It keeps the core things Bitcoiners care about:
✅ Proof-of-Work
✅ UTXO model
✅ permissionless decentralization
✅ open-source, fair launch ethos

But it introduces an architecture Bitcoin would never adopt without becoming a different system entirely: BlockDAG consensus (GHOSTDAG), which allows parallel blocks while preserving ordered consensus.
See Links to Github, community chats forums white papers and other Dev resources on http://kaspa.org

1) Beyond “digital cash”: Kaspa aims at sovereign settlement infrastructure
Bitcoin proved digital scarcity. The next stage is neutral, sovereign settlement at real-world speed.
Kaspa’s argument is bigger than payments: Kaspa is positioning as a universal settlement grid, essentially “Sovereignty as a Service” as its been said by @hashdag and @michaelsuttonil

Kaspa will be Meaning settlement infrastructure that can be:
✅ Global
✅ Neutral
✅ Real-time
✅ Permissionless
✅ Not controlled by a state, corporation, or validator cartel

This matters because the modern world is moving toward:
✅ Always-on markets
✅ Machine-to-machine payments
✅ Real-time trade and logistics
✅ Programmable compliance and reporting
✅ Tokenized assets and settlement rails

That future needs settlement that is fast enough to keep up.

2) Kaspa fills Bitcoin’s gaps without abandoning Bitcoin’s values
• Bitcoin’s base chain is intentionally slow and conservative. It wasn’t engineered for real-time settlement.
• Kaspa keeps PoW, but changes the throughput assumptions.

Kaspa’s network generates:
⚡️10 blocks per second
⚡️fully confirmed transactions in about 1 second

That’s why the comparison isn’t “Kaspa beats Bitcoin.”

It’s: Kaspa extends Bitcoin’s vision into a new performance envelope.
✅Bitcoin is sound scarcity.
✅Kaspa is sound settlement.

3) The broader altcoin problem: trilemma, MEV, parasitic L2s
Most altcoins “scale” by changing the rules of the game:
• Proof-of-Stake and validator politics
• governance capture and insider power
• centralized sequencing, bridging assumptions
• ecosystems where L2s extract rent while security and neutrality become fragmented

Kaspa solves scaling at the consensus layer using BlockDAG rather than relying on centralized validators or a stack of parasitic layers.

4) Adoption movers: independent orgs pushing real integration
Every blockchain’s final vulnerability is not tech. It’s adoption.

Some online community stats:
• Largest X Account – 246,649 followers @kaspaunchained
(plus 1000’s of Kaspa focused content creators)
• Telegram: 37,474 Members
• Discord 55,482 members

Kaspa is unusual because it’s not just hoping adoption happens. It has independent initiatives designed to drive it.
• Consistently innovating and flawlessly delivering from Genesis to the RUST Rewrite to Crescendo and now looking towards VProgs, Covenants, Oracles, DagKnight.
• Kaspa Industrial Initiative (@KaspaKii): focused on enterprise and industrial adoption across finance, supply chain, energy, and public sector pathways.
• WarpCore (KII initiative): middleware designed to bridge traditional institutional rails and standards into Kaspa settlement logic, including ISO 20022 alignment.
• Kaspa Ecosystem Foundation ( @Kaspa_KEF): separate ecosystem organization supporting long-term growth and development support.
Whether people agree with every approach or not, the point is: Kaspa has serious adoption scaffolding forming around it.

5) Proof the ecosystem is real: applications and events already shipping
Settlement infrastructure is proven by builders and real outputs, not promises.
Kaspa already has live ecosystem activity beyond “store of value” narratives:

Apps and primitives:
• Kaspa Name Service (@knsdomain): .kas domains and identity layer
• @kasiamessaging Messaging: encrypted decentralized P2P messaging built on Kaspa L1 transactions
• K-Social: ( http://k-social.network) Like X but decentralized and powered by Kaspa
• @KasMaporg – Mapping the Kaspa community, merchants and events
• Numerous decentralized Wallets, Explorers, DEXs, and more.

Events (real-world proof of adoption momentum):
• 100s of Global Events and Meetups since 2022
•Kaspa Experience (@KaspaExperience
– Berlin 2025): a full community conference showcasing the ecosystem and real-world adoption energy
• @kaspathon: a community-organized hackathon designed to test and showcase Kaspa’s latest builder capabilities

This is what matters: you’re watching a network evolve from a coin into a settlement-grade ecosystem.
This isn’t really #Bitcoin vs #Kaspa.
Bitcoin remains a benchmark for digital scarcity and first mover.
Kaspa is what happens when you take that same PoW ethos and push it into a new technical category: real-time, sovereign, scalable settlement infrastructure.
If the modern world is heading toward real-time settlement, Kaspa is one of the only networks attempting that future without abandoning the foundational decentralization model.

So….
Bitcoin:
• exposed the problem
• created an alternative store-of-value
• became a protest symbol against fiat + banking capture
• Was first to market for this new technology

Kaspa:
• keeps the same ethos (PoW, decentralization)
but focuses on the infrastructure layer
• aiming at real-time, high-frequency settlement and coordination. Not just money that holds value, but the backbone for real-time systems: finance, identity, trade, and data.

PS. One of the best “aha” moments is when we show 10BPS on a BlockDAG visualizer. 🙂

A recent interview with @Kaspa_HypeMan is a strong introduction to Kaspa and well worth watching in full.

What stood out most to us was Wolfie’s mention of the “next wave.” For years, we’ve talked about Kaspa as a next-generation decentralized Standard of Settlement, infrastructure built for real-world use, not speculation. The idea behind #PoweredByKaspa has always been that the network exists to support systems people actually rely on.

Wolfie takes this further by framing the next phase through a business and adoption lens. In traditional terms, this phase is known as Product Market Fit, or PMF. Wolfie refers to it as Project Market Fit, which is especially appropriate for a Layer 1 like Kaspa. Rather than a single product finding its market, this is about the broader protocol, developer activity, and ecosystem aligning with real demand and real use cases.

What Product, or Project Market Fit Means for Kaspa
Project Market Fit is the moment when a technology’s core capabilities align strongly with actual user needs and real use cases. In blockchain terms it means moving beyond pure technical milestones or ideological positioning, toward products, adoption, and utility that solve real problems users, developers, institutions, and markets care about. It’s a shift from “we built this because it’s possible” to “people want this because it works better than alternatives.” PMF is often marked by growing adoption, repeated usage, ecosystem growth, integrated applications, and tangible feedback loops confirming demand.

Kaspa’s Strengths That Support PMF

1. Core Technical Fit
Kaspa’s core protocol, a PoW Layer 1 using the GHOSTDAG blockDAG, directly addresses the blockchain trilemma by enabling security, decentralization, and high throughput at once. It does this by letting blocks be created and ordered in parallel, rather than in a single chain. This allows low latency, extremely high throughput, and decentralized security without compromising one for another. These are foundational attributes that align with the needs of payments, settlement systems, and high-performance apps.

Yonatan Sompolinsky and core contributors have repeatedly emphasized this architectural fit as not just a technical novelty, but as a bridge to useful, scalable blockchain infrastructure. Community signals and past proposals by Yonatan show interest in extending the protocol toward programmability and broader tooling, because basic Layer 1 throughput alone does not constitute PMF without applications that matter to users.

2. Community-Driven Real Adoption
Kaspa’s community has become a key engine for PMF exploration. Channels like Kaspa Commons focus on real-world impact stories, everyday benefits, and adoption narratives, rather than purely ideological or speculative content. This drive mirrors the “Powered by Kaspa” and “Disruption” mantra, namely the belief that Kaspa’s tech can underlie faster, cheaper, and more accessible value transfer or decentralized services.

Community voting, grassroots developer contributions, independent projects, for example point-of-sale systems, DeFi hubs, analytics tools, explorers, and media platforms, and global engagement all reflect demand signals that go beyond technologists talking to each other. These organic projects test which integrations actually stick, which is a core part of discovering PMF.

3. Ecosystem Tooling and Developer Focus
Technological fit enables tooling growth. When protocol features are stable and performant, such as high block rates and prospective programmability layers, developers are more likely to build meaningful applications, wallets, bridge protocols, payment rails, indexers, and data tools. Strong developer engagement is a classic feedback loop on the journey to PMF.

In recent ecosystem narratives, including coverage of emerging building blocks like vProgs, simplified sovereign logic units akin to constrained smart contracts, and early DeFi components, you can see real utility coming into focus rather than hypothetical future tech. This signals a transition from pure protocol milestones toward actual building and integration, which is required for PMF.

4. Narratives That Resonate With Broader Markets
Part of Kaspa’s push into PMF is about storytelling that connects technical strengths with clear market problems, fast payments, low fees, resilient decentralized infrastructure, and developer flexibility. Channels like Kaspa Commons amplify use cases, people, and real impact, which helps the protocol connect with audiences who could adopt, build on, or integrate with Kaspa.

Product or Project Market Fit for Kaspa means a shift from protocol performance and community enthusiasm toward repeatable, valuable use cases that attract real users and developers. The network’s unique blockDAG design underpins a technically compelling foundation. The community’s emphasis on real-world benefits and decentralized projects serves as a proving ground. Early ecosystem tools and narratives aligning tech strengths with tangible market needs are the active forces pushing Kaspa toward PMF.

Kaspa’s story has always been about solving what others said couldn’t be solved: achieving high throughput in proof of work without increasing L1 complexity or weakening decentralization. Now, as builders begin exploring what’s possible on top of that foundation, a new question emerges: how do we enable rich programmability around a fast Layer 1 while keeping the base protocol minimal and easy to verify?

The conversation has become crowded with terms like vProgs, rollups, sidechains, and L1 tokens such as KRC-20. Each points toward a vision of programmable money and data, but they live on different timelines and serve different purposes. Some exist now, others are still being written into Kaspa’s long-term design, some may evolve or become redundant.

This document maps that landscape. It separates the near-term tools that developers can use today, like Igra’s based rollups, from the long-term direction of Kaspa Core’s verifiable programs (vProgs). It also places sidechains and on-chain token standards in context, showing how these approaches can coexist, evolve, and find their natural roles as the ecosystem matures.

The goal isn’t to crown a winner, but to bring clarity. By understanding where each layer fits, and when it fits, we can align the community’s expectations and accelerate the collective vision: a verifiable, and sovereign digital economy built on Kaspa.

The Kaspa Programmability Landscape

Near term: Rollups on Kaspa give real programmability now. Igra’s based rollup approach is the most active track today, with public nodes and EVM tooling coming online. igralabs.com+1

Long term: vProgs are Kaspa’s native execution vision for verifiable programs with off-chain execution and on-chain verification, designed to keep L1 lean while enabling rich logic and synchronous composability. Kaspa Research+2Kaspa Research+2 

For more insight into vProgs and the Kaspa Core roadmap, read the Kaspa vProgs Architecture Overview.will be a kaspa.org blog and Youtube link

Sidechains and app-chains: Useful for sovereignty and specialization, but they are separate consensus domains that do not inherit Kaspa L1 security by default. Dymension’s RollApps are an example of this design space. docs.dymension.xyz

L1 “programmability” today: KRC-20 (Kasplex) and similar inscription style protocols live on L1 as data. These are helpful experiments, but much of this functionality is expected to migrate to L2 environments as they mature. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io+1

The Landscape

vProgs on L1: Kaspa’s native verifiable programs model. Execute off chain, verify on chain, keep L1 fast and lean. Targets synchronous composability without sacrificing sovereignty of programs. Timeline is long term and tied to core protocol work alongside DagKnight era improvements. Kaspa Research+1

Rollups on Kaspa (L2): Pragmatic route to programmability now. Sequencing leverages Kaspa’s blockDAG. Igra Labs is building a based rollup stack with EVM support and bridging modules, shipping testnet infra and public endpoints. Kaspa Research+2igralabs.com+2

L1 inscriptions and KRC-20: Data insertion plus indexing on Kaspa L1. Useful for tokens and NFTs, while L2 environments will handle use cases that benefit from richer logic and more complex state. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io+1

Sidechains and app-chains: Separate chains with their own consensus that connect to Kaspa. Good for sovereignty and customization, but security depends on bridges and the sidechain’s validator set. Dymension RollApps illustrate this pattern. docs.dymension.xyz

What ships when

Near term, community can build today

• Deploy dApps to EVM environments that sequence on Kaspa through Igra’s stack. Public test nodes and RPC are available. Kaspa
• Use KRC-20 or inscription style patterns when you only need simple on-chain data and indexing, not complex logic. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io+1

Mid to long term, core protocol goal

• vProgs deliver native, verifiable program execution with on-chain proofs, designed for synchronous composability and high throughput. Community research threads lay out pruning, composability, and L1↔L2 design questions. Kaspa Research+1
• Some of these capabilities may also appear through based rollups combined with L1 ZK facilities, since certain elements of the vProg architecture can be explored without the complete vProg mechanism. This remains an active area of research.

How they differ

Sources on vProgs design and goals, and L1↔L2 research threads. Kaspa Research+1
Igra architecture and public endpoints for near-term dev work. igralabs.com+1
Kasplex KRC-20 docs and overview. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io+1
Dymension RollApps overview. docs.dymension.xyz

* vProgs are rollup-like and fit within the broader rollup family, but they differ from classical L2 rollups because they are sequenced by Kaspa L1 and designed for synchronous composability instead of operating as separate chains.

Evolution path without confusion

1. Start on L2: Ship apps on Igra’s EVM rollup. You inherit Kaspa L1 ordering, get mainstream tooling, and can move fast while vProgs mature. igralabs.com+1
2. Graduate features to vProgs over time: Critical logic that benefits from native verification and tighter L1 guarantees can migrate to vProgs once available. Research is already outlining composability and pruning requirements. Kaspa Research+1
3. Use sidechains only when sovereignty outweighs L1 settlement benefits: Choose this when you need your own parameters and do not require Kaspa’s L1 security for every step. docs.dymension.xyz
4. Treat KRC-20 as a bridge, not a destination: Great for lightweight tokens or proofs of concept. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io

Frequent misconceptions

“vProgs are just another name for rollups.”
Yes and No. vProgs are a type of rollup in architecture, but not classical rollups. They are an L1-integrated rollup architecture with off-chain execution, on-chain verification, and native sequencing. Classical rollups run as separate L2 chains, while vProgs are built directly into L1 semantics. Kaspa Research+1

“vProgs are smart contracts running on Kaspa L1.”
No. vProgs are an architecture for apps running next to L1, with ZK verification and shared state standards. Not executing on-chain. Kaspa vProgs yellow paper

“Rollups on Kaspa cannot be EVM or practical now.”
Igra’s stack explicitly targets EVM compatibility and has published litepaper and public endpoints for builders. igralabs.com+2X (formerly Twitter)+2

“Kaspa L2s work like Ethereum rollups.”
No. Based rollups have no centralized sequencer — transactions ordered directly by Kaspa consensus. Fundamentally different model, with different security assumptions and economy. Igra litepaper

“L2s compete with vProgs.”
No. Based L2s are proto-vProgs. As ZK VMs, state composability standards, and native verification mature, L2s evolve into full vProg architecture. From Rollups to vProgs

“Covenants alone enable programmability.”
Partial. Covenants give conditional spending (asset scripts, token standards). Add ZK verification = foundation for sovereign composable vProgs. Both needed. Kaspa Research

“vProgs guarantee liquidity defragmentation.”
No. vProgs need unified asset layer. Without base-layer token standard, each vProg issues wrapped tokens = fragmented liquidity, broken ecosystem. The architecture enables composability, but only if value can move smoothly between vProgs. vProgs Yellow Paper

“ZK opcodes = vProgs.”
No. ZK opcodes provide L1 foundation. Production vProg ecosystem requires mature stack: battle-tested ZK VMs, composability standards adopted across builders, dev tooling, auditors familiar with sovereignty model, legal frameworks. These will be developed through builder ecosystem collaboration and iteration cycles

“KRC-20 is Kaspa’s smart contract system.”
KRC-20 is a data insertion and indexing protocol on L1. It is not a full contract VM. L2s are expected to take over richer programmability. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io+1

“Sidechains equal L2.”
Sidechains are separate consensus domains. They do not automatically inherit L1 security. That trade-off is intentional for sovereignty and performance. Dymension’s docs describe this explicitly. docs.dymension.xyz

Community confusion called out by builders themselves:
Igra publicly clarified language about inspiration and scope to reduce misreadings about “competing with Kaspa core.” This helps separate near term rollups from long term vProgs. X (formerly Twitter)

What to use, when

• Payments, DeFi, EVM tooling, quick integrations: Rollup via Igra. Build now, connect existing wallets and infra, plan a future on-ramp to vProgs for critical parts. igralabs.com+1
• Native verifiable apps with L1-level guarantees and fine-grained composability: vProgs, once ready. Track research threads and proposals. Kaspa Research+1
• Specialized zones or domain-specific throughput where you accept separate consensus: Sidechain or app-chain. docs.dymension.xyz
• Simple tokens or proofs on L1 for now: KRC-20. Expect migration to L2 as ecosystems mature. docs-kasplex.gitbook.io

Kaspa’s architecture is not a single lane, but a highway system under construction. Each route, L1 vProgs, L2 rollups, sidechains, and experimental on-chain standards, serves a different purpose, yet all lead toward the same destination: scalable, verifiable freedom.

The next few years will be about connecting those routes. Rollups will deliver real applications first, proving what is possible on Kaspa’s settlement layer. Sidechains will test sovereignty and specialization. Meanwhile, vProgs will continue to take shape inside Kaspa Core, preparing the protocol for a future where logic and proof coexist natively.

Builders, researchers, and users all contribute to the direction of this ecosystem. Clarity matters, knowing what belongs on L1 and what grows around it. As these pieces mature, Kaspa stands to become a standard for settlement and a secure base for providing sovereignty as a service to applications, chains, and users.

Author – Atty. Angel Puente Reyes (KaspaIntern)

Dii Desert Industrial Initiative Conference. Nov 6-7 2025, Dubai

Background: On behalf of LehmanBush HK Limited, I had the opportunity to join the 15th DII Desert Energy Leadership Summit in Dubai last week.

The first day of the conference was opened by Paul van Son, as President of Dii Desert Energy, who also serves as Chairman of Kaspa Industrial Initiative KII.

The conference was co-organized by the Government of the United Arab Emirates. During the second day of Agenda H.E. Eng. Sharif Salim Al-Olama open the ceremony. He serves as the Undersecretary of Energy and Petroleum Affairs of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE.

The core subjects of the two-day conference analyzed the importance of resilience, sustainability, energy trading and energy efficiency in the Region. Including the high demand of energy generation and energy trading infrastructure in the context of the development of existing systems and the current AI and infrastructure necessity for data center to match market demands.

During the second day Rory O’Neill board member of Kaspa Industrial Initiative KII and Member of Dii Advisory Board & Director presented a keynote on “Kaspa’s BlockDAG Technology: Solving the Blockchain Trilemma”. The main takeaway of this presentation was precisely brief to the audience on the existing infrastructure and the benefits for using Kaspa as a carrier and settlement layer for energy trading and real utility in the Energy sector for Dii stakeholders in a global context.

In the table below I have listed some relevant corporations that partook the event. These industrial leaders represent Trillions in combined market value and play central roles in global energy, hydrogen, infrastructure, and industrial transformation.

Comment on Installed Capacity and Kaspa’s Potential: The companies at the DII Summit collectively account for hundreds of gigawatts of global energy infrastructure. This includes everything from nuclear, gas, wind, and solar capacities managed by giants like Siemens, EDF, GE Vernova, and Jinko Solar. In total, their footprint easily surpasses 700 gigawatts of installed energy capacity worldwide.

Conversations around ZETA, GIGAWAT Coin and ZET-EX represents a settlement tool to exchange energy instruments permissionless. If even a fraction of that energy infrastructure’s trade flows were settled using Kaspa’s digital infrastructure as a carrier, it would represent a groundbreaking integration of decentralized finance into the global energy market, adding unprecedented speed and transparency to energy settlement and trade.

At the events dinner hosted by Siemens, I shared the table with Charles and Rory from KII, next to me was the Vicepresident of structure finance at SMBC Middle Eeast, a major Japanese Bank and we shared directly insights about Kaspa infrastructure and the feedback was positive.

Reflections: The Dii Desert Energy Leadership Summit brings together the world’s most established and influential energy and industrial companies.

Not every day an Undersecretary of the UAE opens a conference. If you take a look at the protocol, where he is sitting during the event (same table as Paul van Son) and for the Dii members picture he is placed in the center next to no other than Paul.

Kaspa currency, represented by the Kaspa Industrial Initiative (KII), presented alongside these global heavyweights, is definitely a strategic milestone that signals strong institutional positioning for real‑world energy, digital infrastructure, AI‑powered systems, and hydrogen value‑chain opportunities.

Now, it’s worth noting that both Rory and Paul carry sterling reputations in a sector dominated by just a handful of serious global players.

This alignment with Fortune‑500 level industrial actors demonstrates the increasing relevance of decentralized, high‑throughput digital settlement technologies in the next generation of clean‑energy markets.

Reflections for the normal crypto bro out there: Take the largest BTC holder for a second. MicroStrategy is a company that does not sell a product or at least had declining revenue before start purchasing BTC (We are talking about a company that not generated considerable cashflows on a real product or service at least not for what is trade now). MSTR became relevant only by purchasing BTC and building now financial products around it.

Now, take two steps backward and consider companies that have been in existence for over a century and are established industrial giants in the Energy field. This is why Dii is considered to be the “network of networks”.

These presentations were delivered to top executives and decision makers of this industries. The initiatives presented by KII are part of their current piloting and project developments that are build for their stakeholders with a clear market fit. 

Kaspa was not mentioned in the context of cryptocurrency. It was presented as infrastructure tool for delivering a solution to this industrial sector.

For me was a privilege to join. Also, worth mentioning that we discussed with Rory and Paul and they are willing to cooperate with LehmanBush in our upcoming endeavor for incorporating a 3C licensed fund manager company in the UAE for managing a Kaspa Qualified Investment Fund QIF before the ADMG.

Further steps: Currently, I am dealing the incorporation process of LehmanBush Capital in the UAE. LehmanBush the firm I represent for the Baltics and Latam, is an investment advisory firm based in Hong Kong, founded by Dr. Edward Lehman American attorney living in China for over three decades and Neil Bush brother and son of former US Presidents.

LehmanBush Capital in the UAE will be a licensed fund manager at ADGM in Abh Dhabi. Under our fund manager I am in charge of an energy portfolio which comprise traditional private equity in the Baltic countries, and our Kaspa Qualified Investment Fund. We have retained legal services for this matter in Abu Dhabi, and we are currently filling the documentation for the In-Principle-Approval IPA; after which the legal vehicles will be incorporated by Q1 2026.

We are discussing with various stakeholders, not only for joining as limited partners or anchor investor but also to be part of our board and management. In this sense, we have discussed with both KII and KEF for bringing together support in our board, and we are considering also incorporating an advisor in the future coming from the community as an expert to discuss governance matters.

I’m convinced Kaspa is a powerhouse of innovation, research, and revolutionary tech that will impact the world. But when this tech meets industrial players who’ve spent centuries building the backbone of global infrastructure… that’s when the impact becomes exponential.

Kind Regards,

Atty. Angel Puente Reyes (KaspaIntern)
Director to Baltics and Latin America
LehmanBush
apuente@lehmanbush.com
www.lehmanbush.com 

Jim Collins wrote two landmark studies on organizational excellence: Built to Last and Good to Great. The first explored how visionary companies create enduring cultures that outlive their founders. The second examined how already competent organizations make the disciplined leap to greatness. Kaspa’s story fits naturally within both frameworks. It is a system built to last and a project that continues to grow from good to great through focus, transparency, and shared purpose.

This article focuses on the Good to Great principles that best reflect Kaspa’s development and community. The parallels reveal why this decentralized ecosystem continues to gain strength through clarity, patience, and collective discipline. A future piece will explore Kaspa through the lens of Built to Last, examining how its architecture and culture create permanence in a fast-changing digital world.

Level 5 Leadership — Humility with Determination

Collins described Level 5 leaders as individuals who blend humility with steadfast resolve. Kaspa’s developers, researchers, and community coordinators embody this kind of leadership. Their focus remains on technical progress, not personal recognition. They continue to work quietly, testing, refining, and documenting every advancement.

That same temperament shapes the wider ecosystem. Designers, marketers, and educators work with consistency and restraint. The collective leadership of Kaspa comes from its behavior, not its hierarchy. Each contributor reinforces a culture of integrity and calm determination.

First Who, Then What — Building the Right Team Before the Direction

The principle of assembling the right people before setting direction applies strongly to Kaspa. The project began with mathematicians and protocol designers who valued truth and proof over speculation. Once those individuals were aligned, the path forward became clear.

As the ecosystem expanded, it welcomed creative and communicative professionals who helped translate Kaspa’s purpose to the world. Marketers, content writers, and educators began shaping a voice for the project that matches its technical values. Together, they formed a complete and coherent team, each contributing to the same long-term vision.

Confront the Brutal Facts — Radical Transparency

Collins emphasized the importance of confronting reality. Kaspa practices that through complete transparency. Its developers publish updates openly, explain limitations plainly, and present data rather than assumptions.

This attitude extends through its outreach and brand communication. The Kaspa community avoids exaggerated claims or artificial marketing language. Each initiative is grounded in facts and visible progress. This consistency of truth-telling has built long-term credibility. It shows that honesty is not only ethical but also practical for sustaining trust.

The Hedgehog Concept — Clarity of Mission

The Hedgehog Concept is about focusing on one clear purpose. For Kaspa, that purpose is the advancement of scalable, decentralized Proof-of-Work. Every development decision connects to that idea.

GHOSTDAG, DAGKnight, and vProgs are natural extensions of this purpose. They improve speed, order, and verifiability while maintaining decentralization. Kaspa’s clarity of mission prevents it from being pulled toward trends. The community understands what the project stands for and what it is building toward.

Culture of Discipline — Integrity at Every Level

Kaspa’s governance model demonstrates disciplined freedom. There is no central control, yet every contributor follows shared principles. The system operates through open collaboration and mutual accountability.

This discipline appears in both code and communication. Developers follow rigorous review processes. Designers maintain brand consistency. Marketers verify every message. Support teams work with patience and accuracy. The culture is orderly, not by enforcement, but by collective understanding of what the project represents.

Technology as an Accelerator — Innovation That Serves Purpose

Collins observed that technology amplifies existing strengths rather than creating them. Kaspa’s advancements serve as accelerators of its mission. DAGKnight enhances consensus efficiency. vProgs will introduce verifiable, programmable logic within network rules.

These developments improve function while preserving principle. They help Kaspa move faster without losing its architectural integrity. Technology in Kaspa is a tool that strengthens what already exists, not a shift in direction.

The Flywheel Effect — Momentum Through Consistency

The Flywheel Effect describes how persistence produces momentum. Kaspa’s progress reflects that process. Each wallet integration, merchant partnership, community translation, and code release adds energy to a cycle that becomes self-sustaining.

This approach may seem slow to those focused on token price, but adoption is a cumulative process. Kaspa’s momentum builds through reliability. Each contributor adds another turn to the wheel. Over time, the steady rhythm of effort produces lasting strength.

Avoiding the Doom Loop — Staying True to the Mission

The Doom Loop occurs when organizations react impulsively to trends and lose focus. Kaspa has avoided that pattern. Its developers and community have maintained attention on scalable Proof-of-Work and verifiable computation.

This consistency gives Kaspa stability in a field often defined by volatility. By holding to its principles, it creates a culture of reliability that continues to attract people who value long-term systems over temporary excitement.

Build a Clock, Not a Watch — Systems That Outlast Their Creators

Collins wrote that great leaders build mechanisms that continue beyond them. Kaspa’s architecture is designed for that level of independence. Its code is open-source, its supply fixed, and its governance distributed.

The same applies to its public presence. The brand is community-owned, its identity maintained through collective stewardship. Writers, designers, and educators around the world shape Kaspa’s message in unison, ensuring that the project remains coherent without central control.

Kaspa’s design philosophy, like the companies in Built to Last, values continuity over personality. The system exists to endure.

Closing Reflection

Kaspa’s development follows the same principles that Jim Collins identified in long-lasting organizations. It combines discipline, humility, and collective purpose. Each person involved, from developer to community volunteer, contributes to a system that grows through integrity.

Kaspa’s strength is its structure — a network designed to function through cooperation and verifiable truth. It is both built to last and built to improve. The ideas behind Good to Great and Built to Last describe how lasting excellence is achieved, and Kaspa demonstrates how those ideas can apply to decentralized technology.

The next chapter of this series will explore Built to Last directly, examining how Kaspa’s open architecture and distributed culture create permanence in an industry that rarely stands still.

The evolution of financial settlement infrastructure has followed a predictable path, from SWIFT’s analog message relays, to RippleNet’s tokenized cross-border corridors, to the next generation of decentralized value exchange. Each system has improved speed and accessibility, yet each remains limited by structural centralization.

WarpCore, being developed by the Kaspa Industrial Initiative (KII), represents the next step. Built on Kaspa’s Proof-of-Work blockDAG, it introduces a decentralized architecture for instant, programmable, and censorship-resistant settlement. Where SWIFT relies on intermediaries and RippleNet on controlled validators, WarpCore operates as an open, autonomous layer for global finance, executing transactions, compliance logic, and liquidity management directly at Layer 1.

This article outlines how Kaspa’s architecture, together with the upcoming DagKnight and vProgs advancements, can deliver a universal settlement framework capable of replacing legacy systems and uniting institutional, enterprise, and decentralized markets on a single infrastructure.

Kaspa Fixes This

Kaspa’s blockDAG architecture delivers decentralized settlement at global scale. The network achieves parallel confirmation of multiple blocks without sacrificing security. With the coming vProgs and DagKnight upgrades, Kaspa will move beyond payments into programmable finance, where compliance, liquidity, and automation operate directly at Layer 1. This framework establishes a foundation for real-time, enterprise-grade digital infrastructure designed for global use.

1. Faster Cross-Border Settlement

❌ RippleNet improves international payment speed, reducing settlement from days to seconds. However, it remains dependent on validator networks and corridor liquidity.

✅ Kaspa achieves greater speed and reliability through its blockDAG structure. The GHOSTDAG protocol allows multiple blocks to confirm in parallel every 100 milliseconds, producing continuous throughput without congestion. The coming DagKnight will further optimize consensus, delivering near-instant finality at scale. This creates true real-time settlement with no trade-off between speed, security, and decentralization.

2. Lower Liquidity Requirements

❌ RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity reduces the need for pre-funded accounts but depends on a bridge token. This model improves efficiency but still limits flexibility and ties liquidity to a specific asset.

Kaspa eliminates that dependency entirely. It functions as a universal settlement layer capable of handling stablecoins, tokenized fiat, and digital assets natively. The coming vProgs will allow institutions to automate liquidity flows and execute settlement logic directly on-chain. The result will be a flexible, neutral system for cross-border exchange without intermediaries or predefined liquidity routes.

3. Reduced Transaction Costs

❌ RippleNet lowers costs by removing correspondent banks and shortening payment routes, yet it remains dependent on network validators and institutional gateways.

✅ Kaspa’s efficiency is structural. The blockDAG design prevents bottlenecks and maintains minimal fees regardless of network demand. Proof-of-Work provides impartial validation while preserving decentralization. With the future integration of vProgs, settlement and reconciliation logic will be automated at Layer 1, removing manual processing and intermediary costs. This produces a consistent, near-zero transaction environment even under global load.

4. Integration and Interoperability

❌ RippleNet simplifies integration for financial institutions through APIs and gateways, improving connectivity within existing systems.

✅ Kaspa expands this by enabling direct, permissionless participation. Any enterprise or institution can connect to the Kaspa network or build tailored gateways without reliance on centralized intermediaries. The coming vProgs will extend interoperability further, allowing automated communication between legacy platforms and blockchain-based systems. This creates a seamless bridge between traditional financial infrastructure and decentralized networks.

5. Transparency, Auditability, and Security

❌ RippleNet maintains cryptographic security within its validator framework and provides traceability for compliance.

✅ Kaspa extends this to a fully decentralized environment. Every transaction is validated by a global Proof-of-Work network rather than a permissioned group. The ledger provides immutable, auditable transparency while supporting selective privacy where required. The coming DagKnight will enhance network resilience under high demand, and vProgs will enable automated, verifiable compliance directly on-chain. Institutions will be able to monitor, report, and audit activity without dependence on third-party verifiers.

6. Scalability and Programmability

❌ RippleNet outperforms legacy systems like SWIFT but remains limited in scale by its semi-centralized validator structure.

✅ Kaspa achieves horizontal scalability through its blockDAG architecture, confirming multiple blocks simultaneously while maintaining consistency. The coming DagKnight will enhance block ordering precision and synchronization. Future vProgs will introduce programmable functionality at Layer 1, allowing complex settlement logic to execute natively. Together, these components will form a secure, fast, and adaptable foundation for global financial operations.

❌ RippleNet gave the financial world a glimpse of what faster and cheaper cross-border payments could look like, but Kaspa delivers the complete system those institutions have been waiting for. 

✅ Kaspa represents a fundamental shift in how global settlement systems can operate. By combining a parallel Proof-of-Work architecture with the forthcoming DagKnight and vProgs advancements, it establishes a framework for transparent, programmable, and secure value exchange. WarpCore, being developed by the Kaspa Industrial Initiative, will extend this capability into institutional and enterprise markets, offering a decentralized alternative to both SWIFT and RippleNet. Together, these systems create the foundation for a new era of financial infrastructure, one defined by openness, speed, and trustless global interoperability.

This convergence of speed, scalability, and on-chain intelligence transforms Kaspa from a payment protocol into a full digital infrastructure for global finance, capable of replacing outdated rails and empowering institutions to move, manage, and verify value instantly and securely.

7. Centralization risk and validator control

❌ Even in RippleNet, validators are controlled or approved, limiting censorship resistance.  Kaspa fixes this by being fully permissionless and secured by Proof-of-Work, resisting censorship and centralization. Oracles replace human confirmation layers with real-time, verifiable data, allowing institutions to settle and audit instantly across jurisdictions.

✅ Decentralized Oracles integrated with Layer 1 logic (research work led by @eliottmea, will allow verified off-chain data to be used directly in settlement logic at the protocol level with real-time financial data, FX rates, regulatory confirmations, and liquidity metrics, without relying on trusted parties. Game-theoretic incentives and zero-knowledge verification will ensure accuracy and resistance to manipulation. WarpCore, developed by the Kaspa Industrial Initiative, will integrate oracle feeds for compliance, risk assessment, and automated cross-border execution.

BONUS TIPS on how institutions should adopt Kaspa now

Partner for liquidity
Institutional liquidity grows through collaboration. Partner with exchanges, fintechs, and on/off-ramp providers to enable seamless fiat-to-KAS conversions. Build liquidity pools in key markets to stabilize settlement flows. Kii can help identify reliable partners already active in these regions.

Form consortiums
Banks, fintechs, and infrastructure providers can collaborate on shared standards and governance models. Consortiums accelerate adoption by aligning technical requirements and compliance protocols. Kii can coordinate early participants and publish integration guidelines.

BEGIN NOW

Institutions can begin adopting Kaspa today through measured, collaborative steps that demonstrate performance and compliance. Early pilots and partnerships through Kii will help define standards for scalable, decentralized finance infrastructure built on proof of work.  See more links and resourses below.

Developer and Foundation Resources

Developer’s Resources

KII: https://kaspa-kii.org/warpcore

KEF: https://www.kaspafoundation.org

Throughout history, money has been judged by two essential roles: Store of Value (SoV) and Medium of Exchange (MoE). The ability to preserve wealth over time and the ability to transact efficiently have defined whether a currency or asset was considered sound money.

The third role, Standard of Settlement (SoS), has historically been the responsibility of infrastructure rather than money itself. Gold and precious metals acted as long-term Stores of Value. Fiat currencies such as the British Pound and the US Dollar became the Medium of Exchange. Central banks, clearinghouses, and interbank networks provided the Standard of Settlement by finalizing obligations between institutions. No single system has ever unified all three functions within one architecture.

Modern cryptocurrencies introduced the possibility that a single network could combine these roles. With Bitcoin, the currency and the ledger were fused into one system, creating digital scarcity and finality on the same rails. Kaspa extends this model further by pairing a scarce and deflationary coin with a scalable blockDAG ledger and emerging programmability. Together, these elements create the potential for a unified architecture that serves as a Store of Value, a Medium of Exchange, and a Standard of Settlement for both money and data movement.

Other projects attempted to capture the Medium of Exchange or Standard of Settlement roles, but all encountered tradeoffs in scalability, decentralization, or adoption. Most depend on Layer 2 networks or sidechains to achieve throughput, fragmenting their ecosystems and weakening their base layers.

Kaspa is different. It is designed to unify all three roles on one secure Layer 1.

• $KAS, the coin, provides scarcity, deflationary design, and usability as Store of Value and Medium of Exchange.
• The Kaspa blockDAG ledger provides scalability, immutability, and decentralization as the base settlement infrastructure.
• Programmability, led by DagKnight and vPROGs, enables both speed and contract logic, making Kaspa a universal platform for financial and non-financial settlement.

This combination makes Kaspa the first system to address both the Crypto Trilemma (security, scalability, decentralization) and the Fiat Trilemma (saleability across time, scale, and space). More than a currency, Kaspa is a programmable settlement technology for money, data, and enterprise trust systems.

Kaspa as Store of Value (SoV)

A Store of Value is any asset that allows wealth to be preserved over time without being inflated away, confiscated, or rendered irrelevant. Scarcity has always been the defining feature of this role. For centuries, gold and other precious metals served as the foundation of value preservation. Fiat systems later tied their reserves to gold, or substituted with government bonds and central bank reserves, but these approaches have proven vulnerable to inflation and political interference.

Bitcoin shifted the paradigm by proving that scarcity could exist in digital form. With a fixed supply of 21 million coins and secured by Proof of Work, it became “digital gold.” The two elements together are what gave Bitcoin this title:

• Fixed supply created digital scarcity, replicating the finite nature of gold.
• Proof of Work tied the creation of new units to real-world energy and computation, mirroring the costliness and security of gold mining.

This combination meant Bitcoin could not be inflated, counterfeited, or altered. It gave Bitcoin the durability and credibility of a Store of Value in both the crypto ecosystem and traditional finance.

Other projects have attempted to position themselves as Stores of Value, though with limited success:

• Litecoin was marketed as “digital silver” but lacked a unique technical advantage.
• Monero built its SoV case on privacy and fungibility but regulatory pressure and exchange delistings constrained adoption.
• Zcash promoted itself as a privacy-preserving SoV but struggled with technical complexity and governance trust concerns.
• Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV presented themselves as more scalable versions of Bitcoin but fractured communities and limited adoption undermined their credibility.

Bitcoin remains the most recognized and adopted Store of Value today. Kaspa inherits the same fundamentals of fixed supply and Proof of Work which means it has the same capacity for digital scarcity. But Kaspa’s mission is not primarily to displace Bitcoin as SoV. Its strength lies in extending beyond SoV into the Medium of Exchange and Standard of Settlement roles, areas where Bitcoin has struggled and where Kaspa’s architecture provides clear advantages.

Why this matters

• Bitcoin has already secured the Store of Value role but cannot scale effectively into MoE or SoS.
• Kaspa’s SoV credibility ensures it can serve as digital scarcity when needed but without compromising its focus on usability and settlement.
• This positions Kaspa not as a competitor to Bitcoin’s SoV dominance but as the project that completes the other two essential functions of money and settlement.

Kaspa as Medium of Exchange (MoE)

A Medium of Exchange means money that can move quickly, cheaply, and reliably between people and systems. Litecoin positioned itself as digital silver. Bitcoin Cash forked from Bitcoin promising true peer-to-peer cash. Dash launched with InstantSend and branding as “digital cash.” Each made a push for MoE, but none became the standard.

Litecoin (self proclaimed, Digital Silver) and BCH stalled due to adoption limits. Dash gained some traction in select markets but never scaled beyond niches, with governance and funding issues slowing its progress. None managed to deliver a MoE that was both global and durable.

While these projects made incremental improvements, none achieved global adoption. Litecoin failed to differentiate itself from Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV fractured communities and lost credibility. Dash’s innovations could not overcome network effects or regulatory hurdles. Ethereum and stablecoins have also become important MoE players, but congestion, unpredictable gas fees, and MEV distortions limit their reliability as true peer-to-peer money.

MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) refers to the ability of block producers or validators to manipulate the order of transactions for profit. On networks like Ethereum this can mean front-running trades, sandwiching transactions, or prioritizing transfers in ways that benefit insiders at the expense of ordinary users. In practice, MEV functions as a hidden tax on every transaction. It raises costs, undermines fairness, and makes users dependent on systems tilted toward large stakeholders and validators.

Kaspa resolves these limitations by delivering MoE functionality directly at Layer 1. Its blockDAG architecture allows transactions to confirm instantly, even under high load, with negligible fees. Because Kaspa will scale natively without relying on Layer 2 networks, every transaction benefits from the same security and neutrality. There is no fragmentation, no reliance on custodial rollups, and no MEV tax on users. Kaspa will provide a peer-to-peer cash system that actually scales without compromise.

Kaspa Also Solves the Fiat Trilemma.
It solves the crypto trilemma by being decentralized, secure, and scalable while remaining Proof of Work.
But it also resolves the Fiat Trilemma, the three qualities money has historically failed to unify:

1. Saleable across time – Value preserved without inflation or decay.
2. Saleable across scales – Works for micro-transactions as well as large settlements.
3. Saleable across space – Transferrable instantly across geographies.

Gold worked across time but failed across space. Fiat worked across space but failed across time. Bitcoin works across time and space, but struggles to scale due to throughput and latency. Kaspa is the first to unify all three, making it the most saleable form of money ever designed.
Shout out to PlanK (@MikoGenno on X)  http://youtube.com/@MikoGenno for this insight on scalability of Fiat.

Why this matters in the real world

• A café in Berlin can accept Kaspa faster than Visa, without the 3 percent cut.
• A gig worker in Manila can be paid instantly, not after days of waiting for PayPal or banks.
• Peer-to-peer marketplaces can operate globally, trustlessly, and at scale.

Why Proof of Work matters
PoW ensures that money is fair and immutable. Kaspa’s blockDAG keeps every participant on equal footing. Unlike PoS systems, where wealth compounds advantage, Kaspa’s security is grounded in energy and computation.

Kaspa is therefore not just another peer-to-peer cash attempt. It is the first system that combines the speed and efficiency of fiat rails with the fairness and neutrality of Proof of Work, all at Layer 1.
It is the first real peer-to-peer money that scales globally while being sound money across time, scales, and space.

See some merchants that accept Kaspa, here.

As for the Digital Silver Title, Kaspa actually means “Silver.”

Kaspa as Standard of Settlement (SoS)

Settlement is not simply the transfer of funds. It is the final clearing of value and information across enterprises, markets, and nations. In traditional finance, settlement has always been the responsibility of infrastructure, not the currency itself. Central banks, clearinghouses, and interbank networks finalize transactions while fiat currencies move on top of those systems.

The same principle applies in crypto. A coin alone cannot be a settlement layer. Bitcoin functions as a Store of Value, and projects like Litecoin and Dash attempted to serve as digital cash. Ethereum tried to combine settlement with programmability, while XRP, Stellar, and Algorand positioned themselves as institutional or finance-grade rails. Each demonstrated potential but encountered tradeoffs in scalability, decentralization, or adoption.

Kaspa approaches settlement differently. Its blockDAG ledger provides scalable, immutable infrastructure that finalizes transactions within seconds. With DagKnight, Kaspa will achieve internet-level transaction speeds while remaining decentralized, secure, and resistant to network chaos. On top of this, programmability is emerging. Community labs are exploring early frameworks, and the Kaspa core team is preparing vPROGs, a new model for programmable settlement logic. Unlike traditional smart contracts, vPROGs are designed to be simpler, safer, and more scalable, aligning with Kaspa’s settlement-first architecture.

Equally important is Kaspa’s commitment to Layer 1 scaling. Where Ethereum and others depend on Layer 2 networks and rollups to handle congestion, Kaspa achieves performance directly on the base layer. This ensures that settlement finality, security, and neutrality are not fragmented across external systems. By keeping all scaling and programmability at Layer 1, Kaspa preserves the integrity of its settlement layer.

Settlement beyond currency

Finance is only one part of the settlement story. Settlement ultimately means the secure finalization of transactions and records of any type. Kaspa’s architecture positions it as a universal settlement layer across both financial and non-financial domains:

Processes and Workflows: Supply chains, logistics, and manufacturing steps can anchor verifiable milestones.

Contracts and Agreements: Business and legal conditions can execute automatically with vPROGs.

Certifications and Credentials: Academic degrees, licenses, and compliance proofs can be issued and verified immutably.

Communication Records: Messages, media, and authorship proofs can be timestamped and validated.

Scientific Research and Data Integrity: Publications, datasets, and results can be anchored for reproducibility.

Identity and Governance: Digital IDs, voting, and KYC frameworks can settle securely on-chain.

This broadens settlement into the domain of value and data together. Just as the internet became the universal carrier of information, Kaspa can become the universal carrier of trusted transactions and records.

Why this matters

• Enterprises can clear cross-border supply chain transactions in seconds.
• Energy markets can finalize peer-to-peer power trades in real time.
• NGOs can transfer funds without fear of banking restrictions.
• Carbon credits, identity systems, and research data can be anchored immutably.
• Banks and financial institutions could continue to operate as they do today, but with Kaspa’s L1 DLT as a faster, more secure, and decentralized settlement foundation.

Why Proof of Work matters

Settlement requires trust that cannot be rewritten or manipulated by insiders. Proof of Work anchors finality in real-world energy and computation, making it immune to collusion or stake-based control. By tying security to physics rather than wealth, PoW ensures that Kaspa’s settlement layer remains fair, immutable, and universally secure.

Kaspa is not just another digital coin. It is a complete architecture: a scarce and deflationary asset, a decentralized ledger, and a programmable settlement layer that operates entirely at Layer 1. This makes it the first system capable of serving as a true Standard of Settlement for the digital age, across both money and data.

Kaspa Unites All Three

Historically, the functions of money and the systems that support it have always been split. Gold and later Bitcoin demonstrated the Store of Value role. Fiat currencies dominated the Medium of Exchange. Central banks and clearinghouses carried the responsibility of settlement infrastructure. No single framework ever unified all three.

Bitcoin remains the most recognized Store of Value, often compared directly to gold. But it is limited as a Medium of Exchange and cannot scale into a Standard of Settlement. Other projects have attempted to fill these roles, often relying on Layer 2 networks or trading off decentralization for throughput.

Kaspa is different. Its fixed supply and Proof of Work provide SoV credibility. Its blockDAG architecture enables real-time, low-cost transactions, making it a practical MoE. Its programmability through DagKnight and vPROGs positions it as a Standard of Settlement that extends beyond money into data, processes, and enterprise coordination. Most importantly, Kaspa does all of this at Layer 1, preserving security, neutrality, and immutability.

Kaspa therefore unifies what has historically been separate. It combines money’s core functions with system-level settlement into one secure architecture. 

Kaspa is not only faster digital money. It is the first universal programmable settlement layer of the digital age, where money, markets, and data converge securely at scale.

Further reading

Upcoming Development: Kaspa Development Milestones Revealed – 2025 – 2026
Insights on vProgs: https://x.com/michaelsuttonil/status/1966324370818711641
vProg Yellow Paper – https://github.com/kaspanet/research/blob/main/vProgs/vProgs_yellow_paper.pdf
Developer Resources – https://kaspa.org/developers-resources/
Kaspa RnD TG chats – https://t.me/kasparnd

MAIN STAGE

From core builders to ecosystem investors, launchpad innovators to strategy experts, this is the lineup shaping the future of Kaspa.  http://experience.kaspa.events

9:30 – Ashton Wood · @Kaspa_KAT

10:00 – Eliott Mea · Kaspa

10:45 – Pavel Emdin @Igra_Labs

11:30 – Kaspador ·@kasplex

12:15 – Louis Saad · @ZealousSwap

1:45 – Abhimanyu Ep · @bitstreetcap

2:30 – Angel Reyes · LehmanBush | Kaspa Strategy

3:15 – Christian Ludwig · Kaspa Ecosystem Investor

4:00 – Julien Daubert · @AppKaskad

4:30 – Erwan · Keep Your Ownership 5

:00 – Kasway · @kaswaypos

Plus: Kaspa Art Expo curated by  @TheVisualAye