vault is a blockchain compression technology that allows new users to immediately join and participate in the Algorand network without a burdensome download.
View Whitepaper: Vault: Fast Bootstrapping for the Algorand Cryptocurrency
Algorand’s Forthcoming Technology, by Silvio Micali
PIXEL
Pixel is a new digital signature scheme built for Proof of Stake systems that reduce space requirements through committee member signature aggregation while maintaining forward-security through key rotation.
Pixel-signatures: Efficient and Secure Digital Signatures for Proof-of-Stake Blockchains
Algorand’s Forthcoming Technology, by Silvio Micali
SELF-VALIDATING TRANSACTIONS
Self-validating transactions are an advance that allows separation of consensus and storage to enhance the efficiency and the logical structure of the Algorand blockchain.
Algorand’s Forthcoming Technology, by Silvio Micali
ATOMIC² SWAPS
Atomic² swaps leverage Algorand’s instant transaction finality and implement same-chain swaps of assets, without any type of time- or hash-locks, in a single transaction.
Algorand’s Forthcoming Technology, by Silvio Micali
POST-AND-SALE TRADES
An exchange of assets usually requires interactivity: prior to delivering the asset, a seller must find a buyer and negotiate terms. Post-and-sale trade technology will allow any seller to post assets for sale, at a given price. Any buyer can browse these offers, pay the price and receive the asset immediately without having to interact at all with the seller or any third party.
Algorand’s Forthcoming Technology, by Silvio Micali
SMART² CONTRACTS
Smart contracts permit trusted transactions and agreements to be carried between parties around the world without the need of a trusted third party, but they can be slow and expensive.
Smart² contracts™ leverage Algorand’s consensus mechanism to offer faster and cheaper forms of smart contracts.
Partnerships and team members
Tether Launched as the First Stablecoin on Algorand’s Next Generation Blockchain Platform
Tether, the blockchain-enabled platform that powers the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, is live on Algorand 2.0, the world’s first permissionless, pure proof of stake blockchain platform. Tether is the first stablecoin to leverage the innovation released in Algorand 2.0 and will provide instant confirmation, micro payments and automatic wallet support.
Algorand users will have access to Tether, the most liquid, stable medium of exchange using the high speed, scalability and transaction finality inherent in the Algorand platform. In particular, Tether is using one of the key features of the Algorand 2.0 upgrade, the Algorand Standard Asset (ASA) technology, which makes it possible for the tokenization and issuance of any type of asset on the Algorand blockchain. Tether’s implementation on Algorand will benefit from block confirmation in under four seconds and transaction fees that are a fraction of a percent, unlocking the opportunity for micropayments on blockchain.
Steve Kokinos, CEO of Algorand Inc. said:
“We are excited that Tether has chosen to join the Algorand ecosystem and its stablecoin will benefit from technology that provides immediate transaction finality and security to support a strong and more stable defi economy. Tether’s issuance of their asset on Algorand will be a gamechanger for global defi participants as it is one of the fastest and safest ways to move money around the world.”
Algorand 2.0 offers scalable, enterprise-grade solutions that can be customized as needed for real-world use cases. Algorand 2.0 upgrades enable features such as standard assets, atomic transfers and smart contracts all built into layer-1 of the protocol.
Robert Matza joins Algorand as Senior Advisor
Mr. Robert Matza will bring his experience across asset management and traditional finance to the Algorand leadership team. Algorand, a next generation blockchain platform, has seen increased adoption across financial organizations and central bank digital currencies in particular. As the world’s first open, public, pure proof-of-stake protocol, some of the Algorand adoption highlights include the first hybrid IPO with World Chess and the London Stock Exchange, the first national digital currency with the Marshall Islands, first-in-class digital asset with private investing platform Republic, e-money issuance with Monerium, and stablecoins with the likes of Tether and Meld Gold.
Robert Matza said:
“I am thrilled to be joining what I view as one of the most promising and advanced blockchain technologies available in the market,” said Mr. Matza. “The highly respected team has a vision for blockchain and is executing on removing the friction from the exchange of value. I look forward to bringing my experience and relationships to help further push blockchain adoption in traditional financial organizations.”
You can earn more about Robert Matza here
The team
the Algorand team consists of internationally recognized researchers, mathematicians, cryptographers, and economists along with proven business leaders from global technology companies.
Algorand is always looking for professionals!
They are looking for the best and brightest to be part of their growing team in a cutting edge industry.
Other
The graph above illustrates changes in the number of Algorand Reddit subscribers and Twitter followers. The information is taken from Coingecko.com.
See also:
Algorand on YouTube
Medium official page
This report is not financial advice.
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