The sync is really fast compared to other coins!
Lots of nodes thats why

Its still a bit slow for my liking...I seem to remember reading something about a potential improvement to sync speeds in the future. Sadly I can't remember specifically what the proposal was.
You mean the abbreviation of the blockchain? if that, masternodes will create a second blockchain that will abbreviate A to B to C to D into A to D. Full blockchain available too, but for most clients the abbreviated one will be enough. Being much smaller sync will be dashing fast!
That's the puppy! Pretty cool stuff.
I don't think we shout enough about the fact that masternodes can provide other services other than privacy-centric ones.