Kava has always put security and decentralization first. Today, the Kava blockchain ecosystem is developed by over 100 application protocol teams (and counting), and is supported by over 100 infrastructure teams.

The Kava ecosystem is supported by multiple independent international Foundations which are responsible for allocating protocol-level funding to grantees with the purpose of supporting the health and continued development of decentralized networks and systems.

Kava is built on Cosmos, and uses a Tendermint-based proof-of-stake (POS) consensus mechanism to ensure the integrity of the network.

This uses a network of validator nodes for confirming transactions. These validator nodes must put up collateral to take up the duty of validating transactions. If validators misbehave or fail to meet rigorous minimum requirements, their stake will be penalized — thereby incentivizing validators to remain honest and efficient.

Kava holders can run a staking node to earn KAVA rewards directly from the protocol. However, only the top 100 Kava nodes (also known as validators) are eligible to receive these rewards. Beyond this, KAVA holders can stake their tokens on various compatible exchange platforms, like Binance, Kraken, Huobi Pool, and in wallets like Trust Wallet, Cosmostation Wallet, and Keplr.

Kava's smart contracts have been audited by multiple independent blockchain and crypto security firms, including CertiK, B-Harvest and Quantstamp. To date, no vulnerabilities have been found.

KAVA tokens can be traded on over a dozen exchange platforms, and there are now a wide variety of KAVA trading pairs available, the most popular of which include: KAVA/USDT, KAVA/BTC and KAVA/BNB.

As of March 2022, Binance is the most liquid exchange for KAVA tokens, whereas Kraken is the only exchange to offer KAVA/EUR and KAVA/USD trading pairs. To learn more about buying cryptocurrencies with fiat, see our comprehensive guide.

For more information on the Kava Rise incentive fund, top projects built on Kava, network statistics, and tools for both Ethereum and Cosmos developers visit our developer portal.

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The KavaDAO is a fully decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governing the Kava Network. KAVA stakers and validators secure and run the network; thus, their responsibility is to table and vote on proposals that affect the Kava Network.

These changes can take the form of smart contract modifications, adjustments to the global debt limit, the addition or removal of collateral assets, among other considerations.