The native cryptocurrency of the Algorand blockchain is ALGO.
ALGO is the network’s built-in digital asset, used to pay transaction fees and interact with applications on Algorand. It also plays a role in Algorand’s proof-of-stake consensus system, where stake helps determine participation in committees that propose and certify blocks.
Algorand was founded in 2017 by MIT computer scientist Silvio Micali. Its public test network launched in April 2019, followed by the main network in June 2019. The blockchain was designed for fast finality and scalable transactions while using cryptographic sortition to select consensus participants.
A common mix-up is confusing ALGO with the name of the blockchain itself: Algorand is the network, while ALGO is its ticker and native currency. DOT, SOL, and AVAX are native assets of Polkadot, Solana, and Avalanche, respectively.