With all types of cryptocurrency, transactions take mere milliseconds. To humans, that is almost instantaneous. However, the reality is that some cryptocurrency transactions can be quite slow. Why does that matter? Actually, it affects a wide range of factors, from total earnings to security to the cost involved with each transaction. Transaction speed improvement was one of the most important underlying reasons for the adoption of SegWit technology. However, some cryptocurrencies are faster than others, and Nano is the fastest in the world. What should you know about it?
What Is Nano?
If the name Nano is not familiar, you might recognize the name RaiBlocks, instead. That was originally Nano’s name, but it was changed to better focus on the cryptocurrency’s key benefit – speed. It’s also a trustless cryptocurrency that offers very low latency. The rebranding occurred at the beginning of 2018. In addition to allowing greater focus on the platform’s tremendous speed, it also helped do away with confusion over how to pronounce the original name (ray or rye?).
The Benefits of Nano
While Nano offers all the benefits you might associate with any other cryptocurrency, there are some unique benefits that go along with it. For instance, it uses a block-lattice architecture that allows every account to have its own blockchain. PoS (proof of stake) voting is used to provide consensus. There is also the fact that all users on the platform enjoy unlimited scalability, which offers the ability to scale up or down as necessary, within a fraction of a second. There are no transaction fees for users, and the platform claims to be so fast that transactions really are instantaneous, which is how it can manage to offer no transaction fees (less time spend processing transactions results in lower costs – in this case, no costs).
Why Individual Blockchains Matter
In addition to the incredible speed of transaction processing, another important benefit of Nano is the fact that all users have their own dedicated blockchain. Why does that matter, though? Ultimately, it ensures stringent protection and account control, as only the account owner is able to update the chain. It also means that all updates are instantaneous and asynchronous. Obviously, that feeds into the network’s ability to process transactions instantaneously – if dedicated blockchains were not present, then the platform would be much slower.
In addition, individual blockchains and small transaction sizes help avoid block size-related problems. SegWit was adopted largely to mitigate transaction malleability, where massive block sizes allowed hackers to steal bitcoins from within the transaction. Nano’s small size ensures that all transactions fit within a UDP jacket. That eliminates the potential for theft and other block size related challenges.
However, there are some tradeoffs with individual blockchains. Because blocks can only be added by the owner of the account, it means that any fund movement requires two transactions – each party in the movement needs to send a request (a send transaction on the sender’s part, and a receiving transaction on the recipient’s part).
Buying Nano
Unlike some other cryptocurrencies, you cannot purchase Nano with conventional national currencies (fiat). You’ll need to first buy another cryptocurrency, and then exchange that for Nano. Bitcoin and Ether are the two preferred options, but you can buy other currencies if you prefer. Buying your initial cryptocurrency is best done at a government-regulated platform like Coinbase. You’ll then need to find a second exchange to support your purchase of Nano, though.
Is Nano Right for You?
Nano is an innovative cryptocurrency ideally suited for those who want the best in scalability, speed and security. However, it may not be right for everyone. It’s highly recommended that you compare your ASIC mining hosting options and make an informed decision before buying into any cryptocurrency.