Frequently Asked Questions

Participation Rewards:

Q1: What do I need to do to earn participation rewards?

The Algorand rewards are earned by everyone holding at least one Algo proportionally to their holding of Algos. Every address that holds 1 Algo or more in a non-custodial wallet is eligible to earn rewards. For addresses managed by custodians or centralized wallets/exchanges, it depends on the terms and/or policies of the custodian or wallet/exchange. The current rewards distribution is determined and funded by the Algorand Foundation (https://algorand.foundation/). You can read a detailed explanation of the Algo Dynamics.

Q2: Will I get better rewards by running a relay node? Will I get better rewards by running a participation node?

No, currently there are no additional rewards for running a relay or participation node. The Algorand Foundation issued token grants to Early Backers and universities for running relay nodes, to help bootstrap a scalable and reliable initial infrastructure backbone. This program is now closed. Stay tuned for future updates.

Q3: How frequently are participation rewards distributed?

This is a function of the circulating supply of Algos and of the current rewards rate. For example, in June 2020, rewards were distributed approximately every 9 minutes, to all the accounts holding at least the minimum required balance of 1 Algo.

Q4: What is the current rewards rate?

In Algorand, the total supply was fixed at the 10 Billion Algos minted at Genesis. The distribution of these Algos in time is monitored by the Foundation and the Economic Advisory Committee. The amount of rewards distributed in each 500,000 block period is detailed in the table below (up to 11th December, 2021). The Foundation updates the participation rewards program over time, adjusting to current levels of Algo supply and tuning the program to benefit the Algorand ecosystem.

Period	Starting Round Number	Approximate Dates	Projected Rewards (millions of ALGOs)
30	14,500,000	Jun 18th, 2021 - Jul 13th, 2021	21,850,000
31	15,000,000	July 14th, 2021 - Aug 7th, 2021	21,850,000
32	15,500,000	Aug 8th, 2021 - Sept 1st 2021	21,850,000
33	16,000,000	Sept 2nd, 2021 - Sept 26th, 2021	21,850,000
34	16,500,000	Sept 27th, 2021 - Oct 21st, 2021	21,850,000
35	17,000,000	Oct 22nd, 2021 - Nov 16th, 2021	21,850,000
36	17,500,000	Nov 17th, 2021 - Dec 11th, 2021	21,850,000

As an example, in June 2020, on average, 26 Algos were distributed in each block. However, as explained in How frequently are participation rewards distributed?, actual distribution occurred approximately every 9 minutes.

Q5: Is compounding rewards automatic?

The participation rewards are calculated automatically, however the compounding effect is not automatic. This is because the rewards are calculated from the last recorded balance on the blockchain, the easiest way to force rewards compounding is to send a zero Algo payment transaction to the target address on a frequent, recurring basis. This transaction will trigger the commit of all accrued rewards and record them to the on-chain balance of the account. See https://www.purestake.com/blog/algorand-rewards-distribution-explained/ for more information.

Q6: Can I receive Algo rewards with a cold storage wallet or a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S?

Yes, like any other wallet that is in your custody, you can receive rewards. If your cold or hardware wallet are with a custodian/exchange, then please refer to the terms and policies of your custodian/exchange.

Q7: Do I still earn participation rewards if I store my Algo in an exchange like Binance or Coinbase?

It depends. Algos stored in custodial wallets (such as exchanges) still receive rewards as any other Algos. But technically, the custodian is receiving these rewards because it owns the address where the Algos are stored. Please refer to the terms and policies on your custodians’s website.

Q8: Why is the participation reward yield different on Algorand and on Binance for example? Why is Binance distributing rewards at different intervals?

Binance offers custodial services, thus they can distribute the rewards to their users as per their terms and conditions. They receive staking rewards as of any other Algorand address holding at least 1 Algo. Please refer to the terms and conditions on Binance website.

Wallets

Q9: Is there an official Algo wallet?

Yes, the official Algorand wallet is available to download on Apple & Android devices from https://www.algorand.com/wallet

Q10: Are there other wallets which support the Algo? (Atomic wallet, Algorand wallet, MyAlgowallet, etc)? Do you have a list of all the genuine/approved wallets available?

The official wallet is the Algorand Wallet: https://www.algorand.com/wallet.

Algorand does not have an approval policy for wallet support, and each wallet operator makes its own determination to support a cryptocurrency. A partial list of wallets supporting Algo and information related to wallets is available from the the Algo Ecosystem page. The security of these wallets should be checked with the vendor directly. Algorand makes no representations regarding the functioning or security of third party wallets, and disclaims any liability therefor.

Q11: Where can I find my address in the mobile wallet?

As of version 4.6.0 you can find your address by clicking on the button shown below in red.

200M Staking Program (also known as Super Staking Rewards Program):

Q12: What is the 200M Staking Program and how do I participate?

The 200M staking rewards program, colloquially known as the Super Staking Rewards, was a staking program which rewarded the community with 200 million Algos, for those who share the vision for the long-term success of the Algorand network and its technology. The 200M staking program was fully subscribed by the August 31st, 2019 deadline and is now closed. https://algorand.foundation/200million-staking-reward-program-launch provides further information on the program.

Q13: If the EU adds crypto regulations before the end of the 200M Staking Program, could EU users be kicked out of the rest of the program?

There are no current regulations in the EU which would affect this. We will update the community in this eventuality.

Supply:

Q14: What is the max supply cap for Algorand?

The Max Supply for Algo is the 10 billion Algo minted at genesis.

Even though the entirety of the supply was minted at the launch of the network, thus giving Algorand a fixed outstanding supply, the liquid supply will increase as pre-minted tokens unlock and are distributed.

The Foundation recently proposed a revised, long term Algo Dynamics model. Designed to run for a greater than 10-year period- that is up to 2030 and beyond - this new model will focus on programs around ecosystem support, community incentives, and the decentralization of decision making and governance on the Algorand blockchain - a long-held goal of the Algorand community. For more information on Algo supply and distribution see Long Term Algo Dynamics.

Q15: Does the Foundation own tokens?

The Foundation’s stake is 500M Algos (and the participation rewards thereof). This stake participates in the consensus protocol contributing to the protocol’s integrity.

Q16: What is the current circulating supply and why do different sites list different amounts?

At block 17,327,763 (November 9th 2021), the circulating supply was 6,241,513,869.39 Algos. You can see the current circulating supply on AlgoExplorer and PureStake’s GoalSeeker. In response to feedback received by the community, we've partnered with the leading research websites and provided a live endpoint which they are all now utilizing to report consistent circulating supply data for the Algo.

Q17: Is there someplace where I can see a good description of how the initial Algo token distribution occurred, and how much stake the Algorand Foundation has in the network?

A good description is available on our Foundation Algo Dynamics page.

Q18: Is there a burning process for Algos?

The Algorand Foundation burnt the tokens from the initial auction that were refunded. For further information see:

June 2019: https://prismic-io.s3.amazonaws.com/algorandfoundationv2/0e034aea-777f-4e86-b450-c76fd91fa6b8_Early+Redemption+Confirmation.pdf

July 2020: https://algorand.foundation/news/auction-redemption-complete

Running Nodes:

Q19: Are there rewards for running a relay node?

Currently, there are no additional rewards for running a relay node. The Algorand Foundation issued token grants to Early Backers and universities for running relay nodes, to help bootstrap a scalable and reliable initial infrastructure backbone. This program is now closed.

On June 9th 2021, the Foundation launched a pilot program for relay node running on the Algorand network. The application period is now closed with the deadline for submissions having closed on July 12th, 2021. The successful program recipients will be announced on August 31st, 2021.

Q20: How much rewards are distributed to early supporters running relay nodes?

The vast majority of Early Backers receive rewards according to the schedule in https://prismic-io.s3.amazonaws.com/algorandfoundationv2/d56c195e-53bc-4112-a1ba-a70bfbb612f9_EIP-11252019AF_+Conditional+Accelerated+Vesting+Nov+30.pdf.

Q21: Who are running relay nodes?

Algorand Inc, Algorand Foundation, and Early Backers including universities and commercial entities are running relay nodes.

Q22: How many relay nodes are there?

As of November 2021, there is approximately 120 relay nodes.

Q23: Who manages the list of relay nodes? What about decentralization?

Currently, the Algorand Foundation manages the official list of relay nodes, to bootstrap a scalable and reliable initial infrastructure backbone. Having said this we need to draw your attention to the important fact that the security of the protocol holds even if all the relays behave in a malicious way. As long as sufficiently many participation nodes (in terms of stake) are behaving honestly, the blockchain cannot fork. Furthermore, anybody with an Algorand account can run a participation node.

We are working on a model where the decisions on relay nodes will be done in a more decentralized way.

Q24: What will be the long term incentives for relay nodes?

The group sometimes referred to as the Relay Node Runners group, came into existence at mainnet launch and should correctly be referred to as Early Backers and Node Runners. This group consists of early investors, commercial entities and non-profits (Universities) who made commitments to support the project and to also run relay nodes to provide the decentralized infrastructure of the blockchain in the early life of the protocol. This group is committed to support the required Relay Node infrastructure of the Algorand blockchain up to 2024. At this point, some of the current participants may decide to discontinue running Relay Nodes.

On June 9th 2021, the Foundation launched a pilot program for relay node running on the Algorand network. The application period is now closed with the deadline for submissions having closed on July 12th, 2021. There were 20 successful relay node runners selected. You can read the announcement here.

Q25: Why are Relay Node Rewards so high? They are much higher than the cost of running Relay Nodes. Why were the Relay Nodes granted even more algos in 2019?

The Foundation refers to this group as Early Backers and Node Runners and their Rewards as Early Backers Incentives Vesting. These Early Backers of the project were allocated 2.5B Algos at launch, because of the role they had in supporting the project in the early stages (in addition to the commitment to run Relay Nodes for a period). These Algos were not immediately transferred to them: they are kept in locked wallets to be gradually distributed to Early Backers.

The distribution period was originally set to be 2 years, but in the first months after launch this distribution rate turned out to be inflationary, due to the tiny Algo supply circulating in the market at that moment. Consequently, the EAC led the Foundation to execute an Economic Improvement Proposal, voted on the blockchain, by which the Early Backers accepted extending the unlocking of tokens from to 2 to 5 years, so that, for example, in 2020 only 3% of the of the 2.5B were distributed, rather than the 50% that was originally planned. As part of the agreement that reduced inflation by changing the contracts with Early Backers, an additional 600M of contingent rewards were assigned to Early Backers in return for agreeing to extend their vesting time, with a mechanism called Automatic Vesting Acceleration that makes the unlocking of tokens increase only if (a moving average) of the Algo price reaches new historical high. The explicit reason for this was to align the incentives of the Early Backers to those of the larger community.

Q26: Do Early Backers control the Algorand Consensus process because of their staking? Can Early Backers take control of the forthcoming governance model because of their staking? Should they be prevented from locking and participating in governance?

Only released tokens to Early Backer & Node Runner Incentives can participate in consensus and governance. Thanks to the agreed gradual release, the amount of Algos unlocked so far towards Early Backers and Node Runners amounts to a minority of the unlocked Algos that can participate in consensus and governance (not to mention that they are a collection of unrelated and potentially competing companies, individuals and institutions). They cannot control either governance or consensus. Additionally, part of the Algos unlocked towards Early Backers and Node Runners has probably been sold by them in the market, particularly in 2019, making their staking even less relevant. Many others are likely to hodl their Algos as long term supporters and in some cases they have publicly announced to be using their resources for investing in the Algorand ecosystem (e.g. Borderless Capital). Those who have not sold their Algos so far can be considered reliable supporters, so we treat them like any other hodler. Having them lock their Algos to participate in governance should be considered a positive fact for the Algo ecosystem and tokenomics.

Q27: Are Early Backers and Node Runners seed investors of the Foundation? Can they control the decisions of the Foundation?

It is important to clearly state that the Inc and Foundation are not the same entity nor the same people. The Foundation has no seed investors. The Algorand Foundation is a not-for-profit, community organisation focused on protocol governance, token dynamics and supporting grassroots, open-source development on the Algorand ecosystem. The entire team of the Foundation can be viewed here. Please see relationship between Algorand Foundation and Algorand Inc for more information.

Q28: There is only a limited amount of relay nodes at the moment maintained by VC’s and some Universities. The Algorand foundation maintains this list, basically making Algorand a permissioned, centralized blockchain. I have read Silivo Micali’s proposal on decentralizing the governance of the Foundation, but nothing about decentralizing the node structure. This means Algorand will at best be a permissioned consortium blockchain like Hashgraph. What is your plan to actually decentralize the technology?

To clarify, consensus on the Algorand blockchain is run by Participation Nodes, not the Relay Nodes. Participation Nodes on the Algorand network are both public and permissionless. Therefore consensus participation on the Algorand blockchain is public, permissionless and decentralized. While relay nodes do not participate in consensus, having highly reliable relays is critical to the performance of the Algorand blockchain. That is why, currently, the Algorand Foundation maintains the list of relays to ensure relay nodes satisfy the necessary performance requirements and do not slow down the blockchain. As part of our current roadmap, we have plans to further the ability to run Relay Nodes on the Algorand Network. One approach being evaluated is to start by using two lists of relays: the current one fully vetted by the Algorand Foundation to keep the network high performance and a second one that is permissionless. Nodes would then connect to relays on both lists allowing best of best world: decentralization and performance. As we move to a permissionless mechanism for Relay Node Running, the Foundation will work with the community to agree an incentive program to support running this infrastructure.

Q29: What will be the incentive for staking when the rewards pool runs out in 2030?

The existing participation rewards program is under community review as part of the discussion around decentralization of governance. Given that this program to bring us to 2030 is not finalized, it is too early to say what the program will be after 2030.

Participation Nodes:

Q30: How do I run a participation node?

If you are interested please refer to the following documentation on how to set up a participating node: https://developer.algorand.org/docs/run-a-node/setup/types/#start-node and https://developer.algorand.org/docs/run-a-node/participate/.

Q31: How many tokens do I need to run a participation node?

A participation node can be run for any Algorand account, whatever its balance is.

Note however that any Algorand account must have a minimum balance of 0.1 Algo.

Q32: Are there rewards for running a participation node?

Currently, there are no extra rewards for running a participation node.

Ambassador Program:

Q33: What is the Ambassador rewards program?

The Algorand Ambassador rewards program was a 2020 program which closed in early 2021. The $2M Algorand Trailblazer program now affords both developers and non-developers the opportunity to complete open bounties and be rewards in $Algo. For more information on our Trailblazer Bounty Program go to https://algorand.foundation/developers/trailblazer-bounty-program. You can also sign up to become a community member on our website and stay up to date with all the news from the Algorand Foundation .

Algorand Foundation Ecosystem Funding Mechanisms:

Q34: Does the Algorand Foundation have a grant program to fund projects on the Algorand blockchain?

The Algorand Foundation is committed to development and building on Algorand. We have recently launched (April 2020) our multi-year 250M Algo Grants Program where we provide funding across research, development tools and infrastructure, applications & use cases, and education and community. We have numerous grant mechanisms supporting these categories. https://algorand.foundation/grants-program

Q35: Does the Algorand Foundation have an accelerator program for companies interested in building on Algorand?

The Algorand Foundation has launched Accelerator programs across Asia, Europe, LATAM and North America with LongHash Ventures, Eterna Capital, Finnovista and Draper University, in partnership with Borderless Capital. You can find out more about the Algorand Accelerator programs on our website at https://algorand.foundation/ecosystem/accelerator.

Miscellaneous:

Q36: What is the relationship between Algorand Foundation and Algorand Inc?

The Algorand Foundation operates independently from Algorand Inc. The Algorand Foundation is a not-for-profit, community organisation focused on protocol governance, token dynamics and supporting grassroots, open-source development on the Algorand ecosystem. Algorand Inc is focused on layer-1 development of the Algorand Protocol and enabling Enterprise adoption of Algorand blockchain technology. The Foundation and Inc. collaborate on exciting projects and initiatives to customize the value that we can bring towards the great Algorand community.

Q37: Do sending and transacting with an Algorand Standard Asset (ASA) have higher fees than regular Algos?

No, sending and transacting with an ASA costs no more than sending and transacting with Algos.

There is some indirect cost as the minimum balance required in the account must be higher if it also holds ASAs. If the account only holds Algos then the minimum balance is 0.1 Algos. If there are ASAs then the required minimum is: 0.1 Algos times the number of ASA it holds plus one. For example, an Algorand account holding USDT must have a minimum balance of 0.2 Algos.

See https://developer.algorand.org/docs/features/asa/#assets-overview for further information.

Q38: What happens with the money that ends up in the fee sink? Who controls it?

At the moment, the Algo wallet receiving Algorand blockchain transaction fees is held by the Algorand Foundation. For the near term, the amount of Algo accumulating in this wallet is and will continue to be modest, based on the 0.001 Algo/transaction fee. Once the daily transaction level reaches a threshold, where the amount of Algo held in the wallet is material, the Foundation will engage with the community on how best these accumulating fees can be leveraged to support the ecosystem. As it currently stands, Algos in a fee sink can only be sent as participation rewards. A consensus upgrade has the possibility to change this should the community elect to do so.

Q39: How will you keep transaction fees low and stable in the long term?

The Algorand Foundation has no plans to review the transaction fee levels of the Algorand blockchain currently. As the steward of the Algorand ecosystem, the role of the Foundation would be to facilitate the wider Algorand community and ecosystem making that decision, if there is a proposal to examine that from within the community at any point in the future.

Q40: Which exchanges are trading Algo?

Exchanges include Binance, Coinbase, Huobi, OKEx, Bittrex, Kraken and Bitfinex. You can see a list of exchanges on our Algorand Ecosystem page.

Q41: If I bought tokens at auction and want a refund for 90% of my investment, how do I do that?

The second and final refund redemption window is now closed. For further details on our now closed refund redemption’s check out https://algorand.foundation/2019-algo-auction-participants & https://algorand.foundation/early-redemption-outcome

Q42: What is the Borderless Economy?

Algorand and the Algorand Foundation have a vision for the borderless economy. At its most basic level, this is a digital economy where anything of value can be traded between two or more parties without the friction of current financial networks.

Q43: Why is there only one full stack developer mentioned on the website?

The ongoing development of layer-1 features of the Algorand protocol is performed by Algorand Inc, under contract to the Algorand Foundation and as such, the teams of developers who build the Algorand layer-1 protocol are in the Algorand Inc. organisation.