Accelerating Real-World Use Cases on the Algorand Blockchain

Recently CoinDesk got to sit down and talk with Min Wei, EVP of Ecosystem Growth at the Algorand Foundation, about the exciting developments happening on Algorand. Min handles partnerships, ecosystem and community at the Foundation and shares a range of insights on ownership, real-world applications and other trends during our conversation.

CoinDesk: Before we get started, I’d love to hear about your Web3 journey and how it brought you to becoming the head of ecosystems at the Algorand Foundation.

Min Wei: I started working in crypto in 2018, when the company I co-founded was acquired by Blockchain.com, and I then joined to lead partnerships for the platform. One of the benefits of working at Blockchain.com was that I got to interact with a ton of different layer 1s and the projects building on them. At the time, Blockchain.com was one of the early platforms to support Algorand, and so I was introduced to the project and the team.

The role and the vision for the organization really appealed to me, and I jumped at the opportunity of joining the Foundation last November to help grow projects in the Algorand ecosystem.

CoinDesk: In your role, are you reaching out to projects offering support, or do they reach out to you?

Min Wei: We do both, and believe that’s important for a healthy ecosystem. Our top priority this year is really focused on helping existing projects in our ecosystem succeed, and we’re building out a framework – our “Bear Hug,” if you will – to scale up the support. We have vertical leads who are experts in specific areas such as NFTs, gaming, real-world assets, DeFi and Impact, and these leads work closely with projects to support, grow and gain traction in our ecosystem.

As our ecosystem expands, we’re also looking out for projects that we’d like to support, particularly ones that are foundational to the adoption of our ecosystem. We’re taking a proactive but measured approach in outreach based on feedback from the ecosystem and what we’re seeing in the market.

CoinDesk: I feel like “still early” is a rallying cry for crypto, but it definitely is true for Algorand, especially when compared to other blockchains like Bitcoin or Ethereum. But it seems that Algorand has made up for this by creating an incredible, inclusive developer environment.

How are you creating an experience for developers to make the early jump versus picking a less early blockchain?

Min Wei: We’re building a blockchain that feels slick to use. Whether it’s the average person sending money to a loved one, a user interacting with a financial product or a developer building an app, we want everyone to have a seamless experience interacting with the Algorand blockchain. It’s all about the UX. We recently released AlgoKit, which is all about giving developers the tools they need, allowing them to set up a dev environment on Algorand in less than 10 minutes, so they can focus their time on what matters – building cool products.

CoinDesk: I’ve definitely seen AlgoKit mentioned, and from what I saw in the demo, it seems like something that even I could use without too much of a technical background.

Min Wei: I appreciate that insight because that’s exactly what we’re looking to achieve. It’s really about lowering the barrier for anyone to enter into the ecosystem, and of course, developers are such a critical part of that.

It sounds so intuitive, but it's very deliberate. We want to make it easier for developers to get right to building.

We have some pretty neat templates and integrations that we’re looking to launch later this year that will make it even better and faster for devs to build on AlgoKit. It will be an iterative process. V1 is an important first step, but we’re going to keep doing more to make it easier and better. Look out for some big announcements in the fall!

CoinDesk: There really isn’t a harder barrier to entry than the blockchain. Getting started typically involves a ton of documentation, and that can really hinder some successful entrepreneurs who are just looking to build.

Your approach to Algorand, however, seems to really be giving these entrepreneurs what they need, and it’s getting some exciting results.

Min Wei: Yes, learning a new language is always the main barrier for developers, but once you get them onboard, they become your most fervent advocates and are very passionate about what they’re building. That’s why we’re so focused on getting it right with the developer community. Again, the more successful we are in lowering that barrier for builders, the more we’ll see exciting, real-world applications being built on Algorand.

CoinDesk: I’ve never seen such a drive toward real-world application than on Algorand. Why is that?

Min Wei: Real-world assets is an area that Algorand is uniquely positioned to take on. Algorand’s speed, security and high throughput make it a no-brainer for developers. What is really amazing is the range of projects that have actually been able to launch on Algorand, and what some of these brilliant builders and entrepreneurs have been able to achieve.

One of my favorite projects right now is TravelX, which is a platform that tokenizes airline tickets and brings them on-chain. What’s so disruptive about this is that we now, as a consumer, own the actual ticket. We can change the information on it, can send the ticket to others and even sell it. This changes the ownership principles of how airline tickets work.

CoinDesk: So I see why this would be a great opportunity for everyone, but why would the airline be okay with this? Wouldn’t this be bad for their business?

Min Wei: When you hear a question like this, you know we’re really changing the dynamics of an industry, and that’s pretty exciting. First of all, the airlines understand fundamentally that their customers want this and it’s a matter of making the revenue side work. Because everything is on-chain and locked in a smart contract, airlines can define the royalties and fees that are applied to specific transactions (i.e., sending or selling). This allows them to generate revenue while lowering customer support costs.

CoinDesk: The idea of ownership is fundamental to Web3, and projects like TravelX seem to really highlight this idea of an “ownership economy.” How is Algorand positioning itself to evolve this next evolution in software?

Min Wei: Absolutely, ownership is so fundamental to Web3. It started with NFTs and creators initially, but has since extended beyond. Algorand’s tech is well positioned to be the infrastructure layer for this next wave of “ownership economy,” and our job is to make it easier for more entrepreneurs to build and launch their ideas.

We are already seeing some great examples of direct ownership from startups in our ecosystem. In addition to TravelX, there’s Book.io, which allows for the tokenization of books on-chain. Again, by harnessing ownership through Algorand, users can send and receive books, changing the consumer dynamic that we see today.

CoinDesk: We’ve talked about a lot of creator-focused NFTs, but as you were saying, ownership is often overlooked. Lofty is another great Algorand project that I’ve seen that champions ownership, but in a way that’s more true to ownership in its literal sense.

Min Wei: Absolutely, Lofty is another great project that’s disrupting a traditional industry. They came out of YCombinator and are taking on the residential rental market, which is a huge market that remains largely inaccessible to the average investor. Essentially, Lofty allows users to buy (and own) a fractional share of any residential rental property on its marketplace. Users will earn rental income, and potentially even be able to participate in property management decisions via a DAO in the future. Lofty truly lowers the barrier to investing in the real estate market.

CoinDesk: As someone who is probably never going to be able to buy a home in my life, this is an incredible and unique use case that wouldn’t be possible without Algorand. Where else are you seeing similar disruptions taking place?

Min Wei: There are a lot of projects that are looking to bring real world assets on-chain. Take Ctrl Alt, which is looking to tokenize really any private asset class, from art to boats. Or ANote, which is tokenizing hundreds of music catalogs in Europe, making it possible for a user to own a share of a music catalog and earn royalties alongside other owners.

There are so many cool projects and ideas being built around the idea of bringing real-world assets on-chain and developing a business around it.

CoinDesk: Going back to attracting projects to the Algorand ecosystem, how do you think Algorand’s position as a green blockchain incentivizes these real-world asset projects to build on Algorand?

Min Wei: I absolutely think it plays a big role in a project’s decision making. Especially when we’re talking about real-world assets, it’s so top-of-mind.

Algorand was built as a green blockchain with a focus on environmental sustainability from the very beginning. With our unique consensus mechanism, Algorand is far more energy efficient than other blockchains and is going further by offsetting our minimal carbon footprint, making it truly a carbon neutral blockchain. Powering the Algorand network uses only 80kW of energy – that’s the equivalent of charging a Tesla.

But while we believe it to be important, it’s just one of many considerations that brings these projects into our ecosystem. That, together with the speed, transaction throughput and security really put Algorand on the podium.

I’ll also highlight that speed and throughput are super important and somewhat nuanced. Even on faster L2s, during times of network congestion, actual network-wide confirmation can take a lot longer, compared to Algorand, which has a 3.7 second finality for the entire network to confirm the transaction. That’s how we can support these real-world applications.

CoinDesk: Is there a vertical, in the real world or otherwise, that’s waiting to be disrupted? Or, is there a vertical that you’re just waiting to have disrupted?

Min Wei: I’m really excited about what TravelX is doing and what that means to the entire travel industry. It’s just mind blowing and is paving the way for other industries. The secondary effect of this is to model how travel loyalty, rewards or membership programs could look in Web3.

Another area in which we are seeing traction is digital identity. Projects like FlexID are creating systems that can provide more people access to banking and other government systems, by enabling more seamless identity verification on the blockchain.

CoinDesk: It’s so exciting to see that Algorand has such a wide, open ecosystem, and the projects being developed are having an immediate impact on people’s lives. It’s also nice to see that there’s a growing number of fun projects that the community seems to bond around as well.

Min Wei: I always say that you have to pay attention to the big, industry-changing projects, but you also have to make room for projects that are fun and engaging at the individual level. For a healthy blockchain ecosystem, you need both.

CoinDesk: Before we wrap up, are there any other projects in the Algorand ecosystem that you’re particularly excited about?

Min Wei: Another project worth mentioning is Quantum Temple. They are co-creating NFT collections with ancestral communities in order to preserve cultural heritage on-chain. This brings economic opportunities and immortalizes culture from around the world on blockchain.It’s such a beautiful example of decentralized technology lifting local communities.

To learn more about Quantum Temple, Lofty and all of the other ecosystem projects building for real-world application, check out the Algorand Foundation’s ecosystem map.