Knowledge Lab
Kaspa questions, answered
Short answers to real questions about Kaspa from the Kaspa News Knowledge Lab, each with a source for every claim.
Kaspa basics
How is Kaspa different from Bitcoin?
Kaspa keeps Bitcoin’s proof-of-work approach but replaces its single chain with a network of linked blocks. Blocks made at the same time can coexist instead of competing for one place. The aim is real-time decentralization: fast payments without giving a small group control over the network.How many blocks per second does Kaspa make, and how fast does a payment confirm?
Kaspa makes 10 blocks per second. A payment is usually included almost immediately, while stronger confirmation takes a few seconds. A new block every 0.1 seconds does not mean a payment is safely settled in 0.1 seconds; wallets and exchanges may require a longer wait.How was Kaspa launched, and was there a premine?
Kaspa launched publicly on 7 November 2021, with no premine, founders’ reward or reserved allocation. Coins were issued through mining from the start. An earlier proposal discussed a sale of future mined coins, but that was not how mainnet launched.If Kaspa has no accounts, how is my balance worked out?
Your wallet adds up the separate, unspent coins controlled by your keys. That total is your balance. Kaspa records those coins and their spending rules, rather than keeping one balance in a network account.Is Kaspa quantum safe?
No. Kaspa’s ordinary signatures are not quantum-safe. Post-quantum signatures have been demonstrated on testnet, but those research experiments do not make the whole network quantum-safe.Is there a maximum supply of KAS, and why do sites show different numbers?
Yes. KAS has a maximum supply of about 28.7 billion coins. Sites can show different numbers because some report coins already mined, some report the estimated final supply, and others use the higher safety limit written into the code. Small differences also come from how mining rewards are counted.What does GHOSTDAG do, in plain words?
GHOSTDAG puts Kaspa’s parallel blocks into a shared order. Instead of treating every competing block as something to discard, it lets the network use blocks made at nearly the same time and agree on which transactions count. This makes fast proof of work possible.What is a blockDAG, and why does Kaspa use one?
A blockDAG is a network of blocks in which each new block can link to several earlier blocks, rather than just one. Kaspa uses it so miners can create blocks in parallel, while its GHOSTDAG rules put those blocks into a shared order and resolve conflicting transactions.
Mining and nodes
Can I earn money just by running a Kaspa node?
No. Running a Kaspa node by itself does not earn rewards. A node checks blocks and transactions; mining is a separate activity that can earn block rewards. Running your own node gives you more control and helps the network, but it is not a passive-income system.Can I stake KAS to earn rewards?
No, KAS has no native staking rewards. Kaspa uses proof of work, so holding or locking KAS does not earn rewards from the network. Any separate service offering rewards for KAS has its own funding, conditions and risks.How does Kaspa's block reward go down over time, and why does it follow a musical scale?
Kaspa reduces its mining reward a little each month, so it halves over a year rather than dropping by half on one day. The schedule is called “chromatic” because its monthly steps follow the same ratio as musical semitones, moving downward through an octave each year.Why does Kaspa prune old data, and is that safe?
Kaspa prunes old data so running a node does not require keeping every transaction forever. This is safe under the protocol’s security assumptions: nodes keep the current coin state and the proof data needed to check the network. Pruning removes old records, not the coins people still own.
Upgrades
What are vProgs, and what will they add to Kaspa?
vProgs are verifiable programs: apps that run outside Kaspa and prove their work to it. They aim to add complex apps that can work together in one transaction without every Kaspa node running every app. The framework is still experimental, and full cross-app operation remains a research goal.What did the Toccata upgrade change?
Toccata added programmability to Kaspa’s base network. It activated on 30 June 2026, adding rules for how coins and application state can move, native verification of cryptographic proofs, and ordering commitments that help applications prove what happened.What is DAGKnight, and how does it improve on GHOSTDAG?
DAGKnight is a proposed upgrade to Kaspa’s consensus, the rules nodes use to agree on transaction order. It improves on GHOSTDAG by removing a fixed network-delay parameter, aiming for confirmations that respond to network conditions while preserving proof-of-work security.What is LtHash, and why are Kaspa developers testing it?
LtHash is an experimental way to keep a cryptographic summary of Kaspa’s unspent coins. Aglovale is testing whether it can update that summary faster than MuHash while exploring long-term resistance to quantum computers. The reported tests run alongside MuHash on development nodes, not as a mainnet replacement.
Tokens and covenants
Is there a recorded workshop on building a KCC-20 app with Argent?
Yes. “Kaspa Covenant Dev Workshop - KCC20 & Argent” is recorded on the Kaspa Native YouTube channel, published on 9 September 2026. It explains token design, builds a KCC-20 actor in Argent, and works through transaction construction.What are KCC-20 tokens, and where do they stand?
KCC-20 tokens are interchangeable tokens whose ownership and transfer rules are enforced by Kaspa itself through covenants. The standard entered Last Call, its final review stage, on 7 October 2026. That is not final approval, and the reference code’s own tests are not a security audit.What is a covenant on Kaspa, in simple words?
A covenant on Kaspa is KAS held under rules that the network checks before it can move. Unlike a normal payment, it can limit not only who may spend the coins, but also where they go and what rules must remain in place.What is KRC-20, and how is it different from KCC-20?
KRC-20, a token standard from the Kasplex project, records token instructions in Kaspa transactions, while Kasplex’s indexer, software outside Kaspa, tracks balances and decides which transfers are valid. KCC-20 uses covenants, so Kaspa nodes enforce each token’s programmed rules. Both use Kaspa, but they put responsibility for token balances in different places.What is SilverScript, and how do I write my first covenant?
SilverScript is a language and compiler for writing rules that Kaspa checks when coins are spent. A first project is a time-locked vault: write its rules, compile them into Kaspa Script, then test both allowed and rejected spends before putting funds into it.What should I figure out before I start coding a covenant app?
Before coding, define the rules your app must never break, who may spend its coins, and how its state changes. Decide whether users can act independently or must share one state. Plan how the app will find and explain its coins, then check tooling maturity and security needs.
Wallets
How do I back up a Kaspa wallet safely?
Back up your wallet by writing its recovery phrase on paper, in the exact order shown, and keeping it somewhere safe and private. Never save it in a screenshot, email or cloud storage, or share it with anyone. For a wallet with a different backup method, follow its backup instructions before depositing funds.How do I check a transaction on a Kaspa explorer?
Open kaspa.stream or explorer.kaspa.org and search for the transaction ID from your wallet or withdrawal record. Open the matching transaction to check its destination and outputs. You can also look up your receiving address to review its activity.Which wallets work with Kaspa?
Kaspa works with mobile, desktop, browser and hardware wallets, including Kaspium, Kaspa NG, KasWare, Kastle, KaspaCom, Tangem, Ledger, OneKey and SafePal. Kaspium is a simple phone option; Kaspa NG suits desktop users. Recovery phrases are not interchangeable across every wallet.
From the talks
What did Yonatan Sompolinsky say about competitive sequencing?
Yonatan Sompolinsky said faster blocks should do more than shorten waits: they should make miners compete to order transactions. He argued that moving from 10 to 100 blocks per second could strengthen that competition, even if users noticed little difference in speed.What does Yonatan mean by "Mining the Internet"?
Yonatan means using Kaspa miners to help the network respond to events on the internet, not just process transactions. His “Mining the Internet” vision connects outside information to actions on Kaspa. It is a proposed use of mining, not a claim that miners already verify everything online.Who does Yonatan call Kaspa's informal CTO, and why?
Yonatan Sompolinsky calls Michael Sutton Kaspa’s informal CTO because Sutton holds the project’s technical work in context and carries much of the responsibility for it. It describes his technical leadership, not a formal company position.Why did ZK verification ship before vProgs, according to Ori Newman?
According to Ori Newman, ZK verification was part of the Toccata plan almost from the start: the aim was to bring as much programmability as possible now instead of waiting for vProgs, which need much deeper changes. ZK verification went live with Toccata on 30 June 2026; vProgs remains under construction.