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Group 11

Frequently Asked Questions

    Participation Rewards:

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

    Participation rewards are now fully distributed per May 14th, 2022, and completely replaced by Governance Rewards moving forward. To participate in Algorand Community Governance and earn Governance rewards please see Algorand Community Governance.

    Q2: When will Participation rewards finish?

    Participation rewards are now fully distributed as per May 14th, 2022, and are completely replaced by Governance Rewards.

    Wallets

    Q3: Are there other wallets which support the Algo? (Atomic wallet, Pera wallet, MyAlgowallet, etc)? Do you have a list of all the genuine/approved wallets available?

    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. 

    Supply:

    Q4: 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.

    Q5: 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.

    Q6: What is the current circulating supply and why do different sites list different amounts? 

    You can see the current circulating supply on AlgoExplorer and PureStake’s GoalSeeker.

    Q7: 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.

    Q8: 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:

    Q9: What nodes comprise the Algorand network? 

    The Algorand network is comprised of two distinct types of nodes: relay and non-relay nodes.

    Relay nodes are primarily used for communication over the network.

    Non-relay nodes can participate in the Algorand consensus protocol, and they communicate with each other (and with the blockchain) via the relay-node layer.

    For more information, see the Algorand developer documentation.

    Q10: Are there rewards for running nodes on Algorand?

    Currently, the Algorand protocol does not include rewards for running nodes on the network.

    As described below, the Algorand Foundation announces programs from time to time where it provides support for partners to run relay nodes.

    Q11: Who is running relay nodes on the Algorand network?

    While in principle anyone can run a relay node, the default behavior of an Algorand node is to only connect to relay nodes from a list that the Algorand Foundation maintains.

    The relay nodes on that list are operated by Algorand Inc., Algorand Foundation, and participants in a few relay-node-running programs of the Foundation:

    • Until 2021, the Algorand Foundation issued token grants to Early Backers for running relay nodes. That program is now over, but some of the participants are still running relay nodes (with no support from the Foundation).
    • The Algorand Foundation also issued token grants to ten universities who are running relay nodes. This program is scheduled to run through Q2 2024.
    • In Q4 2021, the Foundation launched a Pilot Relay Node Program where it selected about 20 companies and individuals and provided support for them to run relay nodes in different configurations.
    • In Q2 2022, the Foundation launched a Community Relay Node Program where participants had to stake Algos in addition to running relay nodes. Eight companies were selected to this program, running additional 19 relay nodes.

    Q12: How many relay nodes are there? 

    As of Q2 2022, there are just under 120 relay nodes on the Algorand network.

    Q13: 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.

    It is important to stress, however, that anybody with an Algorand account can run a non-relay node and participate in the Algorand consensus protocol (i.e., be a validator).

    Moreover, the integrity of the blockchain does not depend on the relay nodes: as long as sufficiently many participation nodes (in terms of stake) behave honestly, the blockchain cannot fork.

    Even if all the relays misbehave, the worst that can happen is that the blockchain will slow down or stall.

    The Algorand Foundation is researching options for making the decisions on relay nodes in a more decentralized way.

    Non-Relay Nodes:

    Q14: How can I participate in the Algorand consensus protocol?

    Instructions for setting up non-relay nodes on Algorand and participating in the consensus protocol can be found off of the Algorand developer site.

    See in particular https://developer.algorand.org/docs/run-a-node/setup/types/#start-node and https://developer.algorand.org/docs/run-a-node/participate/.

    Q15: How many Algos 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.

    Algorand Foundation Ecosystem Funding Mechanisms:

    Q16: 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 or check out our upcoming events.

    Miscellaneous:

    Q17: 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.

    Q18: 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.

    Q19: 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.

    Q20: 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.

    Q21: 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

    Q22: 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.