Algorand is currently under the radar, watch when its Smart Contract is released. Currently they have their mainnet running and you can download the wallet on android and IOS.
Algorand (ALGO) is also launching on Coinbase Pro soon which will bring more volume and possibly push the price. https://blog.coinbase.com/algorand-algo-is-launching-on-coinbase-pro-b297f4aa9e25
Algorand is also a member of ISDA International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). I could not find the popular cryptos as member on this. https://www.algorand.com/resources/blog/algorand-isda-memberhttps://www.isda.org/membership/isda-members/
Its a proof of stake coin below is the technical problem with proof of stake coins essential;ly you have to trust someone as opposed to bitcoin which is trustless
The emergenceof PoS in 2012 was an attempt to solve the problems of cost,inefficiency and the susceptibility towards centralization associatedwith Proof-of-Work. The basic premise is that instead of purchasingcostly equipment to mine blocks ahead of one’s competitors, each‘validating’ node (miner) in the network purchases the coins usedin the specific blockchain system.
Under the PoS algorithm, tokens are issued to the validating nodesin the network from the very beginning of the network’s existence,which means that unlike PoW, tokens are not concurrently minted asnew blocks are added to the ledger (although some blockchains employa hybrid PoW/PoS algorithm which allows PoW minting to take placebefore switching to PoS). A specific node is then selected to committhe new block every few seconds or minutes. But if a node holds morecoins, it retains greater power over what is considered to be thetruth on the ledger. As such, the selection is strongly influenced bythose with the most coins – the more they have invested in thenetwork, the more they have to lose in the event of any mishaps.
Another influencing factor is the time period that coins have beenheld by users, which indicates whether they are invested for thelong-term – clearly a more desirable position than someone who justpurchased their coins yesterday. So, those with more stake are deemedto be more trustworthy, and considered less likely to attack thenetwork. Indeed, in order to mount an attack, a user would have tobuy 51% of the coin value of the entire network. This would beexpensive, as well as nonsensical – there is no incentive for auser to attack a network in which they have so much invested.
In addition, PoS is often preferred over PoW because it requiresconsiderably less computational work, meaning that it is lesswasteful and the cost of executing PoS is substantially lower. Thisremoves a major barrier to entry for those wishing to become blockvalidators. The lack of mining requirements removes the need forspecialist hardware to be developed; indeed, the technology caneasily run on consumer-grade computers.
The problem with Proof of Stake
One of the most cited issues with Proof-of-Stake is known as the“Nothing-at-stake” problem. Under PoW blockchains, there is anincentive to keep on mining the longest chain on the ledger, as thischain will be considered the primary version of the truth and the onethat earns the miners their rewards; so miners are clearlyincentivized to mine that only that chain.
But with PoS, there is little to prevent a miner from mining onnumerous PoS chains, especially given the fact that there isnegligible computational expense to the miner under this algorithm.Hypothetically speaking, a bad actor PoS miner operating on variouschains could make it difficult for the network to reach consensus,and could attempt to rewrite history.
This problem is particularly pertinent when a fork in the chaintranspires (as happened with Ethereum, which then produced EthereumClassic); in such a situation, validators using PoS could placestakes on both blockchains which makes it easier to alter the truthin their favor and earn profit. Indeed, partially as a way to solvethis problem, Ethereum is in the process of making the transitionfrom PoW to a new consensus strategy called Casper, which will employa PoS algorithm. The move is intended to make the processing of newblocks onto the chain significantly more efficient, while Casper willalso punish those who attempt to stake on two different chains.
