What is Kaspa (KAS)?
Kaspa is the fastest proof-of-work blockchain, processing 10 blocks per second via BlockDAG & GHOSTDAG technology, with instant confirmations, zero premine, and no ICO.
What is Kaspa?
The fastest proof-of-work blockchain, reimagined with BlockDAG.
BlockDAG Architecture
Unlike traditional blockchains where blocks form a single chain, Kaspa uses a Block Directed Acyclic Graph (BlockDAG). Multiple miners can create blocks simultaneously, and all valid blocks are included in the ledger. This eliminates the "orphan block" problem and allows the network to operate at much higher block rates without wasting miner work.
Fair Launch Principles
Kaspa launched on November 7, 2021 with no premine, no ICO, no venture capital, and no token allocation to founders. Every single KAS token in existence was mined through proof-of-work, following the same fair distribution model as Bitcoin. The project was founded by Yonatan Sompolinsky, a researcher whose work on the PHANTOM protocol directly influenced Ethereum.
How Kaspa Works
The GHOSTDAG protocol and parallel block processing explained.
GHOSTDAG Protocol
GHOSTDAG (Greedy Heaviest-Observed Sub-Tree Directed Acyclic Graph) is the consensus protocol at the heart of Kaspa. Unlike Nakamoto consensus which discards competing blocks, GHOSTDAG orders all blocks -- even those created simultaneously -- into a consistent, agreed-upon sequence. This means no valid block is ever wasted.
Parallel Blocks
Kaspa allows multiple blocks to reference each other in a DAG structure. Each block can have multiple parent blocks, creating a web of interconnected blocks rather than a single chain. This parallel processing is what enables 10 blocks per second (BPS) -- with plans to reach 32 BPS and eventually 100 BPS.
Instant Confirmations
With 10 BPS, transactions are included in a block within about 100 milliseconds and achieve first confirmation in roughly 1 second. Full probabilistic security (comparable to 6 Bitcoin confirmations) is reached in about 10 seconds. This makes Kaspa viable for point-of-sale payments while maintaining PoW security guarantees.
Key Features
What makes Kaspa unique in the proof-of-work landscape.
6,000x faster than Bitcoin's block rate
Sub-second transaction inclusion
100% fair distribution through mining
Battle-tested security model like Bitcoin
The KAS Token
Supply, emission schedule, and distribution.
Supply & Emission
- Max supply: 28.7 billion KAS
Fixed total supply that can never be exceeded, ensuring long-term scarcity.
- Chromatic emission schedule
Block rewards halve every year (vs Bitcoin's 4-year halving). Each halving is smooth, reducing by a factor of (1/2)^(1/12) each month -- inspired by the chromatic musical scale.
- 100% goes to miners
No dev tax, no foundation allocation, no staking. All newly minted KAS goes directly to miners who secure the network.
Distribution Principles
Zero tokens were created before the public launch. The genesis block started with zero supply.
No tokens were sold privately or publicly. No venture capital firms received allocations.
Development is funded by community donations and a DAGLabs treasury that mines KAS alongside everyone else.
Mining Kaspa
kHeavyHash algorithm, hardware options, and profitability considerations.
kHeavyHash Algorithm
Kaspa uses kHeavyHash, a proof-of-work algorithm that involves heavy matrix multiplication. This design is notable because it is compatible with optical mining -- a future technology that could dramatically reduce energy consumption. The algorithm was initially GPU-friendly but ASIC miners now dominate the network hashrate.
ASIC Miners
Major ASIC manufacturers have released Kaspa miners. Bitmain's Antminer KS3 (8.3 TH/s) and KS5 (15 TH/s) and IceRiver's KS0 through KS5 lineup cover different budgets. ASIC miners offer significantly better efficiency than GPUs, making GPU mining largely unprofitable for KAS at current difficulty levels.
Profitability
Mining profitability depends on electricity cost, hardware price, network difficulty, and KAS price. With the chromatic emission schedule reducing rewards monthly, early miners benefited most. Current profitability requires low electricity rates (under $0.06/kWh) and efficient ASIC hardware to remain competitive.
Kaspa vs Bitcoin
A technical comparison of the two proof-of-work blockchains.
| Feature | Kaspa (KAS) | Bitcoin (BTC) |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | BlockDAG | Blockchain (linear chain) |
| Consensus | GHOSTDAG (PoW) | Nakamoto Consensus (PoW) |
| Block Rate | 10 blocks/second | 1 block / 10 minutes |
| Confirmation Time | ~10 seconds (full) | ~60 minutes (6 blocks) |
| Mining Algorithm | kHeavyHash | SHA-256 |
| Max Supply | 28.7 billion KAS | 21 million BTC |
| Halving Schedule | Annual (smooth chromatic) | Every 4 years (abrupt) |
| Orphan Blocks | None (all blocks included) | Orphans discarded |
| Smart Contracts | Planned (L2 / Rust) | Limited (Script) |
| Fair Launch | Yes, zero premine | Yes, zero premine |
Smart Contracts Roadmap
What is coming next for Kaspa's programmability.
Rust-Based Smart Contracts
The Kaspa team is developing smart contract support using Rust as the primary language. The Rusty Kaspa implementation (a full rewrite of the node in Rust) lays the groundwork for native smart contract execution. The approach prioritizes security and performance over flexibility, aiming to avoid the vulnerabilities common in Solidity-based platforms.
Layer 2 Solutions
Kaspa's roadmap includes L2 scaling solutions that would run on top of the base layer BlockDAG. These L2s could enable DeFi, NFTs, and complex applications without impacting the base layer's speed and simplicity. The fast finality of Kaspa's L1 makes it an ideal settlement layer for L2 architectures, as state can be committed and finalized in seconds.
Kaspa Ecosystem
Wallets, exchanges, and the growing Kaspa community.
Wallets
- KDX -- Official desktop wallet
- Kaspa Web Wallet -- Browser-based
- Tangem -- Hardware wallet support
- OneKey / Ledger -- Coming soon
Exchanges
- Binance -- Spot trading (KAS/USDT)
- KuCoin -- Major trading pairs
- Bybit -- Spot and derivatives
- MEXC, Gate.io -- Additional options
Community
- Discord -- Primary community hub
- Reddit -- r/kaspa
- X (Twitter) -- @KaspaCurrency
- Open source -- GitHub (kaspanet)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kaspa?
Is Kaspa a good investment?
How is Kaspa different from Bitcoin?
Can you mine Kaspa?
Will Kaspa have smart contracts?
Learn More About Kaspa
Official resources and further reading.
Sources and further reading
The figures and claims on this page rest on the documents below. Time-sensitive figures (rates, yields, fees, market data) move: check the live value at the source before acting on it.
- Kaspa official sitekaspa.org
Fair launch (no premine, no allocation), the BlockDAG design and links to wallets and resources.
- Kaspa wikiwiki.kaspa.org
Community-maintained documentation on GHOSTDAG, kHeavyHash, the emission schedule and the 28.7 billion KAS maximum supply.
- Sompolinsky, Wyborski and Zohar, PHANTOM and GHOSTDAG (2018)eprint.iacr.org
The paper that defines the GHOSTDAG protocol used to order blocks in the Kaspa BlockDAG.
- Rusty Kaspa (GitHub)github.com
The Rust node implementation; its README documents the Crescendo hard fork and the move from 1 to 10 blocks per second.
- Ethereum whitepaper (ethereum.org)ethereum.org
Cites the GHOST protocol by Sompolinsky and Zohar, the earlier work of Kaspa's founder.
- Bitcoin whitepaperbitcoin.org
Nakamoto consensus, the 10-minute block target and the design Kaspa compares itself against.
- CoinGecko, Kaspa (KAS)coingecko.com
Live price, market capitalisation, supply and the list of exchanges that trade KAS.
Last reviewed: September 2026. External links open in a new tab; Coinstancy is not responsible for their content.
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