What is Block Lattice?
Crypto Glossary Definition
A specific type of DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) first introduced by the Nano cryptocurrency. Each account has one blockchain which is controlled by the account's private key, and each blockchain is replicated to all peers in the network. This arrangement is called a block lattice.
Why Block Lattice Matters
Nano's block-lattice design gives every account its own individual chain instead of sharing one global chain, which is what lets it process transactions near-instantly with no fees — the tradeoff is a more complex network security model than a single shared blockchain, since each account effectively self-manages its own ledger.
Block Lattice in Practice
Suppose a developer is comparing options for a payments-focused blockchain and comes across Nano, which uses a fundamentally different structure than the shared, single-chain model of Bitcoin or Ethereum. Instead of every transaction competing for space in one global block, each Nano account maintains its own individual blockchain, and only that account's owner, using their private key, can add a new block to it. When a user sends Nano to a friend, the sender creates a 'send' block on their own personal chain, and the recipient then creates a matching 'receive' block on their own separate chain to finalize the transfer. Because these are two distinct, asynchronous actions rather than a single shared transaction competing with everyone else's, the network can process many transfers in parallel instead of sequentially, which is part of why Nano transactions confirm almost instantly and without fees. The developer realizes the tradeoff immediately, though: since there's no single global chain recording everything in one place, achieving network-wide consensus on the state of every individual account chain requires a different, more intricate security model than a conventional blockchain uses. This block lattice structure, first introduced by Nano, illustrates that 'blockchain' isn't really one fixed design - it's a category of architectures with very different underlying tradeoffs.
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