# The Nordek Blockchain

## Network Overview and Key Metrics

The Nordek blockchain is a decentralized, EVM-compatible public blockchain that serves as the backbone of the Nordek platform and ecosystem. It is fully compatible with Ethereum, which means that any smart contract deployable on Ethereum can also run on Nordek.

For achieving consensus, the Nordek blockchain utilizes a variant of delegated Proof of Stake (dPoS). The consensus is secured by a significant number of independent validators, with the Nordek core team running just one validator.

Validators on Nordek also play a crucial role in governance by adopting network protocol changes through [Nordek Improvement Proposals (NIPs)](https://nordekdocs.gitbook.io/nordek/developers/network-details/network-upgrades/nips).

The native token of the Nordek network is called NRK. New NRK tokens are issued with every block added to the blockchain and are used for gas payments, similar to ETH on the Ethereum network. The Nordek blockchain is designed to ensure fast block confirmation times and low transaction costs. On average, the block interval on Nordek is approximately 5 seconds, and the cost of confirming a transaction is currently less than $0.01.

In its current capacity, the Nordek blockchain can process approximately 120 native token transfers and 60 TL20 token transfers per second. The faster processing of native token transfers is due to the absence of computations running on the network's virtual machine.
