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Exclusive: Blockchain Trilemma Solved? Secrets Revealed by Turing Award Winner's Algorand

Blockchain trilemma was initially expressed by Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, which is claimed to be unfeasible in achieving scalability, decentralization, and security simultaneously in a blockchain.

There are numerous blockchain project teams attempting to address the blockchain trilemma, and the Turing Award-winning team Algorand is one promising candidate. We have the pleasure to speak with Jing Chen, Chief Scientist of Algorand, on how Algorand attempts to solve the blockchain trilemma with its Byzantine agreement. She also explains why Algorand is non-forkable and the restrictions on Algorand’s adversary model!

1. Blockchain trilemma has been a headache for project teams in the public blockchain. How Algorand can solve the blockchain trilemma?

The alleged “trilemma” says that among three important properties – decentralization, scalability and security, a public blockchain can hope to achieve just two of them, at most. This is not a mathematically-proven impossibility. Rather, it is used to emphasize the difficulty of achieving all three simultaneously. We believe it’s important for a public chain to achieve all three, and the Algorand blockchain does just that.

Decentralization

Decentralization is made possible by Algorand’s permissionless, pure proof-of-stake consensus protocol. A user does not need permission to join the system or participate in the consensus, so no central control is present at the entry phase. A participating user’s voting power in the consensus protocol is directly proportional to their number of tokens, and having multiple users accumulate their tokens to one account does not increase their joint voting power at all. This eliminates the need to form “mining pools”. Moreover, the cost for a user to run a node in the system is very low, and a user doesn’t need specialized hardware in order to participate. This makes the system friendly to “small” users and helps with decentralization.

Scalability

The key to scalability lies in Algorand’s Byzantine agreement. Its safety does not rely on preset lower-bounds on how fast blocks should be generated (e.g., 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc). Blocks can be generated as fast as messages can be propagated in the network. In typical cases, only one voting step is needed before a block can be certified, and it only takes a few seconds to generate a block. No computational resources are wasted solving cryptographic puzzles, making the system cost-efficient. For every block, only a small committee is selected to vote, and the size of the committee stays almost unchanged as the number of users and nodes grow in the system, making the system scalable to any number of users. What’s more, Algorand’s novel cryptographic self-selection technique ensures that no direct communication is needed among the selected committee members themselves, reducing the system’s communication cost and making it scalable to global crossing-continent networks. Cryptographic self-selection is also a key technology for the security of Algorand’s blockchain, as discussed below.

Security

Indeed, Algorand’s Byzantine agreement is designed based on first principles rather than heuristics, and its security is proved via rigorous mathematical analysis. Cryptographic self-selection ensures that no one knows who is selected to vote for a block until after a selected user sends out his voting message. Thus an attacker doesn’t know who to target beforehand. After seeing a user’s voting message, an attacker realizes that this user is selected. However, even if the attacker can corrupt this user at this point, it’s too late because their voting message is already propagated to the network. The voting committee is re-selected every step, and corrupting selected users doesn’t make the attacker better off in the future than corrupting un-selected users.

Moreover, forward security (also referred to as forwarding secrecy) is important in a system that lasts for a long time and generates blocks continuously one after another. An attacker may try to corrupt users who were in charge of voting for an earlier block, “go back in time” and have these users generate a different block in that same round, thus creating a fork. Ephemeral keys are used in Algorand blockchain against such attacks and ensure forward security. Each voting message in the protocol is signed using a voting key that is deleted after its job is done, thus the name “ephemeral”. With this method, even in the future, if an attacker manages to corrupt all users that were in the system in an earlier round, they do not have their voting keys to generate any block that is different from the existing ones.

It’s worth pointing out that, achieving security without requiring liveness is trivial and meaningless —users simply do not generate any blocks and the system is perfectly secure. The Algorand blockchain achieves both security and liveness against a very powerful adversary. We’ll get to the adversary model in a later question.

2. It is said that Algorand’s blockchain is non-forkable. Can you elaborate on how it happens?

In Algorand’s consensus protocol, when selecting committee members for generating a block in a given round, the selection rules and parameters are designed in such a way that, if one block has accumulated enough votes from committee members, then no other block for the same round will accumulate enough votes. This is true even when the attacker was the one who proposed the blocks, even when the attacker managed to partition the network —splitting users into several disconnected groups and fully controlling the communication among them. In such cases, after a block has been generated (that is, gotten enough votes from proper committee members), honest users may not immediately realize this fact. However, the messages that they have seen tell them that this particular block “may have” gotten enough votes and that they should not vote on any other block. Therefore, no two blocks from the same round will both accumulate enough votes. This holds true even when the network is partitioned for an indefinite amount of time and no one knows when it will be resolved. Nonetheless, Algorand’s blockchain doesn’t fork and users’ balances remain secure.

Again, both safety and liveness are needed for a blockchain. Algorand’s Byzantine agreement not only doesn’t fork, it also guarantees liveness when the network is not partitioned and recovers liveness after a network partition is resolved.

3. What are the restrictions on Algorand’s adversary model?

The Algorand blockchain is secure against a very powerful adversary, who can corrupt any specific user they choose, fully control the behavior of that corrupted user, and perfectly coordinate the behavior of all corrupted users. For example, malicious behavior includes but is not limited to – signing contradicting voting messages, double-spending, sending their messages only to specific users at specific times, inaction, etc. It is required that an adversary does not control more than 1/3 of the total stakes participating in the consensus protocol.

4. In Algorand, bad actors will not be punished as there is math to show that wrongdoing is not costly to the system. Can you elaborate on the math?

As mentioned earlier, Algorand’s consensus protocol is secure against an adversary who controls no more than 1/3 of the total stakes. The core techniques have been discussed in earlier questions (e.g., #1 and #2).

5. Transaction per second (TPS) is often used to measure the scalability of the public blockchain. What are the technological breakthroughs for Algorand to achieve high TPS?

Algorand’s scalability is made possible by a combination of cryptographic techniques and its efficient Byzantine agreement. See #1 for more details.

Part 2 of the interview is coming up, stay tuned!

Exclusive: How to Ensure Random Numbers in Public Blockchain?

Following Part 1 of our interview, Jing Chen of Algorand further teaches our readers on how to ensure the randomness of a number in public blockchain! She also evaluates the existing Proof-of-Stake (POS) protocols: Delegated VS Bonded VS Pure POS!

Regarding the white paper “Digital Signatures for Consensus” published on March 9, 2019, it states that the signature equation contains a random value r. How do you ensure a random number is really random in the public blockchain?

Randomness is used to select committee members for block generation in Algorand’s pure proof-of-stake consensus protocol. This is done through Verifiable Random Functions (VRF).

The seed of the VRF is generated by block proposers and may depend on the state of the blockchain thus far. The adversary cannot predict the randomness before seeing the block proposer’s message, thus cannot pre-strategize based on it. The randomness used in the protocol is updated every round, and seeing the randomness for the current round does not help an adversary predict the randomness used in future rounds. Similar schemes can be used to generate randomness for other purposes, including digital signatures.

What are the problems of delegated proof-of-stake (DPOS) and bonded proof-of-stake?

While delegated and bonded proof-of-stake approaches are more environmentally conscious – as they do not require the large computation power as found in a proof-of-work system in order to mine a block – they are still centralized by design.

In delegated proof-of-stake, a fixed number of selected entities, or delegates, are selected to generate blocks. Delegates are voted into power by the users of the network, who each get a number of votes proportional to the number of tokens they own on the network (i.e., their stake). However, once delegates are selected, they remain in position for a long time, which inherently makes the system more centralized. Further, there is no guarantee that all delegates will remain honest. And even if their honesty was certain, because their identities are known, they become obvious targets for attackers.

In bonded proof-of-stake, a user’s voting power is proportional to the number of tokens he is willing to “lock-up” —that is, put aside without touching for a long time. If he is caught taking malicious actions within the system, then these tokens may be confiscated. This inherently puts “small” users at a disadvantage, as they may need their tokens frequently and can’t afford to lock a large amount up for a long time. Users with a large total stake, on the other hand, are often more willing to do so, causing the voting power in the system to skew disproportionately towards them.

In comparison, Algorand’s Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) approach randomly selects users in charge of block generation. The randomized selection happens not only per block but actually along every step of the Byzantine agreement per block. Every user may be chosen to propose and vote on blocks. The selection probability is directly proportional to a user’s total stake rather than the stake he is willing to lock up. The protocol does not ask a user to lock up any stake in order to participate, neither does it confiscate a user’s stake.

Why Dutch auction is adopted to determine the token price of Algorand?

The Algorand Foundation is responsible for the distribution of Algos—the native token of the Algorand platform. Algos will initially enter circulation through a sequence of Dutch auctions due to three main benefits they specifically provide – fairness, transparency, and convenience.

A Dutch auction lets the market determines the fair price of tokens rather than having the price set by any specific entity. Also, in a Dutch auction, the token price is the same for all participants who have won any amount of tokens, treating participants fairly.

A Dutch auction is convenient for the users to participate in online. Indeed, during such an auction a user does not need to remain online the entire time. They can make a bid and then move offline, and even return online to make another bid later on.

Finally, auctions are conducted on the Algorand blockchain for transparency. All bids are placed on the blockchain, so everybody can verify that the auction has been conducted properly.

Knowing that most of the dApps in public blockchains related to gaming, how Algorand can attract blockchain developers from existing leaders such as EOS and Tron?

Algorand’s technology stands out in decentralization, scalability, and security. We are committed to building a truly permissionless and decentralized public blockchain; a vision shared by many blockchain developers. The Algorand blockchain offers and will continue to offer many unique features where true technology plays. I invite readers to look at our blog posts on Algorand’s roadmap.

For example, as the Algorand blockchain doesn’t fork, it provides immediate transaction finality. After seeing a newly generated block containing a specific transaction, a user doesn’t need to wait for several other blocks to be generated following it before he can safely rely on that transaction. This is critical for time-sensitive applications, as there is no need to make a tradeoff between having a short confirmation time for transactions and risking certain transactions disappearing from the chain.

Algorand Blockchain Network Now Certified for Sharia Compliant Financing

The Algorand Foundation announced that its blockchain network has now been certified as Sharia-compliant for the inclusion of Islamic financial markets.In a press release on Oct. 21, it was revealed that Algorand has achieved the certification under the supervision of the Shariya Review Bureau (SRB) who ensured the compliance with Sharia-critical aspects required of Islamic financing.

Steve Kokinos, CEO of Algorand commented on the development and his firm’s commitment to inclusion, “With the rapid growth of the Islamic financial markets, I am excited that forward-thinking Islamic enterprises will now be able to realize new business opportunities on a platform that is congruent to their finance guidelines.”While the Sharia certification allows Algorand’s network to be leveraged by Islamic institutions for economic exchange, each decentralized application that is built will need to be evaluated individually for compliance with Islamic Law. Algorand will continue to enlist the services of the SRB to ensure the network remains compliant as new innovations are integrated into the platform.Why Islamic Finance?According to an article from Global Finance, Islamic Finance is a rapidly growing financial sector that integrates economics with the ethics and morality of the Islamic faith. For Muslims, Islamic finance has some very clear benefits. Because Islamic law holds that making money from money is wrong, sharia-compliant institutions tend to refrain from engaging in speculation. They traditionally avoid derivative instruments such as futures or options and prefer to have assets grounded in the real economy.The ban of usury forbids Islamic institutions from charging interest on loans, known as riba. Rest assured, Islamic banks still make money from their loans but instead of just profiting off their clients’ loan interest repayments, they will buy the assets and then re-sell them to their clients at an agreed slightly elevated price. This system means banks share the risk of their clients and profit on the contracts upon the successful completion of a contract.

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Algorand Partners with Italian Economic Ministry to Advance Blockchain Initiatives

The Algorand Foundation of Singapore has signed a collaboration agreement with Fondazione Ugo Bordoni (FUB) aimed at testing and advancing the groundbreaking open-source technology developed by its founder Silvio Micali.According to a blog post by Algorand Foundation on Dec. 16, the partnership agreement was signed between the Fondazione Ugo Bordoni, an in-house entity of the Ministry of Economic Development, and the Algorand Foundation during a meeting of the European Blockchain Partnership Policy Group at Bocconi University in Milan. Fondazione Ugo Bordoni’s focus on Algorand is driven by the technical advantages it offers over other available blockchains, advantages that make Algorand particularly interesting as a component to be used in experimenting with innovative applications and services for citizens, businesses, and public administrations.

Defeating the Trilemma

The blockchain trilemma was a term given to the pain points of trying to establish seamless transactions while maintaining all three critical properties—decentralization, security and scalability—which was originally believed to be impossible. Algorand was the first to overcome the “blockchain trilemma” thanks to an innovative system for the creation of consensus algorithm Pure Proof-of-Stake, which sealed the deal for Fonadazione Ugo Bordoni when looking for a partner to further advance Italian blockchain initiatives. “Fondazione Ugo Bordoni has a vision for progressive uses of blockchain technology in advancing Italian initiatives,” said Professor Silvio Micali, Turing award winner and founder of Algorand. “I am honored that Fondazione Ugo Bordoni has partnered with the Algorand Foundation and selected the Algorand blockchain to serve as the platform of choice due to its technical abilities and overall integrity. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of the blockchain experiments and developments that will soon come from their research

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World's First National Digital Currency to Be Built on Algorand

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has revealed that the blockchain for the world’s first sovereign digital currency will be built using Algorand’s technology.

Plans for the Marshallese Sovereign (SOV)were first announced in February 2018 following a vote by the nation’s parliament in favour of proceeding with the plan.

Regulation and Supply

SFB Technologies is the company responsible for developing the blockchain infrastructure for the Marshall Islands. In an announcement on March 2, the technology provider shared that the initiative to implement the Algorand protocol into the Marshallese SOV’s infrastructure was necessary to bring together the digital currency and mainstream regulatory compliance.

The SOV will circulate alongside the US dollar and help the Marshall Islands efficiently operate in the global economy. According to Algorand in the statement, “The SOV supply will be algorithmically fixed to grow at 4% each year to prevent runaway inflation. The SOV will be introduced through a token pre-sale: rights to future SOV will be sold in a series of auctions as part of a time-release monetary issuance (TRMI), which is expected to begin this year.”

No Central Bank, No Problem

According to a government whitepaper released in September 2019, the RMI has accessed the world markets via the US dollar and has never attempted to develop and maintain its own national currency as the cost of running its own central bank would be too great for the small and remote nation.

According to the research, digital ledger technology has changed the cost-benefit equation. It allows the small countries to combine the best features of traditional government-issued currency and cryptocurrency “leapfrogging obsolete stages of monetary development.”

As reported by Blockchain.News, the latest quarterly report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has revealed that none of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) projects currently underway are aiming to facilitate cross border payments. In contrast, RMI’s SOV is being developed to allow users to send money without the need of a financial intermediary and, “this applies domestically, between islands, and also internationally.”

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Algorand's Blockchain Based COVID-19 Global Survey Shares Real-Time Public Pandemic Data

Algorand, the first pure proof-of-stake (POS) blockchain created by cryptography pioneer and Turing award winner Silvio Micali, has launched a global Coronavirus (Covid-19) survey.

The company published a blog post on March 27 announcing its ‘IReportCovid’ survey app. The aim of the survey is to compile a public database to share information on the spread, status, and symptoms of the COVID-19 pandemic and give updates in “real-time.”

Global Blockchain database to fight COVID-19

According to Algorand, there is limited data coming directly from the general public about how COVID-19 is affecting them in real time, which could be useful data for studies on the pandemic as well as for public knowledge.

The survey is not invasive and asks for basic information that one would usually find on a doctor’s appointment card, such as age and gender, with the added a section to confirm if the respondent has been exposed, treated or tested for the coronavirus and their isolation status.

As the responses will be publicly posted on the Algorand blockchain, the information shared cannot be changed or tampered with, only updated by respondents if their situation changes. Algorand is encouraging everyone to take part in the survey, “even if you do not have symptoms and update when changes happen.”

Dr Tal Rabin, Head of Research, Algorand said that the IReport-Covid distinguishes itself from other applications and sources of information on coronavirus through “the combination of anonymous self-reporting and the constant retention of information on the blockchain.” She added, “Very little information is coming directly from the people in the community. I hope more people in the world will respond to the questionnaires in our app so that we can gather meaningful information.

After publishing aggregate statistics in the near future, Algorand plans to introduce tools for the community to build applications leveraging the collected data.

Algorand – First Blockchain to Defeat Trilemma

In an interview with Blockchain.News, Jing Chen, Chief Scientist of Algorand discussed how Algorand has solved the blockchain trilemma with its Byzantine agreement which would make it the first known platform to have all three critical properties optimised.

Chen said, “The alleged ‘trilemma’ says that among three important properties – decentralization, scalability and security, a public blockchain can hope to achieve just two of them, at most. This is not a mathematically-proven impossibility. Rather, it is used to emphasize the difficulty of achieving all three simultaneously. We believe it’s important for a public chain to achieve all three, and the Algorand blockchain does just that.”

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How Blockchain Technology is Helping to Fight the Novel COVID-19 Pandemic

As the world battles with the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s consequent economic and social effects: several world governments, agencies, and institutions are joining the fight to help reduce the spread of the virus while assiduously working to create a cure and a vaccine. For each country, the coronavirus pandemic has caused a major state of emergency, the Government’s role in addressing the issue is more visible at this time when compared to private and independent institutions.

In Italy for instance, the country has recorded a cataclysmic rise in the total number of deaths which stands at 18,279 along with a record 143,626 confirmed cases as of April 10th. While the government’s proactive measures in declaring a stay at home order, closure of businesses and, sanitization of public spaces are valiant efforts can be applauded; the efforts of individuals like Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli in turning snorkeling masks into essential breathing equipment may not be as widely publicized or recognized globally.

While innovation and technology are being deployed at scale to free the world of Covid-19, the role of blockchain technology to combat aspects of the pandemics’ negative effects has been a particularly potent weapon in this fight to restore our supply lines and authenticate information, as well as cross-border remittance.

Blockchain Gets Busy

Blockchain technology remains a game-changer in the use of encrypted open-source ledger in the processing of data. In its own right, it came as a disruptive technology that is now gradually being embraced by technology-dependent and futuristic firms worldwide. With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in late 2019, many blockchain-based firms have launched innovative ways to make a difference in this global medical upset. Few of the application of blockchain technology in the fight against coronavirus is outlined below;

Insurance Claims

The coronavirus disease creates a major health concern that is enough to create an unbalanced book for medical insurance companies worldwide. With over a million cases all over the world, the impact on Health Management Organizations cannot be underestimated. In China where the outbreak began, Ant Financials online Mutual Aid blockchain-based platform Xiang Hu Bao has introduced a new function to process several coronavirus claims. This function undoubtedly has helped the firm reduce in-person contact as these claims are made online.

Education

With the coronavirus pandemic, there’s been a major disruption in education across all levels as the stay at home order looms. Higher educational institutions are resorting to online alternatives to take classes and write exams and Odem is providing free access to its blockchain-powered educational and credentialing platform to higher institutions. While the Odem platform may not be a perfect replacement for the traditional classroom experience, it definitely is helping to bridge the learning gap in these trying times.

Donation Tracking

The humanitarian grace of many people was reawakened with the Covid-19 disease outbreak. With donations coming from sports celebrities, business leaders, etc. HyperChain, Hangzhou based blockchain startup has created a donation tracking system that will help donors see where funds are urgently needed. With this ingenuity, HyperChain has raised millions of dollars in coronavirus donations with the promise of transparency and responsibility.

Algorand

The Algorand Foundation launched a health survey website to record public health trends during the novel coronavirus pandemic. With this survey website called iReport-COVID, infected persons can give an account of their experiences anonymously with an assurance that their identities will be protected.

Cross Border Payment Solution

The better perk of blockchain technology and its associated cryptocurrencies is to facilitate financial transactions worldwide. With financial institutions crippled, cross country payment solutions require an alternative which is best obtained from blockchain-powered cryptocurrencies.

Need for Applause?

With all that is being done with blockchain technology of which just a fraction is documented in this article, one might want to give a loud applause for these contributions but until a final victory over the coronavirus disease is achieved, all active stakeholders must keep working till global health is restored and life returns to normal in our cities. It is then that our applause to our medical practitioners, scientists, and technology deployed can be resounding.

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The Algorand Foundation to Integrate Chainalysis KYT for Transaction Monitoring and Compliance

The Algorand Foundation will be leveraging Chainalysis’ Know Your Transaction (KYT) for transaction monitoring and compliance processes after its integration.

Investigations and due diligence will be enhanced by using Chainalysis KYT for Algorand’s native token, ALGO. The Algorand Foundation is led by Turing award-winner Silvio Micali and a renowned team of cryptographers to build an open-source, public blockchain for an inclusive ecosystem.

“Algorand is committed to providing an inclusive, transparent, and secure system for its global users,” said Algorand Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Fangfang Chen, in a release shared with Blockchain.News.

“We needed a compliance partner that could not only help us adhere to regulations in Singapore where we are based but also global regulatory best practices. This will enable us to build the best transaction monitoring solution for the Algo token so that we can realize our mission of providing the world’s first open, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol securely and scalably.”

With the integration of the Chainalysis KYT, Algorand is able to monitor large volumes of activity and identify high-risk transactions on an ongoing basis.

Chainalysis adds compliance support to track privacy coins Dash and Zcash

Chainalysis has recently launched support for two of the most popular privacy coins, Dash and Zcash. Privacy coins are cryptocurrencies with privacy-enhancing features that allow users to gain total anonymity when making blockchain transactions.

Although privacy coins are known to be used for illicit purposes, research by the RAND corporation mentioned that 0.2 percent of all the cryptocurrency addresses mentioned on the dark web was either for Dash or Zcash.

Although Dash is known for its privacy features, only 9 percent of all Dash transactions make use of mixing transactions related to PrivateSend. This portion of Dash transactions takes up a relatively small and declining percentage of Dash transactions, according to Chainalysis.

Chainalysis Secures $13M From Ribbit Capital and Sound Ventures, Continuing to Fuel Crypto Adoption

Chainalysis announced that it has secured an additional $13 million in a strategic investment from Ribbit Capital and Sound Ventures for its Series B investment round, taking its total to $49 million.

Chainalysis has previously secured $36 million from Accel, Benchmark, MUFG, and Sozo Ventures last year. The blockchain analysis firm aims to further expand its relationship with government agencies and the public and private sectors to fuel the crypto industry’s growth.

Among the addition of software engineers, government sales, and business roles, Sigal Mandelker, General Partner at Ribbit Capital and former Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the US Department of Treasury will also join Chainalysis as an advisor.

As the government and law enforcement sectors are still getting comfortable with dealing with cryptocurrencies, Chainalysis hopes to enable financial institutions to enter the crypto ecosystem safely and responsibly. JPMorgan recently decided to accept cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini as banking clients, and will also offer cash-management services to the exchanges, as well as dealing with dollar-based transactions for their US-based clients.

Chainalysis Reactor, the company’s blockchain data, and foundational investigative product has seen a growth in revenue in the past year, and by almost 400 percent with its government clients.

Michael Gronager, the CEO and co-founder of Chainalysis said in a statement provided to Blockchain.News:

“Chainalysis is founded on the belief that providing data insights into cryptocurrency activity will unite government agencies, exchanges, and financial institutions to fuel the industry’s growth. Ribbit Capital’s deep fintech, cryptocurrency, and government experience and Sound Venture’s commitment to creating safer digital environments through enterprise software make them natural partners as we continue our high-growth trajectory and global expansion.”

Chainalysis Know Your Transaction (KYT) and Chainalaysis Kryptos, two of the firm’s compliance products, have been used by over 180 private sector customers across 44 countries. These compliance products boost transparency, demonstrating the need for more secure and transparent blockchain-based processes across the industry. The Algorand Foundation also chose to leverage Chainalysis KYT for transaction monitoring and compliance processes.

Chainalysis assisted the shutdown of the largest-ever child sex abuse site

On April 21, 2020, Chainalysis reported an alarming and rising trend of cryptocurrency transactions being linked to coin wallets that are connected to human trafficking and slavery as well as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

The forensics firm reveals that over the course of 2019 they were able to track nearly $1 million dollars worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum payments to addresses associated with CSAM providers which represent a “32% increase over 2018, which in turn saw a 212% increase over 2017.”

Although a horrific increase, these transactions actually represent an incredibly small portion of the cryptocurrency market and Chainalysis attributes most of the increase to the rise of cryptocurrency adoption rather than an increased demand for child and blackmail porn.

Ashton Kutcher, the General Partner at Sound Ventures said:

“Chainalysis’s market-leading position at the intersection of fintech and cybersecurity makes them an essential part of the economy of the future. They are also one of the rare companies whose work protects society’s most vulnerable people, as demonstrated by their work on assisting the shutdown of the largest ever child abuse material site.”

Algorand’s Listing on Coinbase Sparked 30% Price Surge and New All-Time High Market Capitalization

US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has listed Algorand on its platform. According to the Coinbase announcement, Algorand (ALGO) has been made available on Coinbase.com and its Apple and Android apps.

ALGO was previously listed on Coinbase Pro in August 2019, and the push for Algorand to be listed on Coinbase was due to the majority of customer requests, according to the statement.

Coinbase is also considering adding a new range of digital assets, including VeChain, Aragon, Bancor, Siacoin, Origin Protocol, and Ren to its potential listings.

Coinbase has been evaluating potential digital assets under its Digital Asset Framework, to review the project’s security and compliance before completing the listing on the exchange.

Other projects on Coinbase’s list include Arweave, COMP, DigiByte, Horizon, Livepeer, NuCypher, Numeraire, Render Network, SKALE Network, and Synthetix.

“Our decision to support any asset requires significant technical and compliance review and may be subject to regulatory approval in some jurisdictions,” the Coinbase blog read. “As per our listing process, we will add new assets on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis, subject to applicable review and authorizations.”

With Algorand not being featured among Coinbase’s potential digital assets, ALGO’s listing on the exchange took the crypto community by surprise.

Algorand sees 30% surge after Coinbase listing, signaling altcoin season

Shortly after Algorand’s listing on Coinbase, ALGO’s market capitalization hit a new all-time high on its third-strongest day of trading in the crypto’s history.

After the crypto market crash in March, Algorand has been trading at a high, at above $0.35 for its second time in its history.

Chainlink also recently surged to an all-time high, $8.48, as recent new partnerships have instigated its bull run. Likely factors that pushed the crypto into its strong momentum were recent high-profile partnerships, price discovery, and the strong altcoin market.

Coinbase to go public

Coinbase has been reportedly planning for a stock market listing this year, which would make it the first major US cryptocurrency exchange to go public.

Reuters reported that as Coinbase is pursuing to go public, the listing would require the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s greenlight. If the SEC approves the cryptocurrency exchange, it could mean a landmark victory for crypto to go mainstream.