Verifiably Random

Marc welcomes our new CEO, William Herkelrath. William shares his background, how he got into the blockchain space, and what he’s most excited about for Algorand going forward. Marc and William discuss Algorand’s post-quantum edge and Marc runs through rapid-fire questions at the end. Fred closes the episode with an ecosystem recap. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change. 

Algorand Foundation CSMO Marc Vanlerberghe and CTO Bruno Martins introduce AC2, the Agentic Communication and Control protocol built by Algorand. Marc and Bruno discuss agentic commerce and the trust challenges surrounding AI agents that led to the development of AC2. Bruno shares why the protocol was designed to give users more control over the actions agents take on their behalf. Bruno also shares a demo of AC2 in action, showing how users can communicate directly with an agent and approve actions without handing over control of their keys or credentials. At the end of the episode, Fred Estante, Head of DeFi, shares the latest from across the Algorand ecosystem, including updates on DeFi, x402 adoption, and upcoming changes to governance.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change.  The use of agentic commerce involves risks, including potential fraud and identity verification issues. Users and merchants should ensure they are using verified agents and follow best practices for security and compliance.

Kicking off Season 4 of Verifiably Random, CSMO Marc Vanlerberghe sits down with Algorand CTO Bruno Martins and SVP of Protocol Engineering JJ to unpack the consensus upgrade, Algorand v5.0.0. Bruno shares an overview of native post-quantum accounts and an update on Algorand’s roadmap toward quantum resilience, plus why crypto-agility matters as new signature schemes emerge. JJ also explains the new resource-based pricing model and the update to the AVM that opens the door to bigger, more complex applications. Fred Estante, Head of DeFi, wraps the episode with an ecosystem update on what's new across Algorand.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change. 

AI is changing blockchain development by the day. Marc sits down with Brian Whippo, Algorand’s Senior Director of Integrations & Developer Tooling, to discuss how AI is being used in developer tooling. Marc and Brian explore how tools have progressed from generating simple front ends to building full smart contracts, and highlight innovations within the Algorand ecosystem, such as VibeKit, that make development easier. The conversation covers the opportunities and risks of AI-generated code, the shift in the developer role toward system architecture, and the potential of autonomous agents in DeFi. This is the final episode of S3, see you next season!Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change.

Live from South by Southwest in Austin, Matt and Marc discuss their sessions on humanitarian aid and agentic commerce. In the second segment, Matt is joined by Emily Dery from USA for UNHCR and Sandra Hart from Mercy Corps Ventures. Matt, Emily, and Sanda continue the conversation from their SXSW panel to discuss how transparent, low-cost payment systems on blockchain can expand financial access and improve aid delivery. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change. 

This episode kicks off the impact series on Verifiably Random, with Matt Keller joining as a host to focus on humanitarian use cases across the Algorand ecosystem. For Matt’s first episode, Nigel Pont, Strategic Advisor for Humanitarian Affairs, discusses his career in humanitarian work, why Algorand is the best choice for humanitarian aid, and how partners like HesabPay are using blockchain-based payments to improve aid delivery in places like Afghanistan and Syria.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change. 

In this technical deep dive, Marc sits down with Tasos Bitsios, Algorand Foundation’s Head of Core Engineering, to unpack how Algoland, Algorand’s largest user campaign to date, was built almost entirely on-chain. Marc and Tasos explore smart contracts, VRF-powered prize draws, SDK abstractions, scaling challenges, and lessons learned from running a 13-week campaign with nearly 80,000 participants.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change.

Algorand Foundation Chief Business Officer Min Wei sits down with Ben Milne, founder and CEO of Brale. Brale provides an end-to-end platform for organizations to design, issue, and manage their own compliant, asset-backed stablecoins across multiple blockchains, now including enterprise-grade, quantum‑resistant infrastructure on Algorand. Brale helps enterprises turn stablecoins into a practical tool for financial empowerment by lowering payment costs, improving settlement speed, and expanding digital asset offerings without the need for deep in‑house crypto engineering.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change.

Live from Algorand’s India Summit in Bengaluru, Marc sits down with Shuja Hussain, Co-Founder and COO of Carret, to discuss the company's journey and its role as a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider in the Indian market. Carret, a winner of the Algo Bharat competition, provides easy on-ramping and off-ramping of Indian Rupee (INR) to ALGO, and ALGO to INR, acting as a bridge for Indian customers who want to use a self-custodial wallet.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. Any discussion of products, companies, or integrations is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or a commitment by Algorand Foundation or its affiliates. This episode does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any discussion of financial products, tokens, or assets is for informational purposes only. All third-party brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Mention of them does not imply affiliation or endorsement by the Algorand Foundation. Any statements about future plans or integrations are forward-looking and subject to change.