Creating sustainable NFTs using Algorand

The reason we run Kollektor.io on the Algorand blockchain is that we found it to be the best-in-class when it comes to scalability and low energy consumption.  

If you do the numbers, NFT creation with Algorand uses only roughly 0.0000004 kg of CO2 per NFT, compared to around 163 kg on competing blockchains. That means it is around 400 million times more efficient. 

“Algorand developed a public blockchain that runs on a version of proof-of-stake, which drives electricity consumption to almost zero. […] on a fundamental level,” Silvio Micali said, “I care about the planet.” - CNBC: Bitcoin and blockchain consume an exorbitant amount of energy. These engineers are trying to change that.

Algorand is a public blockchain that adds a uniquely scalable consensus algorithm to a proof-of-stake network. 

Our usage of Algorand is based on four principles: performance, direct usage and adoption, instant verifiability, and simplicity. Let’s dive deeper into some of the reasons.  

1. PERFORMANCE.  Our primary focus early on is ensuring the utmost performance of the Algorand blockchain. However, it is also vital to retain the decentralization of the Algorand blockchain. Whenever operational requirements become too heavy, they commonly fall into fewer and fewer hands. In this way, centralization has a devious way of creeping in, and one of the main avenues for this type of creep is performance.  

2. DIRECT USAGE AND ADOPTION.  It is not enough to simply develop new tools. The development of general-purpose capabilities is like boiling the ocean in an effort to catch a specific fish. Instead, there must be a rigorous focus on the specific purpose and utility of the tool being developed as driven by the precise needs of the community. Our efforts focus on building those fundamental layer-1 and layer-2 capabilities that will drive accelerated, broad-based adoption of our platform. 

3. INSTANT VERIFIABILITY.  Blockchain promised transparency by making information available across the entire chain. However, when data on the chain grows exponentially, transparency erodes, leaving critical data hiding in plain sight, lost among the volume of information available across the chain. Sidechains in particular are often implemented by dumping corresponding transactions in general blocks. This obliges the users to scavenge the entire blockchain to reconstruct information relative to the sidechain in question, much like finding a needle in a haystack. Such careful combing of the blockchain may take months, and the time required to verify an assertion greatly diminishes the potential value the blockchain overall. 

4. SIMPLICITY.  Underlying all our technical innovation is the fundamental principle of simplicity.  Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, and is the gateway to broad participation, reliability, and trust. An effective solution needs to be as simple as possible.