Algorand Cracks Down on ARCs That Lack Proven Adoption

Algorand overhauls its ARC process, requiring proven adoption before finalization and welcoming key hires to strengthen its protocol team.

The Algorand Foundation is overhauling its ARC process. 

Cusma, the newly appointed ARC maintainer, announced the changes on X. The update targets fragmentation, premature finalization, and weak adoption tracking. 

It signals a more disciplined approach to the approval and maintenance of ecosystem standards.

Algorand ARC Process Gets Stricter Adoption Rules

The biggest change is a mandatory Pre-ARC discussion phase. 

Before any proposal becomes a formal draft, contributors must outline its purpose, scope, and overlap with existing ARCs. This step aims to filter out low-value proposals early.

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Cusma also addressed a long-standing problem: ARCs reaching “Final” status without real adoption. Going forward, each ARC will carry a machine-readable adoption companion. 

This tracker must show ecosystem activity before an ARC can move from “Last Call” to “Final.”

Every ARC will now require a sponsor, either the Algorand Foundation or the broader Algorand Ecosystem. This change adds accountability to the process. 

Reference implementations will live in the matching GitHub organization and must stay actively maintained.

To support authors, the Foundation is introducing the ARC Kit CLI. 

This tool enforces formatting rules and manages state transitions locally and in CI pipelines. Cusma noted it will make the process more consistent for everyone involved.

Algorand Foundation Welcomes Key Protocol Engineering Hires

On a separate but related note, Algorand Technologies recently transferred five team members to the Algorand Foundation. The move strengthens the Foundation’s technical side.

Chris Peikert, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan, joined as Chief Scientific Officer. He led Algorand’s post-quantum security work and will continue in that role. John Jannotti joined as SVP of Protocol Engineering to lead that team directly.

Pavel Zbitskiy and one other engineer joined as Principal Protocol Engineers under Jannotti. 

John Lee also joined the team as Director of Protocol Infrastructure. Together, these additions reinforce Algorand’s commitment to long-term protocol development.

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