Oh boy...that's a loaded question.  What is Banano??  Is it a cross between a banana and Rambo?  Is it a bandwagon and a lambo, altogether in one??  Or is it the latest rock band on college radio??

Well as it turns out it's none of those.  Banano is an offshoot of a cryptocurrency called "Nano".  It uses the same technology (which we will go into in a future feature week...try saying that three times fast), but with an inherent humor and meme culture behind it that resonates more with the general public.  It takes itself less seriously as a large scale investment and more of a gateway into the world of cryptocurrency (without any harsh side effects).

In taking a look at the white...er...yellow paper, it seems pretty apparent that the appeal is to reach the general public as easily as possible.  But since a lot of you may not want to take the time and read through 14 pages, I'm going to try and break this down as simply as possible.  Some of you crypto-gurus may be fascinated to learn some of this, while it may be just as equally useful to your middle aged neighbor that doesn't know the difference between a penny and a satoshi.

INTRODUCTION

Banano derives from a type of currency known as Nano.  In 2015, Sergio Lerner published a paper that discussed something called DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) in the field of cryptocurrency.  Where typical blockchain technology requires a linear progression from point A to point B, DAG technology interweaves across multiple chains that increases the speed per transaction.  One of the projects that used this technology was called "Raiblocks" that would eventually be renamed "Nano".

Here is the chart from the yellow paper that compares Banano to Bitcoin.

What truly sets Banano apart from other crypto (especially Nano) is the way that it gets distributed among it's peers.  For starters 3.4 billion coins were set aside for distribution in faucets.  It also uses tipping systems across multiple social media (Discord, Twitter, Reddit, Telegram) as a way of interacting and rewarding people.  It also utilized a gamer mentality in reaching out to the public, being incorporated into Minecraft as well as guild rewards in some games.  And this isn't something that was done by the developers.  This was carried out by the dedicated community!

SPECIFICS

• Accounts have separate public keys and private keys.  The public keys start with "ban_" and can be included in the monkey silhouette graphic like the item below.  This is my Banano address.

• Each account has its own blockchain, which allows for quick processing of transactions.  Rather than scanning EVERY single chain, your account has your own.  Additionally the balance is incorporated into each block, which provides and even quicker update of data.  The work has already been completed, why should you have to go back and confirm the data over and over again?
• Each account also has their own unique monKey, a digital representation of their address.  Characteristics such as eye color, hat, clothing can all be specific to key figures of that address.  This is my unique monKey.

Distribution

We will go into further detail on this later this week, but the distribution of Banano has been the most fascinating part of this whole journey.  The Discord server alone allows tipping and giveaways (although you have to be a citizen to get these giveaways), trivia contests and more.  The interaction with other blog sites has added to massive airdrops for everyone that is dedicated to the currency.  There are also tip bots that can be used with Twitter, Reddit, Telegram, and Discord.

There was also a game called "BANANO Runner" that unfortunately was exploited due to bots, which is why the game was discontinued.  However, the community is constantly reinventing itself with new and exciting ways to share Banano.  Just recently there was a Banano cooking contest with a few specific categories you could win in.

Below is my entry for the "Banano bread" competition.

MINING??

As with any type of cryptocurrency, the question comes up with "How do you mine it?"  With the incredible variety of faucets and games, there is two ways you can mine Banano.  One is a faucet called "Power Plant" that we will cover later this week, but the other is called "Folding @ Home", which uses your CPU power to help research into diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and cancer.  In return you earn Banano based off of your contributions.  I will be talking about this more later this week as well...

MORE POTASSIUM THAN YOU CAN DIGEST

To be fair, this is not some shitcoin.  Banano has helped to assemble a dedicated community of users that isn't about trying to get rich quick.  They focus on community and having fun.  It just so happens to revolve around a meme flavored coin!