What is Kaspa (KAS)? All you need to know

Over the past year, Kaspa (KAS) has demonstrated a notably positive trend. But what exactly is Kaspa? It's a blockchain platform employing proof-of-work (PoW) consensus and a blockDAG architecture. This design enables multiple blocks to exist simultaneously, addressing blockchain's high orphan rate issue. Inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto's work, Kaspa aims to uphold key Bitcoin (BTC) consensus elements, including PoW mining, a deflationary economic model, and decentralized decision-making.

How does Kaspa work?

In contrast to conventional blockchains, Kaspa utilizes the GHOSTDAG protocol, enabling parallel blocks to coexist and achieve consensus. This methodology, termed blockDAG, ensures secure operations with elevated block rates. Presently, Kaspa functions at one block per second, with aspirations to achieve rates of 10 or even 100 blocks per second, showcasing its scalability advantage over other blockchain networks. Kaspa boasts various features enhancing its resilience and user-friendliness.

These functionalities comprise reachability, enabling users to query the DAG's topology, block data pruning (with future intentions for block header pruning), and Simple Payment Verification (SPV) proofs, a cryptographic method enabling transaction validity verification without downloading the entire blockchain.

Furthermore, the project incorporates subnetwork support, facilitating layer 2 solution implementation for improved functionality and scalability.

An intriguing feature of Kaspa is its distinctive monetary policy, characterized by geometric emission reduction over time, inspired by the 12-note scale of music. This policy, referred to as the chromatic phase, decreases block rewards in alignment with frequencies of consecutive semitones in a tempered chromatic scale. Initially, the block reward corresponds to the frequency of note A4, halving annually thereafter.

Kaspa's founders and development crew

Initially conceptualized by DAGLabs, with financial backing from PolyChain, Kaspa has transitioned into a decentralized community endeavor devoid of centralized governance or business model.

Yonatan Sompolinsky, a Postdoc CS at Harvard University and member of the MEV Research Team, stands as the founder of Kaspa, renowned for his seminal 2013 paper on the Ghost protocol, cited in the Ethereum Whitepaper. Notable members of Kaspa's development team include Shai Wyborski, a Cryptography Doctoral student; Michael Sutton, a CS Master; Mike Zak, a CS Undergrad; Elichai Turkel, a Cryptography researcher; and Ori Newman, a Developer.

Kaspa tokenomics

Kaspa's blockDAG architecture, coupled with its rapid block rates, aims to decentralize KAS mining, facilitating efficient solo mining even at lower hash rates. Kaspa was launched fairly in November 2021, devoid of pre-mining, pre-sales, or coin allocations. The maximum token supply is capped at 28.7 billion coins, with a halving emission schedule occurring annually, featuring gradual monthly reductions.

Kaspa's market performance

Since its inception in July last year, Kaspa has witnessed an astonishing 74,000% surge, according to data from CoinMarketCap. As of January 4, 2024, Kaspa trades at $0.104844, boasting a live market cap of $2,325,544,322, positioning it as the 39th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Over the past year, Kaspa has experienced a remarkable 2,000% price increase, with a circulating supply of 22,180,993,085 KAS coins, as per CoinMarketCap data.

How to buy Kaspa coin?

To acquire Kaspa, individuals must initially create an account on a cryptocurrency exchange supporting Kaspa. It's essential to note that most exchanges mandate Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, necessitating users to furnish personal details and documentation for identity verification.

Following account setup, users can fund their exchange account either by linking a bank card for fiat transactions or by transferring cryptocurrency from another wallet.

Once the account is funded, users can locate Kaspa or KAS on the exchange. Subsequently, they must decide whether to place a Market order (executed at the prevailing market price) or a Limit order (executed at a predetermined price).

Where can one purchase Kaspa coin?

Kaspa Coin can be purchased on various cryptocurrency exchanges, including MEXC, CoinEx, TxBit, TradeOgre, and ViteX for decentralized options. Each exchange offers unique features and requirements; for example, MEXC boasts a large user base and comprehensive trading options, while CoinEx provides a wide array of financial services.

Another avenue to acquire Kaspa is through Web3 wallets like MetaMask. Users can add the Binance Smart Chain network to their MetaMask wallet, deposit BNB, and then navigate to PancakeSwap to exchange BNB for Kaspa.

In summary, Kaspa presents an innovative blockchain project merging PoW security with high block rates and minimal confirmation times. With its distinctive features and scalability focus, Kaspa stands poised to make significant strides in the realm of decentralized applications.