Kaspa

## **What Is KASPA (KAS)?**

Kaspa is a [proof-of-work](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow) (PoW) cryptocurrency which implements the GHOSTDAG protocol. Unlike traditional [blockchains](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain), GHOSTDAG does not orphan [blocks](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/block) created in parallel, rather allows them to coexist and orders them in consensus. The Kaspa blockchain is actually a blockDAG. This generalization of Nakamoto consensus allows for secure operation while maintaining very high block rates (currently one block per second, aiming for 10/sec, dreaming of 100/sec) and minuscule confirmation times dominated by internet latency.

The Kaspa implementation includes a lot of cool features such as Reachability to query the DAG's topology, Block data pruning (with near-future plans for block header pruning), SPV proofs, and later subnetwork support which will make future implementation of layer 2 solutions much easier.


## Who Are the Founders of Kaspa?

Kaspa was envisioned by R&D company DAGLabs, through investment by PolyChain.

Nonetheless, Kaspa is a community project, completely open source, no central governance, and no business model.

The founder is Yonatan Sompolinsky, Postdoc CS at Harvard University on the MEV Research Team.

Yonatan's 2013 paper on Ghost protocol is cited in the Ethereum Whitepaper.

Kaspa core developers and contributors include Cryptography Doctoral student Shai Wyborski, CS Master Michael Sutton, Mike Zak CS Undergrad Studies, Cryptography researcher Elichai Turkel, and Developer Ori Newman - all of whom contributed immensely to the implementation and stabilization of the network.


## What Makes Kaspa Unique?

Kaspa is unique in its ability to support high block rates while maintaining the level of security offered by proof-of-work environments. Kaspa’s current main net operates at 1 block per second. Down the road, core developers and researchers will work on stretching the capability to the limits—think 10 or even 100 blocks per second.

Kaspa also includes a unique monetary policy which decreases emissions geometrically over time based on the 12-note scale of music. Known as the chromatic phase - this policy activated May 7th 2022 with a block reward of 440 KAS. The block reward will be halved once per year, but smoothly: every month, the block reward is reduced by a factor of (1/2)^(1/12). This means that the ratio of block rewards in consecutive months is exactly the same as the ratio of frequencies of two consecutive semitones in a tempered chromatic scale. The initial block reward is the frequency of the note A4, and every averaged year is hence called an octave.

Note that the policy dictates how many coins are minted per second regardless of the block rate. Should Kaspa change the block rate in the future, the reward will be adjusted accordingly to maintain the same emission rate.


#### **Related Pages:**

Learn more about [Bitcoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/) —  which uses a proof-of-work consensus mechanism.

Read more about [how to understand a White Paper](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/how-to-read-and-analyze-a-white-paper).

Find out more about [Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/directed-acyclic-graph-dag) on the CMC Glossary page.

Want to keep track of Kaspa prices live? Download the [CoinMarketCap mobile app](https://coinmarketcap.com/mobile/)!

Want to convert Kaspa price today to your desired fiat currency? Check out [CoinMarketCap exchange rate calculator](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/).


## How Many Kaspa (KAS) Coins Are There in Circulation?

There are around 8.5 billion KAS in circulation as of June 2022.


## How Is the Kaspa Network Secured?

Kaspa network is secured by miners through Proof of Work and uses an algo known as k-Heavyhash.

Heavyhash was chosen for forward-compatibility with Photonic miners when they became available.


## Where Can You Buy Kaspa (KAS)?

At the time of writing, Kaspa is available on exchanges like [CoinEx](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/coinex/), [MEXC](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/mxc/), [TxBit](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/txbit/) and [TradeOgre](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/tradeogre/).

Kaspa is the fastest, open-source, decentralized & fully scalable Layer-1 in the world. The world’s first blockDAG- a digital ledger enabling parallel blocks 

Render Network  is the leading provider of decentralized GPU based rendering solutions, revolutionizing the digital creation process. The network connects node operators looking to monetize their idle GPU compute power with artists looking to scale intensive 3D rendering work and applications to the cloud. Through a decentralized peer-to-peer network, the Render Network achieves unprecedented levels of scale, speed, and economic efficiency. On top of a decentralized GPU computing network, Render provides a platform for artists and developers to build services and applications for the emerging digital economy.

Render

Bittensor

Injective (INJ) is a blockchain built for finance. It is an open, interoperable layer-one blockchain powering next-generation DeFi applications, including decentralized spot and derivatives exchanges, prediction markets, lending protocols, and more.

Injective uniquely provides powerful core financial infrastructure primitives that applications can leverage, including a fully decentralized MEV-resistant on-chain orderbook. In addition, all forms of financial markets such as spot, perpetual, futures and options are fully on-chain. The decentralized cross-chain bridging infrastructure is compatible with Ethereum, IBC-enabled blockchains, and non EVM chains such as Solana.

Injective also provides a next-generation, highly interoperable smart contract platform based on CosmWasm, with advanced interchain capabilities. Injective is custom built with the Cosmos SDK and utilizes Tendermint-based Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, providing instant transaction finality with the ability to sustain lightning-fast performance (25,000+ TPS).

The Injective ecosystem includes 100+ projects and over 150,000 community members globally. Injective is backed by a group of prominent investors such as Binance, Pantera Capital, Jump Crypto and Mark Cuban.

Injective

Founded in 2017 and launched via IEO on Binance in March 2019, Fetch.AI is an artificial intelligence (AI) lab building an open, permissionless, decentralized machine learning network with a crypto economy. Fetch.ai democratizes access to AI technology with a permissionless network upon which anyone can connect and access secure datasets by using autonomous AI to execute tasks that leverage its global network of data. The Fetch.AI model is rooted in  use cases like optimizing DeFi trading services, transportation networks (parking, micromobility), smart energy grids, travel — essentially any complex digital system that relies on large-scale datasets.

Artificial Superintelligence Alliance

Celestia

Sui is a groundbreaking layer-1 blockchain platform designed to support the needs of global adoption by offering a secure, powerful, and scalable development platform. At its core, Sui leverages a novel object-centric data model and the secure Move programming language to address inefficiencies prevalent in existing blockchain architectures.

On top of strong technical foundations, Sui prioritizes user experience by eliminating barriers commonly associated with blockchain interactions. Through innovations like zkLogin, sponsored transactions, and programmable transaction blocks, Sui creates a higher standard for user experience within Web3 by ensuring applications are accessible and user-friendly.

Arbitrum is an Ethereum layer-two (L2) scaling solution. It uses optimistic rollups to achieve its goal of improving speed, scalability and cost-efficiency on Ethereum. Arbitrum benefits from the security and compatibility of Ethereum. Another benefit is the higher throughput and lower fees compared to Ethereum. That is made possible thanks to moving most of the computation and storage load off-chain.

Arbitrum’s native token is called ARB and is used for governance. Offchain Labs, the developers behind Arbitrum, announced the shift to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure — the Arbitrum DAO. ARB holders can vote on proposals that affect the features, protocol upgrades, funds allocation and election of a Security Council.

Arbitrum has an ambitious roadmap for 2023, which includes: Launching its own layer-three solution called Orbit; Enabling developers to deploy programs written in popular programming languages like Rust, C++, and more using Stylus; Expanding its validator set to include more independent institutional validators; Moving its protocol to layer two with Arbitrum One.

On March 16, 2023,  Arbitrum announced their highly anticipated airdrop of ARB. The token will be airdropped to early users and DAOs building on Arbitrum, with 12.75% of the total supply to be distributed. Recipients were rewarded on a point-based system depending on their interaction with the Arbitrum network until a cutoff date of March 1, 2023. The token generation event is on March 23, 2023.

Arbitrum

Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. While the idea and initial work on the project began in 2017, Solana was officially launched in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Solana.

The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app (DApp) creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus combined with the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.

Because of the innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike. A significant focus for the Solana Foundation is to make decentralized finance accessible on a larger scale.

Solana

Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that enables universally connected smart contracts. Through a decentralized oracle network, Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.

The Chainlink Network is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, node operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralized participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Chainlink.

Chainlink

Immutable positions itself as the first layer-two scaling solution for NFTs on Ethereum. According to Immutable, its blockchain does away with Ethereum’s limitations like low scalability, a poor user experience, illiquidity, and a slow developer experience. Instead, users benefit from instant trading and massive scalability while enjoying zero gas fees for minting and trading NFTs without compromising user or asset security.

Thanks to this technology, users will be able to create and distribute assets like ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens on a massive scale. Chris Clay, the game Director of Gods Unchained, a project already building on Immutable, stated that Immutable allows Gods Unchained to implement a new meta-system that was previously impossible. In this fashion, Immutable aims to create a world-class experience for users and developers alike.

Immutable

Hedera is the most used, sustainable, enterprise-grade public network for the decentralized economy that allows individuals and businesses to create powerful decentralized applications (DApps).

It is designed to be a fairer, more efficient system that eliminates some of the limitations that older blockchain-based platforms face — such as slow performance and instability.

It was funded through an initial coin offering (ICO) in August 2018 and first launched open access to its mainnet just over a year later in September 2019. As part of the ICO, investors were able to purchase the platform’s native utility token (HBAR) at the lowest possible pricing.

The HBAR token has a dual role within the Hedera public network.

First and foremost, HBAR the fuel that powers Hedera services, such as smart contracts, file storage and regular transactions. Second, it's used to help secure the network, since HBAR users can stake their tokens to assist with maintaining the integrity of the platform.

Hedera (HBAR) is the native cryptocurrency of Hedera Hashgraph, a platform that is positioned as an alternative to traditional blockchain technology and aims to excel in speed, efficiency and security.

Older blockchains tend to use a consensus mechanism like proof-of-work (PoW) to validate transactions, while younger blockchains opted for proof-of-stake (PoS). The Hedera Hashgraph system has a structure that was created from scratch particularly for the project. Hedera is based on a PoS model that is believed to increase the efficiency of transaction verification in the network, provide a high level of security, and protect the network from hacker attacks. Its ecosystem has the underlying hashgraph consensus algorithm and the global enterprise governing body.

Hedera Hashgraph is a distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to the project website, Hedera differs from other blockchains because it uses a new consensus algorithm called hashgraph. It intends to process and execute transactions faster, eliminate delays, and smooth out the TPS (transactions per second) indicator. Hashgraph is claimed to be an upgrade in transaction speed, cost, and scalability.

Core network services by Hedera:

Consensus Service (HCS). With HCS, clients send messages to the network to negotiate consensus timestamping and order. In this case, the state is stored offline, and users can define privacy and access control.

Hedera Token Service (HTS). Thanks to HTS, token creation and management are available to customers. It supports built-in tokenization.

The goal of Hedera’s hashgraph is to increase the speed of transactions. Moreover, the network is also focused on high-volume operations: micropayments, data integrity and tokenization.

Like the EVM, the Hedera network maintains a virtual machine that writes smart contracts in the Solidity programming language. On top of that, Hedera offers a set of built-in KYC and AML checks.

From a technical point of view, Hedera is a form of distributed ledger technology. It is a hashgraph, or consensus algorithm, where users agree on the order in which transactions should be performed. However, Hedera is not exactly a blockchain. It has its own distinctiveness and works differently. With hashgraph, all transaction branches are merged, no block equivalent is thrown away, and each is used to reach consensus.

One of the most noticeable features of the network is the Gossip-about-Gossip protocol. According to Dr. Leemon Baird, Hedera's inventor, within the system nodes randomly transmit data about themselves to other nodes via hashgraph using the Gossip protocol. Soon, all nodes in a cluster become familiar with each other. Then a certain data structure is formed. It consists of a payload of transactions, a timestamp, a digital signature, and hashes to the previous structures.

HBAR is Hedera's native token that powers applications on the Hedera network. HBAR is utilized to pay for network services, transaction fees, in-app payments and micropayments. Developers can pay network fees with HBAR tokens, namely: work with smart contracts, file storage and currency exchange. HBAR is used to incentivize and pay network nodes.

Hedera Hashgraph has a decentralized governance system that is set apart. All critical decisions about pricing policy, software updates, and wealth management are made by the Governing Council.

Hedera

PEPE is a deflationary memecoin launched on Ethereum. The cryptocurrency was created as a tribute to the Pepe the Frog internet meme, created by Matt Furie, which gained popularity in the early 2000s.

The project aims to capitalize on the popularity of meme coins, like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, and strives to establish itself as one of the top meme-based cryptocurrencies. PEPE appeals to the cryptocurrency community by instituting a no-tax policy and being up-front about its lack of utility, keeping things pure and simple as a memecoin.

In late April to May 2023, the explosive surge of PEPE caused its market cap to reach a high of $1.6 billion at one point, minting millionaires out of early holders and attracting a strong community of like-minded followers. It has induced what some may dub a "memecoin season," causing other memecoins — some launched within hours — to go on spectacular pumps and just as astounding dumps. It remains to be seen if PEPE and other memecoins will go on to new highs, although that is certainly the hope of many believers waiting for the coming BTC halving cycle praying for a Bull Run.

The PEPE roadmap features three phases, where phase one includes listing on CoinMarketCap, and getting $PEPE trending on Twitter, while phase two includes listing on centralized exchanges (CEXs) and phase three includes “tier 1” exchange listings and what the team terms a “meme takeover.”

Pepe

SingularityNET is a blockchain-powered platform that allows anybody to easily "create, share, and monetize" AI services, thanks to its globally-accessible AI marketplace.

Through the SingularityNET marketplace, users can browse, test and purchase a huge variety of AI services using the platform’s native utility token — AGIX. Moreover, the marketplace represents an outlet AI developers can use to publish and sell their AI tools, and easily track their performance.

With the benefits of LLMs and generative AI are increasingly exciting, their limitations are also becoming increasingly apparent. The convergence of structured knowledge with neural networks is emerging as the key to overcoming their shortcomings.

Uniquely positioned at the heart of this convergence, SingularityNET will prioritize the integration of Knowledge Graphs (KGs) and comprehensive Neural Symbolic tools for LLMs, with the goal of empowering developers to create the next generation of AI systems on the SingularityNET Platform.

SingularityNET is strategically positioned to become the Knowledge Layer of the Internet, leading the evolution of the emerging AI landscape while also laying the foundations for the Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) of tomorrow.

The team behind SingularityNET pioneered the development of an AI known as Sophia, which is described as the "world's most expressive robot". SingularityNET’s goal is to enable Sophia to be able to fully understand human language, and continue developing “OpenCog” — an AI framework that is hoped to eventually achieve a state known as “advanced general intelligence,” i.e. human-level artificial intelligence (or beyond).

The platform was first announced in 2017 and completed an initial coin offering (ICO) in December the same year, raising $36 million in just one minute.

SingularityNET

NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain that was designed as a community-run cloud computing platform and that eliminates some of the limitations that have been bogging competing blockchains, such as low transaction speeds, low throughput and poor interoperability. This provides the ideal environment for DApps and creates a developer and user-friendly platform. For instance, NEAR uses human-readable account names, unlike the cryptographic wallet addresses common to Ethereum. NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems and has its own consensus mechanism called “Doomslug.”

NEAR Protocol is being built by the NEAR Collective, its community that is updating the initial code and releasing updates to the ecosystem. Its declared goal is to build a platform that is “secure enough to manage high value assets like money or identity and performant enough to make them useful for everyday people.”

Flux, a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and Mintbase, an NFT minting platform are examples of projects being built on NEAR Protocol.

NEAR Protocol

Ondo

Avalanche is a layer one blockchain that functions as a platform for decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks. It is one of Ethereum’s rivals, aiming to unseat Ethereum as the most popular blockchain for smart contracts. It aims to do so by having a higher transaction output of up to 6,500 transactions per second while not compromising scalability.

This is made possible by Avalanche’s unique architecture. The Avalanche network consists of three individual blockchains: the X-Chain, C-Chain and P-Chain. Each chain has a distinct purpose, which is radically different from the approach Bitcoin and Ethereum use, namely having all nodes validate all transactions. Avalanche blockchains even use different consensus mechanisms based on their use cases.

After its mainnet launch in 2020, Avalanche has worked on developing its own ecosystem of DApps and DeFi. Different Ethereum-based projects such as SushiSwap and TrueUSD have integrated with Avalanche. Furthermore, the platform is constantly working on improving interoperability between its own ecosystem and Ethereum, like through the development of bridges.

Avalanche

Polygon (previously Matic Network) is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building multiple types of applications.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Polygon Matic.

Using Polygon, one can create optimistic rollup chains, ZK rollup chains, stand alone chains or any other kind of infra required by the developer.

Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system (aka Internet of Blockchains). This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.

The $MATIC token will continue to exist and will play an increasingly important role, securing the system and enabling governance.

Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a Layer 2 scaling solution backed by Binance and Coinbase. The project seeks to stimulate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by resolving the problems of scalability on many blockchains.

Polygon combines the Plasma Framework and the proof-of-stake blockchain architecture. The Plasma framework used by Polygon as proposed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, allows for the easy execution of scalable and autonomous smart contracts.

Nothing will change for the existing ecosystem built on the Plasma-POS chain. With Polygon, new features are being built around the existing proven technology to expand the ability to cater to diverse needs from the developer ecosystem. Polygon will continue to develop the core technology so that it can scale to a larger ecosystem.

Polygon boasts of up to 65,000 transactions per second on a single side chain, along with a respectable block confirmation time of less than two seconds. The framework also allows for the creation of globally available decentralized financial applications on a single foundational blockchain.

The Plasma framework gives Polygon the potential of housing an unlimited number of decentralized applications on their infrastructure without experiencing the normal drawbacks common on proof-of-work blockchains. So far, Polygon has attracted more than 50 DApps to its PoS-secured Ethereum sidechain.

MATIC, the native tokens of Polygon, is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain. The tokens are used for payment services on Polygon and as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Polygon ecosystem. The transaction fees on Polygon sidechains are also paid in MATIC tokens.

Polygon

Akash Network

The $BEAM token serves as the native crypto asset for the Beam network, a gaming network empowered by the Merit Circle DAO. Beam is an ecosystem where gamers and developers come together to shape the future of the gaming industry. One of its core components is the Beam SDK, which is a flexible software development kit that enables game developers to choose between a variety of tools that can be used to fuel and structure their in-game blockchain elements.

To interact with Beam, $BEAM is required. This is the native crypto asset used within the Beam network to pay for transactions. This not only includes transfers of assets but also involves all interactions with smart contracts on the Beam network, facilitating a seamless, immersive gaming experience.

Besides functioning as a gas token that fuels the Beam network, $BEAM is the heart of the governance of the Merit Circle DAO. This decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was brought to live in early 2021 to revolutionize the gaming industry. The $BEAM token allows its holders to participate in governance of this DAO.