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The Algorand ecosystem consists of 500+ organizations, dApps, exchanges, marketplaces, and partners using the Algorand blockchain. Both permissioned and community built applications make up the Algorand ecosystem which can be broken down into four different categories:
- Technical - Infrastructure applications, development tools, and integrated partners. Examples include the different Algorand applications like Optimizer, Explorer, and Studio. Additionally, an important piece of the El Salvador Bitcoin app is found here in Koibanx.
- Financial (DeFi) - Centralized and decentralized exchanges, different wallets, stablecoin integrations, and market makers. The Algorand blockchain supports the two largest stablecoins: USDC and Tether, along with 50+ exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and FTX.
- University Partners - Notable academic partners include Stony Brook University, Peking University, and UC Berkeley.
- Broad Applications - Payment processing applications, blockchain institutions, investment start-ups, and even environmental applications like PlanetWatch.
Visual representation of the Algorand ecosystem as of November 2021 (Coin98)
Total Value Locked
Algorand expanded significantly in 2021 with various partnerships, NFT launches, and Algorand Standard Asset (ASA) exchanges substantially driving up the value of the blockchain. The present total value locked (TVL) on Algorand is ~$180 million with finance application Algofi credited with the largest share of dominance with nearly 60%. This places the ALGO ecosystem ~40th in TVL despite advertising the 500+ projects within the ecosystem. Meanwhile, similar projects that launched around the same time, like Solana, Terra, Avalanche, Polygon, and others have billions of dollars in TVL, demonstrating real demand and value capture.
Algofi is the Algorand’s network version of a liquidity protocol which allows users to utilize their ALGO holdings to earn interest, participate in lending/borrowing markets, and gain access to US Dollar Coin (USDC).
Tinyman is another DeFi-based protocol that has been flooded with controversy since its inception. In short, liquidity pools were targeted and fully exploited by attackers in multiple waves that saw many users lose funds. Among the stolen assets were Algorand Standard Assets (ASAs).
The massive jump in committed ALGO to governance has also driven gains in TVL. In less than one year’s time, Algorand has gone from a TVL of less than $10 million to over $180 million.
Graph of the total value locked on the Algorand network as of Q2 2022 (DeFi Llama)
However, TVL growth is only one metric to measure adoption. A large jump in TVL could be from organic natural growth from a large community or simply one whale locking up millions into a dApp. Another measure of adoption is to look at the number of users (image below). According to dappradar, less than 5,000 people use Algorand’s top three dApps in the last 24 hour period (1/28/22). This is yet another data point suggesting that real-world adoption is simply not there.
Overall, the Algorand community in terms of holders has drastically expanded over the past year. Currently, outstanding ALGO are spread across over 20.6 million addresses. In Q2 2022, Algorand nearly doubled its active address count. Algorand also features a fully transparent Github page that is routinely updated and progressed. The Algorand Github page has 930 stars and 66 contributors (~12 primary contributors) while its full-time developer count grow to ~17 in 2021.
Other Notable Partnerships
In March of 2020, it was announced that the Marshall Islands would be leveraging the Algorand blockchain to launch what is considered to be the world’s first national digital currency. The Marshallese sovereign (SOV) will be going fully digital and will circulate alongside the US Dollar in the country moving forward. The partnership is in collaboration with the firm SFB Technologies, a blockchain infrastructure builder and provider with a specialization in regulatory compliance.
In June of 2021, it was announced that Exodus, a cryptocurrency-based company in Nebraska, would be leveraging Algorand for the release of its security token. Referred to as a Common Stock Token, each of these tokens will represent one share of its Class A common stock and is officially named the EXIT token (Exodus common stock token).
In September of 2021, the Algorand Foundation announced the official launch of the Viridus Fund. This fund was set up with 150 million ALGOs and serves the purpose of being a launching point for future DeFi applications, protocols, and marketplaces on the Algorand blockchain. The fund has supported two “SupaGrants”. The SupaGrants are powering the $5 Million Price Oracle SupaGrant and the $5 Million Bridge SupaGrant, contributing to the development of price oracles and cross-chain bridges to other blockchains like Ethereum.
