The BTP ecosystem continues to grow.
The Algorand Foundation announced Tuesday that it has awarded ICON an Algorand Foundation Bridges SupaGrant to “integrate Algorand into ICON’s BTP Interoperability Ecosystem,” which will help “support the growth of a vibrant, diverse and thriving Algorand ecosystem.”
Algorand said its BTP integration will undergo a security audit by an external partner “with potential support for future maintenance and upgrades to the bridging integration.”
According to Algorand’s announcement, ICON will partner with blockchain development company Applied Blockchain to deliver the Algorand BTP integration, including development of the required smart contracts.
Based in London, Applied Blockchain technically specializes in Algorand, and has worked on blockchain projects for Shell, Barclays, Vodafone, KLM, Toyota, the United Nations, Chainlink and others.
Here’s the key quote from Algorand:
“Integration with Algorand opens a door of new possibilities for the ICON ecosystem and ICX holders. ICX holders will now be able to bridge to the Algorand blockchain and utilize their protocols. The same can be said for Algo holders coming to the ICON blockchain. Assets from the Algorand ecosystem such as Algo and/or YLDY can now be wrapped and brought to ICON native protocols, where you can utilize them by trading on Balanced, lending/borrowing on Omm, generating additional yield on Optimus, etc.”
Algorand believes its partnership with ICON will help expand the project’s presence in East Asian markets.
“We’re excited to partner with ICON and welcome them to the Algorand Ecosystem. The grant award to ICON will ensure the development of key DeFi infrastructure and opens up opportunities for further collaboration and innovation,” said Addie Wagenknecht, Algorand’s Head of Global Ecosystems and Technical Operations. “We look forward to our partnership which will bring value to our respective communities.”
Founded in 2017 by Italian cryptology expert and MIT professor Silvio Micali, Algorand describes itself as “the world’s first open source, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol for the next generation of financial products.”
It very much views itself as the “future of finance,” and among its many activities, it is taking part in El Salvador’s state-supported BTC wallet as the official blockchain provider.
Algorand’s cryptocurrency, the ALGO, hasn’t done especially well over the last several months, and actors unknown exploited vulnerabilities in a Algorand DeFi platform to the tune of USD 3 million to start the new year.
Nevertheless, the project has many people excited, with Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci — yes, that Anthony Scaramucci — recently announcing that he put USD 250 million into Algorand, explaining that he thinks it will be “the Google” of the crypto world. Others see Algorand as “the next Solana” should the El Salvador experiment succeed.
