Nano is an eco-friendly cryptocurrency that offers fee-less and instantaneous transactions. It is a new currency to be digital and allows simple peer-to-peer transfers of value in use-cases such as remittance, microtransactions and Forex.
Launched in October 2015, Nano's initial distribution was done through a distinct CAPTCHA faucet system in an attempt to distribute Nano “as fairly and organically as possible”. The faucet required users to complete CAPTCHA tests to earn Nano. Hence, instead of requiring computing resources (e.g., Bitcoin) to mine coins, the faucet allowed anyone with a computer to participate by contributing time and attention (vs. expensive computing resources). This allowed for an organic distribution, especially among emerging economies.
Nano is built on a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) network structure: Block Lattice. In the Block Lattice, each account has its “own blockchain” to keep track of transactions.
Nano removes inefficiencies over other technologies such as proof of work, mining, or fee-based incentives. Nodes in the network come to agreement using a voting based consensus algorithm. This means there is no massive energy waste as with mining.
Nano holders can freely delegate voting weight to elect network validators. In contrast to most other cryptocurrencies, validators do not earn block rewards, nor transaction fees. Instead, they contribute voluntarily and enjoy the natural incentives and cost-saving benefits provided by a secure and fee-less network.
Nano has decided to change its ticker from NANO to XNO on November 16th 2021 in order to follow the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standards as a 'supranational' currency with no official country code.