Avoids punitive slashing and token lockups, maintains web3's lowest costs for node runners with real-time reward payments
SINGAPORE, Jan. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Staking rewards have arrived on the Algorand blockchain. The Algorand Foundation announced today that, after this week's consensus mechanism upgrade, 'block rewards' are now being paid, in real-time, to validators successfully proposing blocks to the Layer-1 blockchain. The rewards begin at 10 ALGO per block and will decay by 1% every millionth block. Validators also receive 50% of the transaction fees of the blocks they successfully propose. More information about this upgrade and "Algorand 4.0" can be found here.
Algorand's staking program is unique in the industry. Rewards are paid out in real-time and, unlike the staking setups on Solana, Ethereum, and other chains, participants are not threatened by slashing nor subject to restrictive token lockups. Node runners continue to have full access to their funds at all times. Also, compared to other popular currencies like ETH and SOL, Algorand's staking rewards are not inflationary and don't impact the total supply of ALGO.
"While staking on Algorand is highly inclusive, it's highly secure as well," said John Woods, CTO of the Algorand Foundation. "Algorand uses advanced cryptography that makes it unnecessary to put user funds at risk of penalty or loss - their ALGO does not need to be delegated to other parties or locked up to be used to secure the network."
"Any time we interact with a blockchain - whether through a dApp or an enterprise platform - that action is made possible because of the network running it," said Staci Warden, CEO of the Algorand Foundation. "The nodes on the Algorand blockchain secure corporate supply chains, online credentials, and digital identities. They make it possible to send aid payments around the world, and to tokenize and exchange real-world assets, all in a decentralized system. The Algorand blockchain does not fail. The Algorand blockchain will never fork. And, now, Algorand will also offer inclusive, robust, and future-proofed staking."
There are multiple ways people can participate in securing the network and earn staking rewards. For DeFi users, liquid staking is available from Folks Finance, Tinyman, Messina, and CompX; there is a consensus staking pool on Pact, with other staking pools available on Réti; and delegated staking is available from Valar. ALGO staking will be available on other centralized exchanges later this year. Users can also run their own Algorand node.
The rollout of staking rewards marks the end of a banner year for the sustainable Algorand blockchain, including:
- Hitting its 2 billion transaction mark in July, driven in large part by the growing transactions of major projects and partners including World Chess, as well as increasing DeFi and TradFi activity.
- A significant increase in the number of developers, according to Electric Capital.
- The migration of several startups and companies to Algorand from chains like Ethereum, such as Finboot and ZTLment, citing that developing blockchain products is 600% faster on Algorand than with Ethereum/EVM chains.
About Algorand Foundation
Algorand's mission is to power a world where information has integrity and innovative ideas can scale. The Algorand Foundation supports Algorand's rapidly growing ecosystem by providing a best-in-class developer environment, supporting key infrastructure and setting technical standards, offering comprehensive support to builders and entrepreneurs, and providing the framework for decentralized governance.
Launched in 2019, the Algorand (ALGO) blockchain has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of developers, entrepreneurs, and enterprise partners that benefit from institutional-grade certainty and resilience. Its low fees, instant finality, and minimal carbon footprint appeal to the protocol's millions of retail users, and developers of all kinds appreciate the ability to use common programming languages like Python. Builders on Algorand are creating protocols and companies that solve important problems at a global scale: instant payments in war and disaster zones, self-sovereign identity for the disenfranchised, supply-chain traceability for global commerce, permissionless protocols addressing financial inclusion, and the creation of entirely new markets through tokenization, to name a few. To learn more and start your journey on Algorand, visit algorand.co
About Algorand (ALGO)
Algorand (ALGO, ALGO-USD) is a cryptocurrency launched in 2019 as part of the Algorand blockchain. The Algorand blockchain is an energy-efficient, quantum-secure, single-layer blockchain with instant finality, consistently high throughput, and low fees. Algorand (ALGO) is currently trading on more than 400 active markets under the tickers ALGO, ALGO-USD, ALGO/USD, ALGO-EUR, and ALGO/EUR, among other currency pairs. It has a limited, deflationary supply of 10,000,000,000 ALGO which will be in full circulation by 2030. More information can be found at algorand.co.