Both NXT and Algorand Claim to Have Developed First Proof-of-Stake Chain

Cryptocurrency Algorand (ALGO) claims in its promotional materials to be the first proof-of-stake, or PoS, blockchain, but NXT lead developer Lior Yaffe claimed that his project was first.

In a June 3 tweet, Yaffe accused Algorand’s of misleading the cryptocurrency community for marketing purposes, by falsely claiming to be the first PoS blockchain. He wrote:

“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.”

Yaffe: not a mistake in good faith

As Yaffe pointed out in a subsequent tweet, Algorand uses the claim on its official website and in much of its promotional material. He also told Cointelegraph that he believes the information is a lie with malicious intent:

“I wish I could believe it was a mistake in good faith, but honestly It’s hard to see how this could have been one. I am not sure if this is a mentality of disrespect for any prior work, or an unsuccessful PR stunt. I do know that I’ve seen this before with other teams in the blockchain industry.”

While he criticized the aforementioned project’s claim, Yaffe admitted that he believes “Algorand is by itself a decent project” with solid technical foundations. He also praised the project’s founder Silvio Micali, saying that it is nice to see a famous cryptographer such as him joining the blockchain industry.

Algorand did not answer Cointelegraph's inquiry by press time.