The Algorand blockchain is a permissionless pure [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/proof-of-work-vs-proof-of-stake) blockchain protocol. Unlike [proof-of-work](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow) (PoW) blockchains, where the root block must be validated by randomly-selected validators (using computing power), in the pure proof-of-stake approach all of the validators are known to one another and only have to agree on the next block in order to create a new block.

The genesis of the Algorand blockchain states that 10 billion ALGO was minted. The distribution of the fixed and immutable 10 billion ALGO will end in 2030, rather than the initial plan of 2024. For more information about Algorand’s tokenomics, see [here](https://algorand.foundation/the-algo/algo-dynamics).

Algorand was invented to speed up transactions and improve efficiency, in response to the slow transaction times of Bitcoin and other blockchains. Algorand is designed so that there are lower [transaction fees](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/transaction-fee), as well as no mining (like [Bitcoin's](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/) energy-intensive process), as it is based on a permissionless pure [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) (PoS) blockchain protocol.

Silvio Micali is a professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the founder of Algorand. He is a recipient of the Turing Award (in 2012) for his fundamental contributions to the theory and practice of secure two-party computation, electronic cash, cryptocurrencies and blockchain protocols. This makes him one of the foremost creators of crypto in the world.

Algorand is a self-sustaining, [decentralized](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized), [blockchain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain)-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient, all critical properties for effective applications in the real world. Algorand will support computations that require reliable performance guarantees to create new forms of trust. The Algorand [mainnet](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/mainnet) became live in June 2019, and was able to handle almost 1 million transactions per day as of December 2020. Algorand transaction metrics can be viewed [here](https://metrics.algorand.org/). Algorand [initial coin offering](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/initial-coin-offering-ico) (ICO) was held in June 2019, with the Algorand price of $2.4 per token.