Algorand’s Claim to Be 1st “Pure PoS Blockchain” Slammed by NXT Core Developer

Key highlights:

• NXT core developer Lior Yaffe has fired back at Algorand for the project's claims of developing the first pure proof-of-stake blockchain
• Yaffe explained that NXT was the first project to launch a functioning pure PoS blockchain after Peercoin introduced a hybrid PoS model

It’s not uncommon for startups to embellish their achievements or for marketers to indulge in half truths. Sometimes such liberties go undetected, but other times they meet fierce pushback. 

Algorand’s claim that it is the world’s “first permissionless, pure proof of stake blockchain platform” has fallen into the latter category, provoking the ire of developer Lior Yaffe, who points out that NXT was the first platform to implement a pure PoS solution several years ago.

Yaffe was an early adopter and core developer of Nxt, and has later co-founded Jelurida - the company powering the NXT and Ardor blockchains.

This week, he took to Twitter to vent his frustration:

“The #algorand marketing machine has misleadingly crowned themselves as the "First Pure Proof of Stake Blockchain". A bold statement considering that #Nxt is the first project to introduce a working #PoS #Blockchain after Peercoin pioneered a hybrid PoW one.”

Puff PRs and piggybacking blockchains

It should be said that the developer’s ire was not directed solely at Algorand, who might be expected to gild the lily when it comes to their blockchain. He also expressed amazement that “news publications are picking up on it with no fact checking at all,” referencing an AP press release from February which detailed Tether’s launch as the first stablecoin on Algorand 2.0. In the press release, Algorand was twice referred to as the world’s first pure proof-of-stake blockchain.

After linking to his own article from October 2017 entitled “NXT is the first pure POS coin,” in which he criticized projects like Ethereum and Cardano for piggybacking on the POS trend, Yaffe called on Algorand to “take responsibility, admit they were wrong and no longer use “first” when communicating their project.”

The @Algorand team should take responsibility, admit they were wrong and no longer use “first” when communicating their project. I also expect crypto media to conduct better fact checking. Attention @Coindesk @Cointelegraph @Decryptmedia @Cryptodailyuk @Coincodex @CryptoBriefing

— Lior Yaffe (@lioryaffe) June 3, 2020

He also compelled crypto media to “conduct better fact checking” before including the handles of major news sites like CoinDesk, CoinTelegraph and Decrypt.

The official Algorand account has been active since Yaffe’s tweets, but has not responded to the broadside at the time of writing. The claim with which the developer took umbrage is, however, repeated in Algorand’s Twitter bio, so don’t expect a retraction any time soon.

Algorand’s disregard for well-known facts

The official Nxt account said Algorand’s claim to be the first pure PoS blockchain showed “total ignorance or disregard towards well known facts in the industry,” adding that it was misleading “even to your own users.”

Algorand was founded in 2017, with Algorand 2.0 launching late last year. Announcing the protocol upgrade, the project repeated a familiar assertion: “For the first time, enterprise-scale Dapps can be built on the world’s first pure proof of stake (PPoS) blockchain without sacrificing performance.” NXT, for its part, has provided a universal framework for blockchain applications and decentralized trading since launching in 2013.