Algorand Upgrades with Post-Quantum Accounts and Resource-Based Fees

The Algorand network has released its largest protocol upgrade since staking rewards arrived in January 2025, dubbed version 5.0.0.

This update introduces native Falcon-1024 accounts, which provide post-quantum security directly in the protocol, as well as resource-based fees that charge users according to the resources their transactions consume.

The new fees model is designed to price larger Falcon signatures according to the block space they occupy, and move the funds into a shared pool that rewards node operators. This should help link higher network usage directly to the infrastructure maintaining the chain.

In addition to these features, Algorand has doubled the smart-contract size limit, allowing applications to become more complex without developers needing to rebuild them solely to work around the prior ceiling.