Inside a Startup Using Algorand Blockchain; CoinMarketCap’s Fat Finger; Musk Moves Dogecoin

Rand Labs Co-Founders Pablo Yabo and Michel Dahdah. Photo by Rand Labs. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana are familiar names in blockchain, but developers are turning to other options as well. Here’s an inside look at C3, a decentralized finance protocol built on the Algorand blockchain.

Founders: Pablo Yabo and Michel Dahdah

Money Raised: $3.6 million at a $20 million valuation

Investors: Arrington XRP Capital, Jump Capital, ParaFi Capital, Borderless Capital and Digital Currency Group, among others

C3 founders Pablo Yabo and Michel Dahdah met at a bitcoin conference in Colombia, but later grew fascinated with the Algorand blockchain after meeting its founder, MIT Professor Silvio Micali, in 2018. They were struck by Algorand’s speed: the blockchain can currently handle 1,200 transactions per second, compared to the Ethereum blockchain’s 15. The two founders also felt that Algorand was more decentralized than competing blockchains like Solana.