As Kaspa approaches its fourth birthday, the network is celebrating with in-person events in Dubai, London, Nigeria, and New York, alongside the 1,000 Node Initiative and a Flux x Nacho Kat NFT giveaway. Kaspa developer Ori Newman appeared on the XXIM Podcast to discuss oracles and his journey with Kaspa, while Kaspa Silver shared a thoughtful warning about Kaspa L2s.

Kaspa also gained new visibility with a Bybit EU listing, and the KAT Bridge went live, expanding interoperability across the ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Binance Blockchain Awards are underway, with Dr. Yonatan Sompolinsky and Michael Sutton both in the running.

Beyond Kaspa, the broader crypto world saw major headlines: President Trump pardoned Binance founder CZ, J.P. Morgan began accepting crypto as loan collateral, Kadena’s team stepped away from their project, and a16z released its State of Crypto 2025 report.

Keep reading for this week’s full breakdown of Kaspa developments, ecosystem milestones, and the latest industry news shaping the future of blockchain.

Ori on XXIM Podcast

Ori shared his crypto journey on the XXIM Podcast, beginning with how he first discovered Bitcoin around 2012–2013, during a period when he was deeply interested in Libertarianism and the concept of censorship-resistant money. He was captivated by Bitcoin’s immutability, fixed monetary policy, and resistance to control, especially after witnessing the Cyprus financial crisis, which drove Bitcoin’s price higher. Ori even used Silk Road in those early days and later became enthusiastic about Ethereum’s upcoming launch.

By 2016, Ori began studying the technical side of blockchain systems and quickly became obsessed, eventually leaving his previous job to pursue a career in crypto. He started in full-stack development roles, which he found somewhat uninspiring, until a chance encounter at a party led him to team up with someone who wanted to improve Bitcoin’s Brainwallet—and their project went on to win a hackathon.

Ori reflected on how the early Bitcoin community was open and collaborative, allowing anyone to contribute ideas. He contrasted that with today’s more tribal and maximalist environment, lamenting the loss of the inclusivity that once fostered innovation.

During the 2017 blocksize debate, Ori sided with the Bitcoin Cash perspective and met Mark Zak through online forums where both supported larger block sizes. Mark later invited him to interview with DAG Labs, where Ori learned about Kaspa and joined the team around 2017–2018. Working there, he became convinced that DAG-based consensus was the future of blockchain scalability and decentralization, and he admired the team’s strong commitment to academic research.

As a fun anecdote, Ori mentioned that Kaspa means “silver” in Aramaic and “dandruff” in Spanish—something the team laughed about when choosing the name. In its early days, the Kaspa team operated in a non-hierarchical, open structure. They initially developed the project in GoLang, but later migrated to Rust to eliminate performance issues caused by Go’s garbage collector.

When Kaspa launched as a fair-mined project, the team didn’t anticipate much participation—but within two weeks, there were already around a thousand miners, likely because anyone could mine from home.

Today, one of Ori’s goals is to grow the community’s technical knowledge and attract more developers to build on Kaspa. Moreover, he actively contributes to the Kaspa Q&A knowledge hub on QPixel. 

To read more about Ori, please see our article, An Interview with Kaspa Core: Ori Newman. 

Kaspa Silver - Overview of Kasplex’s L2 Smart Contracts on Kaspa 

Kaspa Silver released a video analyzing Kasplex's Layer-2 smart contracts and explaining why, in his view, the development isn't particularly groundbreaking for Kaspa. He notes that the official Kaspa.org website still lists both smart contracts and the ZK bridge between L1 and L2 as under development. As a reminder, Kasplex is a third-party project, best known for creating KRC-20 tokens.

The video also covers how to bridge KAS from L1 to L2 using the Kurve Bridge, and mentions that some users have reported losing tokens during the bridging process. Kaspa Silver raises several technical concerns about Kasplex's design and implementation.

Ori also expressed reservations about Kasplex, noting that the project has not been open-sourced and remains a centralized system. Because using Kasplex requires trust in the protocol, he argues that it undermines the trustless principles on which crypto was built.

Yonatan shared similar views on X, writing:

"I know little to nothing about why Kaspa L2s are created; therefore, it's not valuable to me to learn about their architecture, codebase transparency, etc. I view L2s as an unwise path that risks repeating Ethereum's mistakes, and I have voiced this concern for several years now (see posts on atomic composability and fragmentation). Identifying this problem, Kaspa Core worked for quite a while on an enshrined L2 design — in simple words, a zk-verified computation layer tightly baked into L1 consensus, receiving opcode and data structure support from L1 while keeping computation and, more crucially, state off L1. This is the only 'L2' system (in crypto, not only in Kaspa) that enhances the network effect of its L1 rather than siphoning it. The rest to me is a distraction. TL;DR: I probably know less about Kaspa L2s than anyone else on X — try me, you'll see I have no idea."

Kaspa Silver also warned users not to use Wrapped Kaspa (wKAS) and noted that Kasplex's main advantage—offering another way to buy NFTs—currently adds little value. He noted that he is waiting for a stablecoin and for the Kaspa Core team to release vProgs before drawing further conclusions.

Kaspa Listed on ByBitEU

KAS has been officially listed on the newly launched Bybit EU exchange — expanding access for Kaspa users across Europe. Launched in July 2025, Bybit EU was created by Bybit, the Dubai-based exchange that ranks as the second-largest crypto platform in the world by trading volume since its founding in 2018.

Bybit EU operates under a MiCA-compliant license, allowing it to serve users in 29 European Economic Area countries while meeting the region’s regulatory standards. The platform offers the same advanced trading suite as its global counterpart, including spot, derivatives, options, perpetuals, leveraged trading, NFT markets, and earn products — now all accessible under EU regulations.

Mazurka Zeng, Managing Director and CEO of Bybit EU GmbH, stated:

“Europe deserves a world-class crypto gateway that balances technology with robust regulatory standards. That’s exactly what Bybit EU delivers.”

This listing gives European Kaspians even more ways to trade and accumulate KAS on a fully regulated, world-class platform.

Vote for Yonatan and Michael on Binance

It’s time to vote in Binance’s Blockchain 2025 Awards!

Currently, Dr. Yonatan Sompolinsky and Michael Sutton are both contenders—let’s keep the momentum going and show our community support:

Please note that users from the U.S. and the U.K. are not eligible to participate. Verified Binance users (who have completed KYC) can cast up to seven votes per day until October 30, 2025.

As of October 26, 2025, Yonatan leads the category for Top Independent Researcher with 2,327 votes, followed closely by the runner-up at 2,205 votes. Meanwhile, Michael Sutton is in second place for Industry Advocate, trailing by just 65 votes.

Let’s continue to show Binance the strength and unity of the Kaspa community!

Kaspa’s Turning Four

Kaspa is celebrating its 4th birthday on November 7, and the community is marking the occasion with four in-person events around the world—plus custom graphics and a global node initiative to commemorate the milestone.

• Dubai: Join @KaspaIntern for a private bowling meetup and mini-tournament at the Dubai Bowling Center from 6–9 PM GMT+4. RSVP here. 

• Nigeria: The Kaspa Ecosystem Foundation (KEF) is sponsoring a birthday celebration at Mama Onyinye Landmark in Nigeria at 12 PM noon, hosted by @0x_ObinnaNwafor. Follow @Kaspa_Naija for the official invite link. 

• London: Celebrate with fellow Kaspaians at Wolfy’s Bar, Unit Q, Nyland Court, Bailey Street, London, from 6 PM – 12 AM GMT. The event will feature familiar community voices, including @WolfysBar, @LevendiPro, and @rock_the_kaspa hosts @Chris_Hutch7 and @TomHutchinson27. RSVP here. 

• New York: The U.S. community will gather at 4225 Longbranch Rd, Liverpool, NY, for an open birthday meetup. Everyone is welcome. Find more details at kaspaevents.xyz. 

To celebrate, the community is also running a 1,000 Node Initiative to reach 1,000 active KAS nodes by November 7. As of October 26, 2025, 438 nodes are live, marking a major milestone for the network's decentralization.

You can easily launch your own Kaspa node through RunonFlux.io. For step-by-step guidance, @ScapeSquad has created a helpful video tutorial. To monitor the progress, you can view the live Kaspa node map. 

Finally, check out the official birthday graphics created by Chad at Rhubarb Media —perfect for sharing on social media. 

BGIN Blockchain Goes Public

BGIN Blockchain Limited, the parent company of IceRiverMiner, has officially announced its plans to go public with a Nasdaq listing.

As the manufacturer responsible for Kaspa’s ASIC mining equipment, BGIN’s market debut gives traditional investors a new way to participate in the growth of Kaspa’s mining infrastructure through equity exposure.

This development represents a significant milestone in connecting the Kaspa ecosystem to institutional markets and mainstream finance, bringing Wall Street one step closer to the world of proof-of-work innovation.

Flux Nodes x Nacho NFT Giveaway

Last week, we shared that FluxCloud had introduced its new easy-to-launch Kaspa Nodes, and the rollout has been a major success. As of October 24, 137 Kaspa nodes have been deployed. The KASmedia team has launched nodes on Flux, while the Nacho team has established 50 servers for three months—all to help strengthen the Kaspa ecosystem and push toward the goal of 1,000 active nodes by November 7, Kaspa's fourth birthday.

To celebrate, all FluxCloud Kaspa node purchasers are being entered into a giveaway for Nacho NFTs. You'll receive one entry for each month a node remains deployed, for purchases made through October 31, 2025. Make sure to set up your node before the deadline to be eligible!

KAT Bridge is Live 

The Kaspa Alliance for Transparency (KAT) officially launched its KAT NFT Bridge on October 20, 2025. For the first 48 hours after launch, the bridge supported Nacho Kat NFTs exclusively, with broader access for all collections following shortly after. The bridge allows users to transfer NFTs between the Kaspa and Kasplex networks—including KRC-721 and ERC-721 standards—enabling seamless movement of assets between L1 and L2.

Supported wallets include Kastle Wallet for Kaspa’s L1 and MetaMask or any other EVM-compatible wallet for L2. The KAT team noted that the bridge is still under active development, and users are advised to proceed with caution when testing transfers.

Documentation for developers looking to integrate the bridge will be released in future updates. Congratulations to the KAT team on this milestone toward greater interoperability within the Kaspa ecosystem.

Trump Pardons Binance Founder CZ

In a surprise move this week, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder and former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Zhao was charged in 2023 after U.S. authorities found that Binance had failed to implement adequate anti–money laundering (AML) measures and had allowed transactions that violated U.S. sanctions laws. As part of a plea deal, Zhao admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, stepped down as CEO, and served four months in prison. Binance also paid a record $4.3 billion settlement to the U.S. Treasury, FinCEN, and the CFTC.

The pardon marks a significant shift in tone from the previous administration’s enforcement-heavy stance on digital assets. The Trump administration described the decision as part of a broader effort to “end the war on crypto” and support innovation within the United States.

Reactions have been mixed—supporters see the pardon as a step toward a more open regulatory environment, while critics warn it could blur the line between accountability and leniency. Regardless, the move underscores how deeply cryptocurrency has entered the political and financial mainstream ahead of 2026.

Trump Nominates Michael Selig as New CFTC Chair

President Donald Trump has nominated Michael Selig to serve as the next Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), continuing the administration’s push to modernize U.S. crypto regulation. Selig currently serves as chief counsel for the agency’s crypto task force and has previously worked alongside SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on digital-asset policy.

David Sacks, the White House’s Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Advisor, praised the appointment, writing that “President Trump has made an excellent choice in Mike Selig to lead the CFTC.” Sacks described Selig as “deeply knowledgeable about financial markets and passionate about modernizing our regulatory approach to maintain America’s competitiveness in the digital asset era.”

He also noted that Selig “has been instrumental in driving forward the President’s crypto agenda as Chief Counsel of the SEC Crypto Task Force,” and brings valuable experience from his prior work at the CFTC under former Chairman Chris Giancarlo. Sacks concluded by saying that the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets, co-led with Patrick Witt, looks forward to collaborating with Selig to “deliver on President Trump’s promise to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the planet.”

Selig’s nomination follows the administration’s recent GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act, which aim to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets. If confirmed, his leadership could help shape a more transparent and innovation-driven approach to digital commodity markets.

MENA Leading Crypto Adoption

A recent Gulf Business article highlighted what Kaspa Kii has long recognized: the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region is rapidly emerging as a global hub for crypto innovation. The region’s success stems from a proactive approach: creating regulatory frameworks for digital assets before large-scale adoption, ensuring that innovation can thrive within clear and supportive guidelines.

Bahrain was among the first nations to establish formal digital asset regulations back in February 2019. Notably, Binance became the first exchange to secure a Category 4 license, authorizing it to operate as a fully regulated crypto exchange in the country.

In the United Arab Emirates, both the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) continue to build one of the world’s most welcoming environments for Web3 development. Binance operates a regional hub in Dubai, and Trust Wallet is also headquartered there. The region further cements its position as a blockchain leader by hosting Binance Blockchain Week, taking place this year from December 3–5 at the Coca-Cola Arena.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has made digital assets a core component of its Vision 2030 strategy. The nation is actively supporting blockchain pilots and fintech incubators, with a growing interest in tokenizing real-world assets (RWA).

With this wave of innovation and crypto-friendly leadership across the region, Kaspa Kii is proud to collaborate with regulators and pilot programs utilizing the Kaspa network. As these partnerships expand, we look forward to seeing broader Kaspa adoption throughout MENA’s rapidly growing digital economy.

To read more about Kaspa Kii, please see our article: A Clean Kaspian Future: Desert Energy, Clean Energy Trading and Kaspa Kii. 

US Federal Reserve Payments Innovation Conference

The U.S. Federal Reserve held its first-ever Payments Innovation Conference on October 21, 2025, marking a major milestone in the central bank’s growing engagement with the digital asset and fintech industries. The event brought together leaders from both traditional finance and blockchain, including executives from Chainlink, Circle, Coinbase, BNY Mellon, Stripe, Franklin Templeton, and BlackRock, among others.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller opened the conference with a forward-looking message, stating that the Fed intends to “embrace the disruption” brought by crypto innovation rath

Kadena Token Crashes

This week, fellow proof-of-work network Kadena suffered a major collapse after its core team announced they were stepping away from the project, leading to a 60% drop in token value. While this event does not affect Kaspa, the two projects have often been compared due to their similar scaling goals and proof-of-work foundations.

Both networks use graph-based architectures to boost throughput while maintaining security. However, Kadena uses a Chainweb model that scales through multiple interlinked chains, while Kaspa employs a BlockDAG that scales horizontally within a unified structure. Unlike Kaspa—which was fair-launched with no premine or VC funding—Kadena was backed by venture capital, issued pre-mined tokens, and operated more like a traditional Silicon Valley startup.

On October 21, 2025, the Kadena Organization released a public announcement, stating:

“We regret to announce that the Kadena organization is no longer able to continue business operations and will be ceasing all business activity and active maintenance of the Kadena blockchain immediately.”

The post explained that the network would continue under miners and on-chain smart contracts, but the lack of advance notice, community handover, or transition plan left many holders feeling blindsided. To make matters worse, a large short position reportedly opened just before the announcement—leading many to speculate that insiders may have profited from the collapse.

As one community member wrote on X:

“This wasn’t the end of a project — it was the betrayal of a community. Kadena didn’t die. It was abandoned.”

Kadena had often promoted itself as “the only Layer-1 PoW network that scales.” Still, Kaspa has already demonstrated that proof-of-work scalability is achievable, thanks to its BlockDAG architecture and high-throughput design. The situation underscores the importance of true decentralization—something the Kaspa community has continually prioritized through transparency, research-driven development, and open participation.

Kaspa has never relied on a centralized business team, and its network continues to grow through community-led initiatives and education.

We hope no one from the Kaspa community was directly affected, and we welcome any KDA holders who wish to join our expanding BlockDAG ecosystem.

a16z Releases Their State of Crypto 2025 Report

As the crypto industry matures, more institutional research is validating what Kaspians have long believed — that blockchain growth will come from real utility, transparency, and scalability. This week, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) released its State of Crypto 2025 report. Known for backing projects like Coinbase, Uniswap, and Solana, a16z remains one of the most influential forces in Web3.

Crypto Market Growth: The report notes that Bitcoin continues to act as a safe haven and a risk asset, depending on global conditions. On-chain activity is strongest in developing regions — including Peru, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India — while token interest remains highest in developed countries such as South Korea, the UK, and the U.S. Ethereum still leads in developer participation, with the largest base of open-source contributors.

Institutional Adoption: Traditional finance is now fully engaging with crypto. Major players such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Stripe, PayPal, and J.P. Morgan are expanding their blockchain integrations. Bitcoin ETFs currently hold about 150B USD, while Ethereum ETFs have reached 28B USD, showing strong investor confidence.

Stablecoins: Stablecoins have quietly become the largest use case in crypto, with 46T USD in annual transaction volume, surpassing Visa's 16T USD and PayPal's 1.7T USD. Tether and Circle together hold more than 150B USD in U.S. Treasuries, reinforcing crypto's growing role in global liquidity.

On-Chain World: The NFT sector is evolving from trading to collecting and identity use cases, while prediction markets are gaining traction after recent global events. Blockchain throughput has grown 100× since 2020, now averaging over 3,400 transactions per second — progress that reflects the scalability vision Kaspa was built to achieve.

AI + Crypto: a16z highlights how blockchain can complement AI by verifying proof-of-human, managing IP licensing, facilitating machine payments, and keeping AI development decentralized and transparent.

Crypto in America: 2025 is described as the strongest year yet for U.S. crypto policy. Bipartisan support has advanced the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act, signaling an end to the uncertain regulatory era.

Future of Crypto: a16z expects the next wave of growth to be defined by new legislation, rising stablecoin adoption, tokenized real-world assets, and more consumer-focused Web3 products. Traditional finance is expected to double down on blockchain partnerships, and crypto hiring continues to accelerate.

The State of Crypto 2025 report confirms that decentralized, scalable networks like Kaspa are well-positioned for the next phase of growth — one centered on real-world adoption, transparency, and trustless infrastructure. Let's see more projects built on Kaspa.

J.P. Morgan to Accept Crypto as Collateral

J.P. Morgan has announced plans to allow institutional clients to use Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as collateral for loans by the end of 2025. The service will be available to clients globally and will rely on a third-party custodian to securely hold the digital assets.

Earlier this year, the bank expanded its crypto offerings by permitting wealth management clients to use crypto ETFs, such as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, as collateral.

This latest move highlights the evolving stance of CEO Jamie Dimon, who now acknowledges that blockchain technology will “replace certain systems that are clunky or not 24/7.” It’s a notable shift from his once harsh criticism of crypto in 2017, when he famously dismissed Bitcoin as a “fraud.”

We’re encouraged to see one of the world’s largest financial institutions embracing digital assets—and look forward to the day when Kaspa may find itself in similar conversations with J.P. Morgan and other leading innovators.