Why does holding a coin lock 0.1 ALGO?

On Algorand, a wallet has to opt in to a coin, which means starting to hold it, before it can receive any. Each coin it holds raises the wallet's minimum balance by 0.1 ALGO. That is the network's rule, not a PortMula fee: the ALGO stays in your agent's wallet, locked, and is released when the holding closes.

Where you see it

On the Wallet page, the ALGO tile under Total value shows how much ALGO is locked as the reserve. That figure also includes a small minimum the network keeps for the account itself. Under Holdings, Why some is unavailable says the same in a sentence. ALGO itself needs no opt-in.

What PortMula covers

When you activate the wallet, PortMula sends it ALGO for the account's own minimum and for holding USDC, once per wallet, with some room to spare. Every other coin uses the wallet's own ALGO. If there is not enough to lock 0.1 ALGO and pay the fee, starting to hold a coin is refused before anything is built or charged.

Starting to hold a coin

• In Terminal, say start holding or opt in to, followed by the coin's exact asset id, or its name if it is on the verified list. A card shows the coin, whether it is on the verified list, whether anyone can freeze it or claw it back, and the 0.1 ALGO it locks. Nothing is signed until you approve it.
• An automation can be given Start holding or Stop holding, with the coin pinned by its id.
• Some actions open a holding on the way: buying a coin the wallet does not hold, depositing into a pool (for the pool's token), and claiming a coin from the inbox.

Starting and stopping a holding are services your agent buys. The Services page shows their price and whether they are available today.

Stopping, and getting the ALGO back

The 0.1 ALGO comes back only when the holding closes, and a holding can close only when the wallet has none of that coin left. In Terminal, say stop holding or opt out of and the coin. If any of it is still in the wallet, that is refused before anything is built: send or sell it first.

Or use Withdraw with send all of it and stop holding this coin, which sends the last of it and closes the holding in one step. Either way, the released ALGO stays in your agent's wallet, where you can withdraw it like any other ALGO.