Algorand slams Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana in new ad, community reacts

Layer-1
blockchain
network
Algorand
has
critiqued
Bitcoin,
Ethereum,
and
Solana
in
its
latest
ad,
indicating
the
three
are
inefficient
for
day-to-day
use.

The
Algorand
Foundation
dropped
a

new
ad
on
May
23,
calling
it
“when
blockchains
meet
the
real
world,
only
one
delivers.”
In
the
ad,
three
shoppers
are
featured
checking
out
at
a
supermarket.
Each
shopper
was
trying
to
pay
with
one
of
the
aforementioned
cryptocurrencies.

Speaking
to
the
customer
trying
to
pay
with
Bitcoin,
the
cashier
remarks
that
he
would
have
to
wait
27
minutes
for
the
transaction
to
be
executed.
A
direct
reference
to
Bitcoin’s
often
long
waiting
times
for
transaction
finality.

The
customer
paying
in
Ethereum
was
charged
$112
dollars,
with
the
cashier
telling
him
that
it
was
peak
hours
for
the
network,
resulting
in
high
gas
fees.

Meanwhile,
the
Solana
guy,
played
by
Algorand
CTO
John
Woods,
sees
his
transactions
failing
time,
referring
to
the
network’s
past
challenges
with
outages.

The
ad
concluded
with
the
appearance
of
entrepreneur
Anthony
Scaramucci,
who
is
one
of
the

backers
of
Algorand,
asking
how
he
could
join
the
Algorand
line.
Shoppers
were
shown
as
reaching
instant
finality
at
significantly
lower
fees.

With
the
ad
garnering
over
740,000
views
at
the
time
of
publication,
the
reactions
from
the
community
were
mixed.
While
many
users
appreciated
the
ad,
some
commended
the
move.

One
user

called
out
Algorand
for
funding
a
costly
ad
but
not
funding
its
AlgoExplorer,
which
shut
down
in
January
2024.
Interestingly,
the
reason
behind
the
move,
as
stated
by
the
foundation,
was
a
“lack
of
funding.”

“Algorand
runs
21
TPS,
can’t
fund
its
main
explorer
but
drops
$100k+
on
an
ad,”
another
user

wrote,
echoing
similar
sentiments.

Crypto
commentator
MartyParty
also
criticized
the
advert,
claiming
that
what
was
shown
regarding
Algo
rand’s
efficiency
was
not
true.

Meanwhile,
crypto
analyst
fiskantes.lens

commented
that
negative
ad
campaigns
about
competitors
at
this
early
stage
in
the
adoption
cycle
were
a
“very
low
move.” 

He
further
added
that
any
“high
TPS
ghostchain”
could
make
the
same
claims
as
Algorand,
but
the
real
test
comes
when
it
faces
substantial
use.

Scaramucci
was
also
called
out
on
X
after
some
users
pointed
out
his
hypocrisy
in
a
May
24
post
about
anticipating
a
Solana
ETF,
just
hours
before
the
ad
dropped.

At
the
time
of
publication,

Algorand’s
native
token
ALGO
was
down

3.1%
over
the
past
24
hours,
down
95%
from
its
all-time
high
of
$3.56
reached
in
Jun
2019.