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Nano is one of the fastest networks out there, with transactions completed in less than a second. However, what makes Nano different from the others is the fact that the transactions are completely free. This represents a substantial difference in the cryptocurrency landscape, offering a significant cost advantage for users.
Nano is a cryptocurrency that focuses on facilitating secure and virtually instant payments. It was launched as RaiBlocks (XRB) in 2014 and later changed its name to Nano as of January 2018. Nano's blockchain uses a unique block lattice data structure, where each node manages its own network.
This system differs from traditional blockchains where nodes compete with each other to add blocks to a common chain. Nano uses a block lattice data structure, where each account has its own blockchain for storing transactions.
It is the first cryptocurrency to use a directed acyclic graph data structure, having a block consisting of only one transaction and the current account balance.
How Nano completed its transactions in less than a second
Consensus is reached through an algorithm similar to proof of stake.
In this system, voting weight is distributed to accounts based on the amount of Nanos they hold. The accounts then freely delegate this weight to a peer of their choosing. If two contradicting transactions are broadcast to the network, indicating a double-spend attempt, the nodes will vote for both transactions.
Subsequently, they broadcast their vote to the other nodes for strictly informational purposes. The first transaction that reaches 67% of the total vote weight is confirmed, while the other transaction is discarded. RaiBlocks was distributed for free through a captcha-secured faucet.
In 2017, after 126,248,289 RaiBlocks were distributed, the faucet shut down. This fixed the total supply to 133,248,297 RaiBlocks, after an addition of a 7,000,000 RaiBlocks developer fund. RaiBlocks was later rebranded to Nano.
Nano was launched in October 2015 by Colin LeMahieu to address the Bitcoin scalability problem and was created with the intention to reduce confirmation times and fees. The currency implements no-fee transactions and achieves confirmation in under one second.