TL;DR: Kaspa is a proof-of-work blockchain that draws on Bitcoin’s technical model and core ethos as it aims for decentralization and peer-to-peer transactions, alongside speed and scalability. It has a strong community and the KAS token has performed well over the past couple of years. However, it has yet to build out an active ecosystem, and the full launch of KRC-20 tokens, which will function as fungible tokens on Kaspa, has been delayed. At the same time though, there are high expectations for Kaspa to develop efficiently from here.
It might not be at the top of everyone’s lists of famous blockchains (yet), but Kaspa is an intriguing project with plenty to set it apart from the competition. To get a solid understanding of what Kaspa is and how to approach it–as both an investment and as an incoming new ecosystem–let’s take a look at how and where to buy Kaspa, and check in also on Kaspa wallets and Kaspa meme coins.
Before that though, we’ll start with a look at this blockchain’s origins, and at what the Kaspa founder had in mind when he set the project in motion.
Is Kaspa Decentralized?
The first thing to note is that in a crypto space where the majority of blockchains are now proof-of-stake, particularly with Ethereum having switched to a proof-of-stake model back in 2022, Kaspa stands out as a proof-of-work blockchain. This puts it in the same category as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin, and in fact–like Bitcoin–Kaspa was originally devised as a fully decentralized peer-to-peer payment system.
The similarities with BTC don’t end there though, as Kaspa also utilizes some of Bitcoin’s defining characteristics, including a UTXO model, and the lack of any kind of premine or ICO, or any form of central governance. It is a community project, and follows the fair launch-style principles first established by Bitcoin back in 2009.
Kaspa mainnet went live in November 2021, and it utilizes protocols called GHOSTDAG and PHANTOM, which it claims makes it “the fastest proof-of-work L1 available”, and it’s worth emphasizing that Kaspa is focused on speed and scaling combined with the robust decentralization enabled by proof-of-work. Kaspa’s protocol was the product of the now-dissolved development team DAGlabs, which was led by Kaspa founder Yonatan Sompolinsky.
Mining of Kaspa’s token, KAS, is expected to continue for 36 years from mainnet launch, by which time there will be a total supply of around 28.7 billion coins. As with Bitcoin, coin emissions are decreasing and supply is deflationary, although unlike Bitcoin, block rewards are decreased on a monthly basis leading to an annual halving of new supply (whereas BTC mining rewards are cut in two at the halving event, which occurs roughly every four years).
Download a Kaspa Wallet
If you want to prepare to explore the still very early Kaspa ecosystem, then you’ll need a dedicated Kaspa wallet, and the product to go for is KasWare, which is a browser extension product similar to MetaMask or Phantom. This integrates with Kasplex, which is a protocol layer facilitating incoming new Kaspa token standards, something we’ll go into in the meme coins section below.
To get started with the KasWare wallet though, you can download the extension for Chrome (please note that there’s no mobile version), and then click through to create a new wallet, taking care to keep your seed phrase secure in case you need to recover the wallet later.
How and Where to Buy Kaspa
If you’re wondering how to buy KAS on Coinbase or Binance, then the answer is: you can’t, because neither of these major exchanges have listed it yet. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it indicates that Kaspa still has plenty of room to expand, and you can currently buy the KAS token on plenty of other exchanges, including KuCoin, Bybit and BitGet.
For example on BitGet, there’s a KAS/USDT trading pair, and if you’re just planning on holding onto your KAS for a while and you’re comfortable with the third party risk of not taking custody of your coins, you can keep it there on the exchange.
Or to take your KAS off-exchange and then also be able to interact on Kaspa, you can send it to your KasWare wallet by copying your wallet’s receiving address, then going to the withdraw function back on the exchange, from where you’ll make sure you’ve chosen KAS as the coin to transfer, KASPA as the selected network, and then pasted your KasWare address in as the withdrawal address, after which you can click through to initiate the transfer.
KAS Token Price Performance
The KAS token has made enormous gains since launch, increasing in price by over 86,500% across a period of around the last two years. This means it has grown to a market cap of about $4 billion, and is currently ranked number 22 by market cap among crypto coins.
The token price at the time of writing is 16 cents, while an all-time high of 20 cents was set in August of this year, and overall KAS has been an extremely strong performer during this current crypto market cycle, and hasn’t been following the same trends as many other coins.
Kaspa Meme Coins and Ecosystem
A new token standard called KRC-20 was due to launch on Kaspa at the end of June through the Kasplex protocol layer, which builds on top of Kasper. However, the launch experienced technical difficulties, and so a mainnet relaunch now looks like it will take place in mid-September. Expectations for this are very high within the Kaspa community, as KRC-20s are (as the name suggests) similar to ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, meaning that they allow for fungible tokens to be launched on the Kaspa blockchain, from which a working ecosystem can develop and expand.
And here in this currently casino-like crypto cycle, new tokens will mean, inevitably, the emergence of meme coins–a topic you can read about in this article comparing NFTs and meme coins. Whether or not you’re a fan of meme tokens, there’s no doubt that they’ve grabbed a huge amount of mindshare this year, and although meme coin activity became subdued over the summer, it has the potential to pick up again in the event of further bullish moves in the wider crypto market.
In that case, you might find profits (along, of course, with substantial risks) in new ecosystems where novel tokens are emerging, and as such, Kaspa has good potential to generate some excitement. To look further into incoming new Kaspa meme coins, you can check out a project called Kasper the Ghost of Kaspa, which is currently the leading meme project on Kaspa, and a couple of other early movers are KasBot and DagKnight Dog.
Additionally, if you’re looking for a future KRC-20 token that is all about utility rather than memes, then check out Fusun. In fact, this is about as far from meme coin gambling as you can get, as it’s centered on peer-to-peer green energy trading through local microgrids, and intends to utilize the Kaspa blockchain for this purpose, with an overall focus on “building a decentralized, sustainable future”.
And besides getting KRC-20 tokens fully launched, a thriving Kaspa ecosystem will also require the establishment of platforms on which to transact, meaning the race is on to establish the first Kaspa DEX. A project called KDX is leading in this regard, while another contender is XODEX, which is an already working protocol that integrates multiple chains and has plans to include Kaspa.
Also, it’s not a DEX but it’s also worth checking out a new Kaspa central resource hub called KasBay, while the place to find out about and discuss all the latest Kaspa news (and where you can also gauge community sentiment), is the Kaspa Discord server.
Kaspa’s Potential
Kaspa is an unusual blockchain project that appears seriously committed to decentralization, and to the continuation of other core principles established by Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. It makes sure to use proof-of-work and the fair distribution of a limited supply of coins, while at the same time, Kaspa also places a strong emphasis on speed and scaling, and if KRC-20 tokens can relaunch efficiently–and an ecosystem of native platforms then emerges and brings in users–then the network has solid potential.
That said, the whole project is still at a very early stage, an active ecosystem has yet to be built out, and there are many other Layer-1 and Layer-2 competitors already securing both market share and attention, meaning that for now, it remains to be seen whether Kaspa will fully establish itself as a long-term contender.
