The idea for Algorand was born in 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when a small group of world-class cryptographers and engineers gathered around the kitchen table at the home of Silvio Micali. The Turing Award-winning cryptographer and esteemed MIT computer-science professor had been studying the technical limitations of so-called “second generation” blockchains. Having co-created a slew of concepts foundational to modern cryptography – from probabilistic encryption to zero-knowledge proofs to verifiable random functions – Micali saw an inspiring challenge: to design an environmentally-friendly blockchain that could facilitate enterprise-grade scalability without sacrificing security or decentralization.
Over the following two years, Micali and his team worked tirelessly to achieve a breakthrough: a Pure Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. Leveraging cryptographic sortition and verifiable random functions, PPoS obscures attack vectors, democratizes participation, and does not fork. Its core functions are also computationally lightweight, ensuring the network can achieve true scalability. With these innovations architected, Algorand was born in 2019, a blockchain that is at once technologically refined and immensely powerful, making possible a whole new world of pioneering applications.
Today, Algorand is more than just elegant engineering; it's a flourishing ecosystem where cutting-edge solutions are developed with the potential to redefine industries and spark global transformation. Reimagining real estate investing through fractional ownership, transforming airline ticket distribution with easily transferable digital tokens, bringing fast financial aid to regions with unstable banking systems, and introducing unprecedented transparency to supply chains—these are just a few examples of businesses being built with Algorand technology.
Algorand is not only building a blockchain. It's enabling a new digital era and empowering innovators to deliver positive, lasting imprints on the world.