Algorand

ALGO CMC #70 in the snapshot

A smart-contract network that selects stake-weighted committees with cryptographic randomness and provides its own virtual machine, asset system, and transaction grouping.

Profile checked 14 Nov 2026Asset ranks captured 14 Nov 2026Snapshot & methodology ↗

01 / THE PURPOSE

What is Algorand for?

Algorand supports payments, issued assets, and applications on a shared ledger. Developers can compose asset transfers and application calls into an atomic group, so the grouped actions succeed or fail together.

02 / THE ARCHITECTURE

Three questions about the machinery.

How does it agree?

Consensus & security

Pure Proof of Stake uses verifiable random functions to select block proposers and voting committees. Selection depends on participating stake, and certification relies on the protocol’s honest-stake assumptions.

Where do instructions run?

Execution model

Applications run in the Algorand Virtual Machine, with code compiled to AVM bytecode. Contracts have explicit computation and state-access budgets and can issue inner transactions under the network’s rules.

What is the token for?

ALGO in the system

ALGO pays transaction fees and supports account minimum balances. Participating ALGO stake determines consensus selection and voting weight; an application’s own asset is separate from the network’s native coin.

03 / THE DESIGN CHOICES

What comes with the design?

Each architecture makes choices about security, performance, coordination, and who can participate.

Security still depends on honest participating stake and working network communication, even when committee selection is unpredictable.
The AVM has its own programming and resource model; an Ethereum contract cannot simply be assumed to run unchanged.
Account minimum balances and explicit resource references matter when estimating an application’s actual operating cost.

04 / IN PRACTICE

Follow one use.

A buyer’s payment and a seller’s token transfer can be placed in one atomic group. If either transfer fails its checks, the exchange does not leave only one side completed.

05 / CHECK THE EXPLANATION

Sources & snapshot.

Network descriptions use the references below. The CoinMarketCap snapshot determines which assets are in scope and their captured rank; it does not assess the quality of a network.

Consensus overview Algorand Developer Portal
Algorand Virtual Machine Algorand Developer Portal
Transaction fees Algorand Developer Portal
CoinMarketCap top 100 snapshot Captured 14 Nov 2026 · See the complete scope audit
Algorand (ALGO) on CoinMarketCap Captured asset rank #70

Profile checked 14 Nov 2026. Network designs and ranked positions can change.