Founded by Italian computer scientist and MIT professor Silvio Micali in June 2017, Algorand is a new decentralized protocol that aims to provide near-instant transaction finality. The network uses a two-tiered design to provide scalability and performance.The first layer enables simple Algorand smart contracts. The second layer handles more complex computations. Algorand promises to be decentralized, secure, and able to handle the high throughput requirements of a global usage.Algorand has a market cap of around $9 billion. It is currently the 34th most valuable coin tracked by CoinMarketCap. The price has ranged from $2 to 10 cents. In 2019, $60 million was raised through a token sale.