What is Nano cryptocurrency?

Nano cryptocurrency is a delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) distributed network that was initially launched on September 20, 2015, under the name “Raiblocks (XRB);”  Raiblocks was rebranded as Nano on January 31st, 2018.

Nano hopes to be a cryptocurrency that is suitable for everyday use, and to achieve this, the Nano network offers its users fee-less, instantaneous transactions and infinite scalability.

NANO is the cryptocurrency token native to the Nano network; unlike most cryptocurrencies, Nano cannot be mined. The maximum supply is 133,248,290 NANO, and all 113,248,290 are already in circulation. Nano users need to buy and sell the cryptocurrency on exchanges as well as OTC, and other secondary markets.

Consensus:

The Nano network uses a delegated proof-of-stake consensus algorithm, which means that if there is ever a conflict over a transaction in the network, a balanced-weight vote regarding the conflicting transaction takes place. Nodes vote on the validity of the conflicting transaction and move forward after they have reached consensus through the ballot.

Block Lattice

The team at Nano believes that scaling and latency are two of the biggest problems facing major blockchain networks today–factors that hinder blockchains from mass adoption. In most blockchain networks when there is high transaction volume, the network becomes congested with unverified transactions, and this typically results in long transaction times and increased transaction fees.

That is why Nano has created a unique blockchain architecture that allows for instant transactions and unlimited scalability: block-lattice architecture. Within a block-lattice architecture, each account has its own blockchain — in other words, each blockchain address keeps its own ledger of transaction history rather than the history of the entire network. The Nano network only stores account balances as opposed to storing the entire transaction history (which includes details from all the other addresses on the network).

Every transaction on the Nano network is recorded as two transactions; a deduction in the amount of the transaction from the sender’s account, and an addition in the amount of the transaction to the receiver’s account. Each transaction uses the previous block on the sender’s blockchain as a reference to confirm whether the transaction is valid, in other words, as a reference to see if the sender has enough funds in their account to fulfill the transaction. If the transaction is valid, the receiver’s blockchain or “account-chain” is updated to reflect the new balances between the two accounts in the channel.

Nano in a Nutshell

The team at Nano believes that the long transaction times, high transaction fees, and low scalability of most blockchain networks calls the practicality of their use as “everyday currencies” into question. Therefore, the Nano team sought to create a system that solved these inefficiencies, and a cryptocurrency that could be used from day to day. To accomplish this, the team at Nano created the Nano network — a delegated proof-of-stake blockchain that might be of interest to those who need fee-less, instantaneous transactions, and high system throughput.

Nano cryptocurrency’s unique block-lattice architecture gives individuals the ability to transact peer-to-peer on a blockchain, without the limitations that come with low scalability networks such as bottleneck and increased transaction fees when transaction volume is high.