What is Kaspa Token And Why is It Rallying?

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Kaspa token KAS price rallied 11% to $0.038 on Sep. 6-7, partially paring its 38% losses from the August downtrend and defying the relatively flat crypto market.

Notably, the KAS coin gave a choppy performance year-to-date. It kicked the year off with a 900% surge from Jan 1 to Apr 2, then shed over 70% of its valuation and started the second leg up in early June.

Meanwhile, the question remains: What is Kaspa, and why is the token gearing for a possible third leg up this year?

Kaspa (KAS) is a BlockDAG, not a blockchain

Kaspa is a proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency that employs a GHOSTDAG protocol (a variation of a blockDAG) instead of a traditional blockchain.

Mathematically, Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG) represent a graph with directed edges and no cycles (i.e., no path from a vertex back to itself), as seen in the graph below.

Both the blockchain and the blockDAG are distributed ledgers. However, they have different structures. A blockchain represents a chain of transaction blocks in an unalterable, chronological order. Conversely, a blockDAG is a network of individual transactions linked to multiple other transactions.

Furthermore, a GHOSTDAG does not orphan blocks created in parallel. Rather, it allows them to coexist and orders them in consensus. 

According to the protocol’s whitepaper, Kaspa supports 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. However, core developers claim they will stretch the 10 or even 100 blocks per second.

Why did Kaspa rally?

The latest Kaspa uptrend came after a new listing of KAS on the Bybit crypto exchange, as per an announcement on Sep 6. The stated listing time was 10:00 a.m. UTC on Sep. 7 for the KAS/USDT pair.

In response, the token has advanced 11% since the listing. However, the team teased the listing earlier and didn’t deliver, possibly causing the August plunge.

On Aug. 2, Kaspa completed its crowdfunding campaign. “The Tier-1 Exchange Crowdfund for Kaspa has been successfully completed, thanks to your immense support! More details coming soon.” tweeted the project. A listing did not follow then, which could have disappointed the KAS holders.

Moreover, the protocol introduced a “dedicated Kaspa mining pool,” Antpool, on Sep. 6. The tweet stated that “In line with their commitment to delivering top-tier services, they are excited to offer a competitive 0.5% PPLNS payout scheme for KAS mining.”