Nervos Network (CKB) is an open-source public blockchain ecosystem. Its goal is to create a peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto-economy network where users can access a wide range of provably secure blockchain services and capabilities.
The Nervos mainnet launched in November 2019 with a novel dual-layer architecture. There’s a base layer where the consensus mechanism operates and smart assets are stored, and a computation layer where transactions are processed.
The base layer, also known as the Common Knowledge Base, has its own cryptocurrency called CKByte (CKB). It uses the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism and drives the Nervos ecosystem. It is used to pay miners for keeping the network safe, managing network resources, and letting users store things on the network.
The Nervos Network allows developers to create decentralized applications ([dApps](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps)) that can operate on various blockchain systems. Any of the network layers can be used to run both decentralized apps and [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract).