Projects
![]()
No projects found
Investors
New
DAO Treasuries
DATs
Lend / Borrow APRs
Chains
Categories
Spaces
PACK THE MIC 🎤 EP VI: SPECIAL GUEST - PERA ALGO WALLET
Recorded: April 24, 2025 Duration: 0:30:28Space Recording
Short Summary
In a recent episode of 'Pack the Mic,' the hosts explored the dynamic partnership between Algorand and Hedera, highlighting the launch of innovative projects like Alpha Arcade and the World Chess application. The conversation emphasized the importance of community engagement and user experience in driving growth within the crypto ecosystem.
Full Transcription
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We'll be right back. up everyone thumbs up if you can hear me x is being silly once again i hope you're having an amazing day amazing morning amazing evening wherever you are on the globe today welcome
to another episode of pack the mic this one is a really special episode for me and for us and for
all of us because we have a special guest today that is called para algo wallet who just absolutely
left the room because x is being silly so let's play some more music and let's just wait for them to join in.
But yeah, I couldn't be happier
for them to be joining.
Again, the goal for that is to be
finding and bridging synergies
because the more we dive into this,
the more we discover that,
yes, there are ecosystems,
there are chains, there are everything,
but problem statements are the same.
Goals are the same.
The goal is to reach a maximum of people for you to be having a great experience out there on Web3, if you want to call it that way, but through tech, through your entrepreneur journey.
And that's where Para-Algo Wallet is here.
And of course, the number one also wallet over the Algorand ecosystem.
So this will serve as an introduction.
Of course, I know about Para-Algo Wallet. I got one, of course. It's really, it is smooth. It is really efficient. A whole lot like what we
offer too over a hashback. So yeah, it's just like discovery mode, what we have in common,
what differentiates us also at the same time, and how we how can we have fun together and let's see uh let's see
where this goes pera i'll go what is up how's it going hey what's up thanks for having us uh had a
little difficulties getting in here but finally made it hey i appreciate you taking the time and
it's really been cool because for real and that's that's how it's done and that's that's my candy
out there like really just we just miss each other and look where we are.
And it's really cool just for you to be taking the time.
And really, I think that's a great opportunity also
to be seeing synergies and appreciate you taking the time.
Yeah, of course.
I mean, like, you know, working as a wallet app,
you know, we're checking out the ecosystem constantly.
We're trying to understand what other wallets are doing.
And, you know, there is a synergy between Algorand and Hedera.
We have the DREK Alliance.
So just these communities coming together,
these wallets coming together,
making each other better.
I just think it just goes along with the entire
like Web3 ethos of just trying to make this place
as accessible as possible
and bring in that next generation of people
that are into Web3 and crypto,
no matter where the chain is yeah yeah absolutely cannot wait to dive deep into that is that is that a baby
i'm hearing in the back shout out if you're a family man by the way yeah yeah my door is just
playing in the backyard wow well i respect man i'm a family guy myself my daughter is actually
right on her ipad right now having a snack before gymnastics. So I absolutely salute you.
And I respect the father also, man.
So listen, just for everyone listening, let's just – what's your name?
Do I call you Para?
I'll go all so long I can.
No, call me –
I'm sorry, it cut.
What?
It's your name, I'm sorry.
Joe! All right, cool. Awesome. Awesome.
How did it all begin, man?
Because you guys have been killing it.
For real, the algorithm news I'm seeing on my feed is absolutely astonishing,
especially in the last, I don't know, say six weeks or so.
It's a killer, and we'll go through a couple of them later on.
I mean, damn, it's really, really astonishing how you guys have been killing so how how everything started for you guys so we actually started in 2019 uh we were the original
algorand wallet uh some algorand ogs will probably remember it before we had the rebrand. But I think it was in 2021 or 2022,
the company rebranded to Para. We kind of became more of a user experience based app, which has
kind of guided our journey to today. When we first started as the Algorand wallet, the functionality
was pretty basic. But as Para, we really did a lot more to expand on the user experience.
we really did a lot more to expand on the user experience.
We also added in more elements to help users discover Algorand as a whole.
So it's just been a part of journey. And then I joined back in, uh,
a June, July of last year. So since then we've tried,
we've concentrated more on user acquisition, user growth,
more marketing based initiatives in order to expand our reach and, um,
just kind of be a steward and trying to usher in the next wave of web 3 users to our end
yeah no I mean the key the key for sure like is on board the maximum of user
possible and especially very for features and whatnot and it needs to be
like ease of use and ease of use friendly and for sure like you guys are
absolutely like community first like, you guys are absolutely community first roadmap.
You guys are absolutely killing it on the community ends.
You said you came in two years ago?
No, I came in almost a year now.
So I came in last June, July.
But I actually was from the Algorand ecosystem.
So I was a user of Perra before I joined the team.
So it helps give insight, especially if you're a user of the app,
to understand where the deficiencies are, where the user experience is lacking.
And then also, being from the community myself, a lot of it was,
how can we help grow the ecosystem?
So we've been doing a lot more, some of the advertisements we do,
we advertise the projects building on Algorand,
we help discover tokens tokens new asas
meme coins things like that just to help you know enrich the entire ecosystem and try to
create a high tide to lift all the boats that are there i think that's key i think that's
key we're seeing more and more and again i'm one of the great example also from that because
Because I was and still am a community member.
i was and still am a community member and i think that brings a level of um
And I think that brings a level of, not authenticity, but also brings a level of closeness,
if I can say it that way, in terms of, wow, that's cool.
Because community members really hopping in with their expertise.
And that can be like me, it's on the community side, you can be on the dev side of things.
And it really brings like a level of, wow, that's relatable for everyone to see like,
wow, this is actually, that's almost a use case, right?
Yeah, exactly. I think it's like you kind of feel the pain of the people that are using the app with
them. So you kind of know, you just get a better, there's a lot less A-B testing needed in order to
kind of understand where the sweet spot is because you're just doing that yourself manually. So it
really creates that sort of connectivity. And I think too, there's just a mindset that goes with it, that you're part of the community and you just want
to see the entire community grow with it. And that kind of goes into the entire ethos of Parra as
well, because we are an open source wallet. So we actually had one of our first hard forks of our
code source within the last two days. And another network that's building on the Al Grant virtual
machine had forked the network. So not only are we doing that we're also saving like developers a lot of
time so they don't have to develop a new wallet app for their blockchain if they decide to build on
other AVMs. Yeah that's really cool for entrepreneurs. What's your background? What
Entrepreneurs. What's your background? What did you do before that?
Oh, so my road in crypto is pretty crazy. So I actually started doing fire alarm systems in New
York City. So I would go into buildings, map out the fire alarm system, make sure everything was
working right. It was pretty cool. I got to go on the roofs of things, look over the entire city.
The level of access was pretty awesome with that. But I didn't like it too much. It was a lot of engineering
focused. So then I went into construction management and I was working on bridge
construction in New York city. So, you know, working on highways, working underneath bridges
and stuff like that. So that was pretty cool, but I got tired of it after a while. I like tech.
I like the ability to, you know, with tech, I feel like your imagination is your only limitation.
And with construction, it was cool. The scale of it was really cool.
But you get a set of plans in front of you and you have to build with somebody else designed.
With tech, I kind of miss that freedom. So that's kind of why I shifted over to blockchain.
Plus, I was just really into it in general. I have a passion for the technology.
I think it's going to change the world eventually.
So being part of that growth was a big uh reason for me jumping in as well
yeah absolutely felt that and shout out to changing lanes man i just did it myself also maybe
three four months ago and yeah i've been around like maybe for four years but i gradually like
integrated web3 as we call it like all around like maybe it's been accelerating since i would
say two years or so.
I come from a fruit and beverage background.
I was a chef for maybe 10 years and a cook for 25.
I'm old.
And yeah, we spoke about it through the end,
but I feel like we can connect even better, man, through tech. I feel like it's not a stop like coding and whatever, all the back-end stuff.
It's not a stop.
It's really a better means to be connecting with people
and without being like kumbawa and whatever. It's really about like, hey, how can I bring this
feature closer to you? How can I bring this use case closer to you and this tech for you to
alleviate pain points and really remove frictions for you to even grow better inside the algorithm
ecosystem into the header ecosystem. So yeah, it's really fascinating to see how it's all intertwined.
ecosystem. So yeah, it's really, it is really fascinating to see how it's all into trying.
Yeah, I personally love it. I think the connectivity aspect of it all, I mean,
especially the fact that, you know, no matter where in the world you're in, I could send you
Agra and I could send you Hedera. Like there's no, there's no friction that's between people
anymore that we kind of got used to in this current traditional finance system. So like being able to work with people,
like part of our team, we have members in California, we have members in Turkey,
we have members in Poland, we have members in Spain. So it's crazy, you could just work as a
team all around the world. And you have this blockchain that's able just to connect you. And
even to from the community perspective there's people everywhere and I just
think that's like one of those things that web3 that it really is that for
everybody and being being able to be part of this journey and building
through para I just think it's just amazing
okay yeah it is it truly is for real. And especially, yeah, especially for family men like us. I mean, you know, it's all about like leaving a better, something cliche, a better world like in front of us. And, you know, that's one point that you wanted to touch on also is that crypto, this whole world for us is absolutely, it is borderless. And that's what's so cool about it you know no matter where you are situated on the globe no matter what you do no more worried what you craft or whatever there's no it's full
time there's no it's it's there's no on enough switch it's constantly open and
that's good and especially right now with the trades shenanigans we're having
right now you know it brings them it brings a level of freedom that is really
really empowering I feel feel. Yeah.
I agree.
I know in crypto spheres,
we tend to look at each blockchain as an island,
but I can bridge my Algorand to Hedera.
I can bridge my Hedera to Algorand.
There are decentralized means for doing that.
But in the real world,
the traditional finance,
the stock market closes.
If you want to cash out on the weekend,
you can't.
And there's banking limits, there's fees and everything like that. There's just so much
more freedom with your money when it's decentralized and when it's used on these blockchains.
And I think as the traditional currency systems are more volatile as they have been,
people are going to see the stability that actually comes with crypto. Not really the price,
but the actual, I have the freedom to use my money wherever I want to use it. So
it's interesting seeing how the two are kind of juxtaposing at the moment. And I'm really curious
to see how things play out in the future. But I really think crypto can be more attractive as
things are increasingly volatile. It can. Yeah, 100%. And again, that's empowerment. And yeah,
past the price point fluctuation, it's all about empowerment.
It's all about like, what can you do?
And again, through apps like us,
through wallets like us,
and by the way, if you're not into Para Algo wallet,
I would highly suggest that you create one.
And it's very similar.
If you're having a hashback wallet,
like the process of creating one is absolutely similar.
I will be keeping on giving you flowers
throughout the show, man,
because again, the UI is absolutely slick.
I think the experience, again, for me, is absolutely on point.
I want to stay there.
That's one of the key points I really like about any experience, right?
But especially around the wallet, it's cool because it feels seamless.
You know, it feels like, oh, I would love to.
Oh, and you're already clicking on it, and it fits.
So, yeah, everyone who doesn't have a Paralgo wallet, absolutely go and create one just for the sake of it.
And also to compare it.
Also, it's fun, like positively driven, like features and whatnot, because you guys are absolutely multi-platform.
You're absolutely everywhere.
iOS, Android, web app also.
UX is also really cool.
I think you mentioned ASA earlier on, which is the Algorand standard asset for verification program.
That is really cool, man.
Yeah, I think, like I said,
I have to check out every single wallet that's out there.
And Hashpack, honestly,
was one of the closest feelings to PERR to me.
And I think it also comes with,
if I'm not wrong on Hedera,
you have to sort of get permission to receive a token, correct?
I forgot the actual process of it.
Yeah, absolutely.
You need to associate a token or we have a feature that is called token inbox, which
you need to accept it.
So there's no spam, like quote unquote, that can arrive in your wallet directly.
Yeah, exactly.
So we call it opting in, you guys call it associating, but it's essentially a friction point. I'm sure a lot of people in your community know that onboarding somebody is a little bit of a hassle because not only do you have to get the UX, because now like we launched in December,
a feature called asset inbox is essentially the same function, but it's such a great feature
now because I can say, Hey mom, create a wallet, just give me the address.
And then I can send the asset and then they could claim it, which I think is just so much
easier for onboarding the next generation.
And you know, other EVM chains don't really face this problem, but they also face
the spam issues. So I really think that what Per is doing and what Hashpack is doing is the best
of both worlds where you could have that flexibility. But at the end of the day,
you don't have to have your wallet full of spam assets junk. So it's a really great advancement.
Yeah, that's absolutely key. And yeah, the best example, again, is grandma. How do you... And
that's true, man. That's one of the key examples. And I was saying that in the spaces early on,
where when you talk about what you do, for sure, on the day-to-day, and say, we just had Easter,
for sure, you had family gatherings and whatnot. And when you talk about what you do, it needs to
be accessible. But that can serve also as a circle, as to a smaller sphere, as to how you
want to approach the bigger market.
Because in terms of when you're telling your uncle, your aunt, your grandma or whatever, your cousins, hey, what do you do for a living?
You know, often I find that the verbiage also will make a huge difference in terms of how can what you're doing can be accessible.
But that's a scope in terms of how can you be accessible also for your grandma too.
Okay, cool.
Your family.
But also into a bigger sphere into how can you onboard even more users by removing friction points removing
obstacles but also comes with the verbiage with the language yeah exactly and i think that was
that's like an issue like i think with a lot of these sophisticated blockchains is they have so
many features and so many things to do but it's very hard to market like all those features and upgrades into like a very easily digestible format. So that's like what,
as the wallet, we kind of view that as our responsibility where we are making it to where,
you know, it's very easy for people to understand to the point where they don't really have to
understand anything. It's just kind of automatic. And like a lot of our focus, like moving forward
too, is not really
following crypto wallets, but following more traditional finance apps like Robinhood, things
like that, because we feel like that's the experience that a lot of people are used to.
And most people using crypto products right now are in DeFi, they're swapping tokens,
buying and selling, things like that. So it fits more of the traditional finance apps. So that's
kind of where we're looking to go to as a product as well,
to really help bridge that gap between like the web two and the web three
expectations and make things feel like they're a bit more seamless and they
don't have to know everything about blockchain to really get started.
1000% agree.
Yes.
I mean, and down the road, you know, again, I'm going to be annoying with that
until whatever, where you got to be removing pain points and offering solutions for people to be crafting and removing problem statements like for them that's absolutely actionable.
And I want to give you a quick shout out, by the way, for the Explorer that you guys have.
And I want to make it a statement as to how not stopping yourself into silos, into going cross-chain, cross-ecosystem really is beneficial.
Because everyone in attendance for sure has played before with ETH, with XRP, with Sol, with whatever.
But down the road, it's humans building the things that you like and giving you the tools that you need to craft your own experience out there inside an ecosystem that truly genuinely matters.
And that's why we have such a great show so far with Terra Algo.
Because again, look at the Explorer that they have.
Look at what we got too.
It's really potent because you want to also onboard as many people as possible.
Explorer is really cool, by the way.
It's like an aggregator of everything that's going on into the ecosystem.
So there's NFTs. There's, I think it's TPS, that's on there too.
Yeah, it's really good. Yeah, no, it's like a big question we get from a lot is like,
are you guys going to go cross-chain? And like, you know, that's a question you never get.
But right now we have so much left to do on Algorand. And it's very important for us to get Algorand right, get the wallet right, and get to a
point that we're very happy with what we're offering for Algorand users and for new people
coming into Algorand that we can't even begin to think about the next chain yet.
Because I think if we were to start jumping prematurely to other chains and things like
that, it's going to lead to us, our attention being fragmented, and then the user
answering at the end of the day.
So it's really important for us to, you know, get Explore.
Explore is such a powerful tool for us because it allows us to give more context
behind a lot of their transactions.
But in addition to that, like the homepage of it was really important for us to make
it live.
So you'll see like all the current algorithm stats, you'll see all the trending assets. So it helps highlight projects in the community.
And then in addition to that, we have the current like NFT trends. So whatever NFTs are selling at
the time, those will be displayed as well. So we really tried to make it good for our beginning
user to go on Power Explorer, go on the homepage and be able to dive into the Algorand ecosystem
fairly simply and fairly easily. There's still work to do, the homepage and be able to dive into the Algorand ecosystem fairly simply and fairly easily.
There's still work to do.
We wanna be able to make the transactions
a little bit more readable, make it a little bit easier
for people that have no idea how to read blockchain
to make them read blockchain.
But we're very happy to like the work
that the team's been doing over the last year
to get it to where the place it is today.
Absolutely killing it.
Absolutely killing it, man. And just like wallet connect apps integration are
absolutely over 9 000 um the list on there is absolutely crazy and i think is that a post yeah
is that a post today i think was it the algoran foundation i think that they made around that's
yeah that's so cool because that's an actual use case well they're saying like all along go on all
on chain which is good because yeah i don't know if you saw but yeah it's it's it's so cool because that's an actual use case where they're saying like all on all on chain, which is good because, yeah, I don't know if you saw, but yeah, it's really
cool.
It's like a universal chess passport that they put out.
Yeah, that's so cool, man.
I mean, that's so potent.
Yeah, so this is like, it's kind of, we view, so the World Chess application, they've been
a longtime partner with Algorand.
They're actually one of the most transactions per dApp,
because every single game that's done through the World Chess website
is actually posted on the blockchain.
There's a lot of fraud in chess,
and this helps certify the results a little bit better.
But we're looking to take it a step further
and not only have this chess certified, but actually the people too.
So by expanding our partnership with World Chess,
it allows us to give digital identities to all people playing chess. but actually the people too. So by expanding our partnership with World Chess,
it allows us to give digital identities
to all people playing chess.
So that way when they're going to,
they're going to all these chess tournaments
around the world,
they could use their decentralized identity
as a virtual passport to all these events.
And nobody has to worry about all the fraud
that's happening right now in chess.
Now I'm not a big chess person.
I had no idea all this stuff was going on,
but like hearing- Yeah, same, but in this case case is so cool. Yeah, it's really cool. And I think these
are the types of like use cases that I think will really start to change the stigma that's around
crypto in general. And as long as we, as wallets continue to make that user experience, when a
person comes on for the first time, they'll be like, oh, wow, this isn't that bad. And that's
really the user experience that we're really trying to shoot for as because we know the everything's going to advance in time
so we just got to be ready for that crowd when it's coming yeah what 1000 i mean that's that's
an actual use case that's working you know from the day to day you just take your app and then
yeah i think you have club membership you have your winnings your recorded results that's real
world value at the same time and that's's like, quote unquote, like online identity that you have, because now you have all your records and all your winnings
authenticate also that you're not a cheater, whatever. So that's cool. That's real world
stuff. That's, that's, that's so nice. Yeah. And it's like, you know, any, the best part about it
is like, you don't have to pay a fee for a passport anymore. It's like anybody can sign up
for this stuff. And like, this is, this is the new wave of the way the world should work. And this is the world that we're trying to usher in. I know Hedera is
doing a lot of stuff around decentralized identity too. So it's great that like these two chains are
crumbling together because I feel like our end goals are really along the same spot. And we're
really trying to help the world move on to this next generation of being off the traditional
finance rails and using blockchain more for these purposes.. 1000% and again another reason why I'm really happy to have you on the show man really appreciate
the time again. Is there any main account for everyone in attendance mostly this is
a Derek Katz on there there oh there's a couple Algorand people on there too for anyone in the
area is there any main accounts that you follow, projects, companies, use cases that you've
seen around Algorand that you say, yo, guys, you got to check this out because first it's
lapsed and after that you got to watch because maybe that's a trend, maybe that's a narrative
you're seeing around?
Yeah.
So starters, definitely follow us, definitely follow the Algorand Foundation account.
One of the hottest dApps right now, we just launched a new prediction market.
It's called Alpha Arcade.
It's a really good user experience in general.
And it's probably the most, I would say, the best app right now that we can do.
We also have NF domains where if you want a .algo domain, you can buy one.
I think you guys have a naming service on Hedera too, right?
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah. So it's probably very similar to that. And then also folks finance,
they have really good rates for lending, borrowing.
TinyMan's great for swapping.
Vestige is really good for, you know,
just checking charts, checking graphs, things like that.
But we have in our app the discover section.
It's really easy.
There's a dApps tab.
We show the popular dApps, which are the most used ones.
There's categories that allow you to basically discover
the Algorand ecosystem fairly easy.
And that would probably be the best place
if you're new to Algorand to get started.
Oh yeah, awesome.
Feel free to tag along.
You can stab some over the,
you can pin some posts over if you want for people to be seeing.
Yeah, a little bit of curveball.
We are really positioning ourselves over there.
It's really been good, especially with Hasgraph Online through AI.
I don't know if you've seen around there having this hackathon,
and it's really nice.
They're having those round tables where you have like a 30-second pitch,
and you just go on there, and you just have a blast.
Have you dabbled into AI lately or played with it?
So us, we're partnering with some AI firms, but it's a little too far in the alpha category,
so I can't go into too much detail on that. But we are dabbling in it. It's just tough
as a wallet itself because we're reading the blockchain for the most part, but we're trying to do it where we can because it is the next generation of everything.
So you have to have it somewhere.
But no, I think it's great overall seeing these blockchains.
They recently launched Algorand Agent.
I forgot the actual term for it.
I don't know AI too much.
I'm not an expert on it, but we just launched something that connects to ChatGPT. I forgot the actual term for it. I don't know AI too much. I'm not an expert on it,
but we just launched something that connects to chat GPT. I know that much.
Awesome. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's cool. They want to put you on the spot to disclose
any information or whatever. Yeah, just curious. Yeah. But I mean, otherwise, though,
there's a lot of Algorand listeners in the crowd, too. Do you want to just kind of give a rough
overview of Hedera for them?
And if they want to try out Hashback Wallet?
Yes, absolutely.
Of course.
Listen, it's pretty much the same thing in terms of infrastructure.
You just go over a hashback.app.
You download the thing.
We're available over iOS, Android, web app also.
Discover a full array of all of our partners.
We got CentX, which is a marketplace.
We got SalsaSwap, which is DeFi. Bunanzo also, which is DeFi. We got Origin Partners also who are coming
in with NFTs. Really good initiative also to be learning about the other space. And if not,
follow everyone in attendance right now, because those are the best ambassadors that you can have,
because they're all making the ecosystem resonate as hard as possible.
And I'm seeing Peculare Peeps in attendance.
I'm seeing Kim Chi.
Of course, Pluto, that's my colleague.
There's also Hashman.
There's Higher Grounds.
There's Slot.
There's X-Wrapper, Silent Architect in there.
Payto, Thurkenized Mindiness, always giving us love in there.
Just follow those people,
because they are the best ambassador as to what's happening inside the ecosystem
and we're
supporting as hard as we can.
Yeah.
Yeah, even too, I see some people in the crowd
like Dei, he's our animator
Clouds. We're
open source. He's done a few open
source contributions to make our app better.
Michael's in there. He's one of our developers.
So it's really cool seeing everybody turn out.
I really appreciate you all coming here,
listening to us talk about it.
And being open to the fact that two blockchain communities
can have good conversations with each other.
That's absolutely key.
And I couldn't be happier about this show, man.
I appreciate you again for taking the time.
That was really productive.
Content was absolutely crazy. And I'm sure everyone enjoyed. And yeah, let's do that again anytime.
Ping me anytime, DM, whatever. I'm always going to be there and really a pleasure getting to you,
Mormon. Yeah, awesome. It was a pleasure being here. Thank you so much for inviting us and I
hope everybody has a good rest of your day and a good weekend. Oh yeah. Appreciate everyone in attendance. Thank you all for joining another episode of
Pack the Mic. This was episode six, special guest with Para-Algo Wallet from the Algorand
ecosystem. Absolutely go out and create yourself a Para-Algo Wallet now, not tomorrow. Absolutely
now. And you will see that change. Does not matter. It's all about the humans behind,
just like what we're crafting, just what you guys are change. It does not matter. It's all about the humans behind. Just like what we're crafting.
Just what you guys are crafting.
Keep on killing us.
Keep on killing it.
Have a great rest of the week.
Rest of the day.
Rest of the morning.
And have a blast.
Thanks again, Joe.
Bye.
Bye.
