Kaspa

This is the native coin of the eponymous L1 network, which uses not a linear chain of blocks but a directed acyclic graph of blocks (blockDAG) with the GHOSTDAG/PHANTOM consensus. Unlike classic PoW networks, here parallel blocks are not discarded but ordered, allowing block generation at a rate of up to 10 blocks per second (after the Crescendo upgrade) and achieving finalization in seconds. The network runs on the kHeavyHash proof-of-work algorithm and uses a UTXO accounting model similar to Bitcoin. KAS is exclusively a settlement asset and a means of paying fees in the base layer; it has no general-purpose smart contracts, but after the Toccata hard fork, support for native KRC-20 tokens, covenants, and ZK opcodes was added. The project was launched on November 7, 2021, in a completely fair manner - without a premine, ICO, or allocations for the team or venture investors. All issuance is distributed only through mining.

Kaspa is positioned as a scalable alternative to Bitcoin and other PoW coins, solving the "blockchain trilemma" through parallel block processing. The network enables transactions with sub-second visibility and strong probabilistic finalization in 7-10 seconds, while maintaining the decentralization and security inherent in the Nakamoto consensus. Unlike Bitcoin, where a block is created every 10 minutes, Kaspa produces 10 blocks per second, providing a theoretical throughput of thousands of TPS on standard hardware.

The main competitive advantage is the fair launch without pre-distribution. Compared to other PoW projects such as Litecoin or Kadena, Kaspa wins in speed and issuance decentralization. Kadena, for example, allocated 30% of tokens to insiders, whereas Kaspa has 100% mined by miners. Compared to PoS networks (Ethereum), Kaspa retains permissionless mining and regulatory resilience as a digital commodity.

Features of Kaspa

Technical Information

The GHOSTDAG consensus (developed by Yonatan Sompolinsky and Aviv Zohar) orders the DAG graph by selecting the "heaviest" subtree - this allows accepting parallel blocks without orphans. The mining algorithm is kHeavyHash, derived from HeavyHash, optimized for GPUs and potentially compatible with optical ASICs. The original Go implementation was replaced by Rusty Kaspa, which is now actively developed.

The network has undergone two key hard forks: Crescendo (May 5, 2025) increased the block rate from 1 to 10 BPS, and Toccata (also known as the Covenants Hardfork, activated on May 5, 2026) added native KRC-20 tokens, the SilverScript compiler for programmable transaction rules, and basic ZK verification opcodes. KIP-02 is under development, which should transition the consensus to DAGKnight and raise the block rate to 32 BPS and higher.

Kaspa is not EVM-compatible on L1, but L2 infrastructure is used for DeFi access: wrapped KAS on Ethereum (WKAS, contract 0x112b08621E27e10773ec95d250604a041f36C582) and the EVM-compatible network Igra Labs. Native wallet support is provided by Ledger, Tangem, and Ecko.

Tokenomics

The maximum asymptotic issuance volume is approximately 28.7 billion KAS. The issuance is "chromatic": the block reward smoothly decreases each month by a factor of (1/2)^(1/12), resulting in an annual "half-halving" without abrupt four-year events. At launch, the reward was about 500 KAS/sec at 1 BPS, but due to early DAG effects, actual issuance was higher than the nominal rate. The entire volume of KAS (current circulating supply - about 27 billion) has been mined exclusively. There are no premines, ICOs, sales, vesting, or "unlocks" for insiders. Transaction fees go entirely to miners; there are no burning mechanisms. According to estimates, DAGLabs participants (investors and founders) have collectively mined less than 3% of the maximum supply, which does not violate the fair launch principle.

Security KAS

The network relies on mining decentralization and open-source code. No public audits of the L1 node by major firms (Trail of Bits, Quantstamp, OpenZeppelin, Halborn) have been found as of July 2026 - the community discusses the need for such an audit. A centralized bug bounty program has not been recorded; vulnerabilities are discussed in open repositories.

The only documented incident was a network split on November 23-25, 2021 (two weeks after launch), caused by a consensus error. The network was restored within 2-3 days after a fix was released. There have been no other chain halts or smart contract exploits (which are not applicable to the L1 coin). After Crescendo and Toccata, operational stability has been confirmed by testnets.

Which Exchanges Trade It

KAS is listed on several centralized exchanges: Gate.io (historically accounts for >26% of spot volume), HTX (listing on December 24, 2025), Bybit, KuCoin, MEXC, Bitget. The coin is absent from major US platforms (Coinbase, Kraken) due to technical difficulties integrating BlockDAG and regulatory caution. In October 2025, Bitget, ViaBTC, and ProBit Global temporarily suspended KAS deposits/withdrawals, raising questions about exchange reserves. Decentralized infrastructure has also been launched: the KasKad lending protocol, based on Igra Labs, supports iKAS, USDC, USDT, cbBTC, wETH.

CEX exchanges: Gate, Kraken, Bitget, LBank, Bybit, KuCoin.

All-time high - $0.207411 (Jul 31, 2024), drawdown from ATH -87.01%. All-time low - $0.000171 (May 26, 2022).

Listings on Aggregators

Project's position in market capitalization rankings:

• CoinGecko rank: 79
• CoinMarketCap rank: 63
• Finkonkurs rank: 78

Investors and Funds

In 2018, the research laboratory DAGLabs, founded by Sompolinsky and Corem, raised approximately $8 million from Polychain Capital (lead investor), Accomplice, and Genesis Mining. The funds were directed toward implementing the GHOSTDAG protocol and developing optical ASIC hardware. After the network launch in November 2021, DAGLabs was dissolved, and intellectual property rights were transferred to the community. No subsequent venture funding rounds (a16z, Paradigm, Sequoia, Coinbase Ventures) for the KAS token itself were conducted. DAGLabs investors received only a share of early mining (less than 3% of issuance).

Key Partnerships and Ecosystem

• BitGo - institutional custodial storage of KAS for funds and companies.
• Kasplex - L2 solution for deposits/withdrawals to exchanges (including GateDEX).
• Igra Network - EVM-compatible L2 network for smart contracts and DeFi.
• KasKad - decentralized lending/borrowing based on Igra Labs.
• KRC-20 Projects - native tokens created after the Toccata upgrade.
• Wallets: hardware Ledger and Tangem, mobile Ecko.
• Mining Tools: RKStratum for decentralized solo mining, Proof of Prints for mobile PoW experiment.
• Explorers and Analytics: Kaspalytics, Kaspa.stream, nodes.kaspa.ws, kaspanodes.com.
• Public company treasuries: DeFi Technologies reported 19.5 million KAS, and another company (per SEC filing dated December 31, 2025) reported 24.6 million KAS.

Potential

Kaspa represents a unique combination of PoW security and high throughput, making it a candidate for "digital cash" with instant settlement. The smooth deflationary issuance without inflationary shocks attracts long-term holders (in mid-2026, nearly 45% of the circulating supply was held for over a year). L1 programmability through covenants and ZK, as well as EVM-L2 (Igra Labs), opens the path to a DeFi ecosystem without abandoning the base PoW. Growing institutional adoption (BitGo, corporate treasuries) and plans to increase blocks to 32 BPS (DAGKnight) strengthen its position. Regulatory clarity as a commodity in the US (Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act 2025) and compliance with MiCA in the EU reduce legal risks.

Risks [Identified by Finkonkurs AI Analytics System]

• Lack of L1 Audit - none of the major auditors have reviewed the node code, increasing the likelihood of undocumented vulnerabilities.
• Mining Concentration - large pools and early miners may influence the network; the Liquidity-at-Risk metric (1.85 in mid-2026) indicates potential volatility when distributing large holdings.
• Regulatory Uncertainty - although Kaspa is classified as a commodity in the US, the absence of a spot ETF and lack of listing on Coinbase/Kraken limit liquidity for institutional investors.
• Technical Incidents - the only failure (November 2021) was quickly resolved, but the risk of new errors during rapid fork implementation (Crescendo, Toccata) remains.
• Competition - other PoW projects (Kadena, Alephium) and L2 solutions on Bitcoin (Lightning) may occupy the niche of high-speed payments.
• Lack of Fee Burning - the coin has no internal deflation mechanism, which, as issuance declines, could make fees the primary income source for miners, but they are currently minimal.

Related Individuals

• Yonatan Sompolinsky (founder, @hashdag) - PhD in Computer Science from the Hebrew University, postdoc at Harvard, co-author of the GHOST protocol (cited in the Ethereum whitepaper) and GHOSTDAG. In 2018, he founded DAGLabs, which was dissolved after the fair launch. Currently a key theoretical contributor, promoting DAGKnight and off-chain computations.
• Aviv Zohar (co-founder) - Professor at the Hebrew University, specialist in blockchain security and game theory. Co-author of GHOST, speaks at industry conferences.
• Guy Corem (co-founder of DAGLabs, @vcorem) - previously founded the mining company Spondoolies, worked on BeamPrivacy. Participated in the early structure of Kaspa.

Organization: DAGLabs (closed).

Contests, Activities, and Hackathons on Our Platform

• Kaspathon : Build at Internet Speed (Dec 20, 2025 – Feb 16, 2026)

Whitepaper

The project's whitepaper describes the BlockDAG architecture, GHOSTDAG consensus, issuance model, and technical details of L1. The original document is available for download.

Link: not publicly available.