This week, the Algorand Foundation announced its return to the United States and the appointment of a newly constituted board. Originating from pioneering research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Algorand Foundation will re-establish its U.S. headquarters in Delaware.
As part of this transition, the foundation introduced its newly appointed board. Its immediate mandate is overseeing the U.S. operations and guiding new initiatives in global payments, asset tokenization, and other pillars of financial empowerment. The board includes Bill Barhydt, founder and CEO of Abra (chair); Alex Holmes, executive vice chairman of United Texas Bank Dallas, and former CEO of MoneyGram; Michael Mosier, co-founder of Arktouros PLLC and former acting director at U.S. Treasury FinCEN; Rebecca Rettig, CLO of Jito Labs; and Staci Warden, CEO of the Algorand Foundation.
“I’m honored and excited to join the Algorand Foundation’s board of directors,” said Barhydt. “As the world of finance moves 100% on-chain, institutions, developers and users will demand blockchain and smart contract platforms that are secure, fast, scalable and easily programmable. Algorand checks all these boxes with deep experience building the cutting-edge infrastructure necessary for this shift. I look forward to contributing to its success as we explore ways to advance on-chain markets and products.”
This renewed commitment to the U.S. comes at a time when Algorand’s technology is already being used to solve practical financial challenges around the world. Lofty is broadening access to real estate investments, HesabPay is improving the efficiency and cost of cross-border payments, Folks Finance is bringing collateralized debt products on-chain, and Conio is enabling the tokenization of real-world assets.
“Algorand has always stood for empowering people with blockchain technology,” said Warden. “Now we’re doubling down where blockchain can make the most significant difference: instant global payments, expanded access to financial products, and improved economic resilience. By re-establishing our presence in the U.S., Algorand is helping ensure U.S. leadership for the next generation of financial infrastructure.”
As part of this next chapter, the Algorand Foundation also reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening ecosystem representation and engagement. It will soon announce an Ecosystem Advisory Council in order to create a meaningful channel for the ecosystem to inform its strategic direction. Chaired by Paweł (Urtho) Pierścionek, founder of Nodely, the Advisory Council will comprise community members, key ecosystem projects, and large protocol stakers. Pierścionek will also act as technical advisor to the board.