Banano (BAN) is a feeless, instant, and eco-friendly cryptocurrency launched on April 1, 2018 (April Fools’ Day, intentionally), forked from Nano, that uses the Block Lattice directed acyclic graph (DAG) architecture where every account maintains its own blockchain and transactions require no fees, with consensus secured by Delegated Proof of Stake (called Open Representative Voting, or ORV) using no energy-intensive mining — distributed entirely through free community channels including tip bots, games, faucets, and notably the Folding@home scientific protein-folding distributed computing project, making Banano unusual in that it has an altruistic real-world contribution mechanism as a primary distribution method.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | BAN |
| Price | $0.00 |
| Market Cap | $834,695 |
| 24h Change | +0.3% |
| Circulating Supply | 1.62B BAN |
| All-Time High | $0.05 |
How It Works
- Block Lattice — Inherited from Nano. Instead of a single shared blockchain, each Banano address maintains its own mini-blockchain (account-chain). Sending BAN creates a “send” block on the sender’s chain; receiving creates a “receive” block on the recipient’s chain. Transactions are processed asynchronously.
- Feeless and instant — Because each account-chain is independently updated, there is no global mempool congestion. Transactions typically confirm in under 1 second and carry zero fees.
- Open Representative Voting (ORV) — BAN holders delegate their voting weight to a representative (validator) of their choice. Validators vote on block confirmation. No staking collateral is required for users — delegation is free and immediately reversible. Validators earn no block rewards; they run nodes for ideological or infrastructure reasons.
- Folding@home distribution — BananOMiner and Folding@home integration: users run Folding@home (Stanford’s protein-folding scientific computing project) and earn BAN for contributed compute cycles. This made Banano one of the few cryptocurrencies distributed by contributing to scientific research.
- No mining — Banano uses no Proof of Work for consensus. A minimal PoW puzzle is solved client-side only for spam prevention on new accounts — not for block production.
- Distribution model — BAN has been distributed via: faucets (the “Monkeytalks” and other faucets), Discord tip bots, Twitter tip bots, games, Folding@home, and community events. No ICO, venture sale, or founder premine.
Tokenomics
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | BAN |
| Max Supply | No hard cap (all BAN minted at genesis; undistributed BAN held in distribution accounts) |
| Launch | April 1, 2018 |
| Genesis supply | Fixed block lattice with pre-distributed genesis funds |
| Fees | Zero |
| Block time | Sub-second |
Use Cases
- Feeless tipping — Tip users on Discord, Twitter, Reddit with zero transaction fees.
- Instant micropayments — Send any amount instantly with no fee.
- Folding@home — Earn BAN by contributing scientific computing via Stanford’s Folding@home.
- Community games & memes — BAN is heavily integrated into community events, games, and art.
History
- 2018-04-01 — Banano launches on April Fools’ Day, deliberately signaling its non-serious branding. The project forks Nano’s codebase. The banana/potassium meme identity is established from day one.
- 2018–2019 — Community grows around Banano’s faucets and tip bots. The Banano Discord becomes one of the more active and welcoming crypto communities. BAN distributed via MonkeyTalks faucet.
- 2019 — Folding@home distribution begins. BAN holders can donate CPU/GPU computing power to fold proteins (relevant to disease research, including COVID-19) and earn BAN. This becomes a defining feature — potentially the first cryptocurrency with a built-in altruistic scientific computing distribution.
- 2020 — COVID-19 pandemic spikes Folding@home participation globally. Banano’s F@H integration sees significant increase in participation. Banano contributes meaningfully to Folding@home’s all-time computing power records during COVID outbreak period.
- 2021 (bull market) — BAN reaches all-time highs. Community games, art, and NFT experiments proliferate. “Whalium” ranking system develops within the community.
- 2022–2023 — Bear market. BAN price declines significantly. Community remains active. Continued development: Kalium mobile wallet, JungleTV (video streaming platform for BAN tips), new games.
- 2024 — JungleTV matures as a platform. Community events ongoing. Folding@home integration continues. BAN remains one of the largest active Nano-ecosystem derived projects.
Common Misconceptions
“Banano is a joke coin with no technical merit.”
While Banano leans into meme culture, it runs on the same technically sophisticated Block Lattice / DAG architecture as Nano, which has been battle-tested for years. Feeless, instant transactions are technically real and functional — not a gimmick. The joke is the branding; the technology is legitimate.
“Banano and Nano are interchangeable.”
They share the same foundational architecture and code origin, but they are separate networks with separate tokens, separate validators, and separate communities. BAN and NANO cannot be swapped natively — they are independent blockchains.
Social Media Sentiment
Banano is beloved by its community for its uniquely welcoming, humor-forward culture that contrasts starkly with the often aggressive tribal dynamics of larger crypto communities. The Folding@home integration is regularly cited as one of the most genuinely positive real-world use cases in all of crypto — using memecoin distribution to fund cancer and disease research. Critics note BAN lacks meaningful utility beyond community/tips and has poor liquidity on major exchanges. Supporters argue the community and ethos are themselves the value proposition.
Last updated: 2026-04