What is Flow? How It Works & Where to Use It

Overview

Flow at a glance.

Flow, built by Dapper Labs and live since 2020, is designed for NFTs, games and consumer apps using a multi-role node architecture. Here is how it works and how it is used, not the price.

Total value locked (DeFi)

n/a

Value locked in DeFi protocols on Flow. Updated Jun 2, 2026. Source: DefiLlama.

Native token

FLOW

Used for fees and securing the network. See the live FLOW price.

How it works

How Flow works.

Instead of every node doing every job, Flow splits the work of validating a transaction across four specialized node roles: collection, consensus, execution and verification. By pipelining these stages rather than sharding the network into separate pieces, Flow aims to increase throughput while keeping a single shared state. Nodes stake FLOW to take part and can be penalized for misbehavior.

Consensus: Multi-role proof of stake

Instead of every node doing every job, Flow splits the work of validating a transaction across four specialized node roles: collection, consensus, execution and verification. By pipelining these stages rather than sharding the network into separate pieces, Flow aims to increase throughput while keeping a single shared state. Nodes stake FLOW to take part and can be penalized for misbehavior.

Built for consumer apps

The chain targets NFTs, games and mainstream applications, with well-known examples such as NBA Top Shot built on it.

Multi-role architecture

Four node types, collection, consensus, execution and verification, divide the work of processing transactions to raise capacity.

No sharding

Flow scales by separating tasks across node roles rather than splitting the network into shards, which keeps a single shared state.

Cadence language

Smart contracts are written in Cadence, a language designed with a resource-oriented model for handling digital assets safely.

Ecosystem & usage

What Flow is used for.

FLOW is used to pay fees, stake for network security and power NFT, gaming and consumer applications.

NFTs and collectibles

Mint and trade digital collectibles such as those in NBA Top Shot.

Games

Run on-chain game assets and economies built for mainstream players.

Staking

Stake FLOW to one of the network node roles to help secure the chain and earn rewards.

In the Zypto App

Hold, swap and spend FLOW.

Flow is integrated in the Zypto App. Hold FLOW in self-custody, swap it to any supported asset, and use it across Zypto’s features.

Hold FLOW in Zypto How to buy FLOW

Be the reason Flow ships next.

Flow isn’t in the Zypto App yet. Post the request to your followers, chains with the most demand get prioritised.

Request on X

FAQ

Common questions.

What is Flow built for?

It is a Layer 1 built by Dapper Labs for NFTs, games and consumer applications, with NBA Top Shot as a well-known example.

How does Flow scale without sharding?

It splits the work of processing a transaction across four specialized node roles, collection, consensus, execution and verification, rather than dividing the network into shards.

What language are Flow contracts written in?

Smart contracts on Flow are written in Cadence, a resource-oriented language designed for handling digital assets safely.

Can I hold FLOW in the Zypto App?

Not yet. FLOW isn't in the Zypto App at the moment. You can hold it in any self-custodial wallet, and you can ask us to add Flow using the "Request Flow" button above.

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