It’s been a packed week for Kaspa, with exciting developments across the ecosystem. Dr. Yonatan Sompolinsky sat down for a marathon seven-and-a-half-hour interview, diving deep into Kaspa, while a new KIP proposal explored strengthening Kaspa’s quantum resiliency. Kaspa Nigeria took the stage at a TEDx event, a physical Kaspa point-of-sale scanner was unveiled, and crypto even found its way into a government meeting in Wyoming. On top of that, more merchants are beginning to accept Kas payments, Fervent Finance launched its testnet, and the momentum keeps building.

Yonatan On the Pod

On August 21, 2025, Kaspa founder Dr. Yonatan Sompolinsky appeared on the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast for an epic interview lasting over seven hours. The conversation covered a wealth of insights on Kaspa’s unique technology, its vision, and the future of crypto. You might want to watch it in multiple parts, as it’s a must-see for anyone interested in Kaspa’s evolution.

One of the lighter moments came when Yonatan’s pet turtle made a cameo. Named Bitcoin, the turtle reminded viewers that while turtles are slow, Kaspa is designed to replace the “too-slow” elements of Bitcoin. This appearance has already inspired several memes in the community.

Some key quotes from the conversation:

• On being accused of being Satoshi: "I think because they left the scene and there aren't many other proof-of-work figures, plus some coincidences. But I think most people don't really think about it, but just enjoy thinking about it. That's how I read it."

• On what makes Kaspa different from Bitcoin: "Kaspa is a generalization of the Bitcoin protocol where each block references multiple—all the latest, the most recent blocks that its miner observed—and there are no orphan blocks as you mentioned, and this structure technically is called a DAG, a directed acyclic graph. But conceptually allows you to envision many miners creating blocks in parallel very fast."

• On culture and innovation in Bitcoin: "The extreme culture that Bitcoin core has radiated isn't very conducive to innovation. And regardless of whether you're using the base token BTC, ETH, or another thing, you're still trying to attract people who want to innovate. And they want to innovate with their own business models—be it token or revenue."

• On smart contracts vs rollups: "...If you don't implement synchronous composibility natively in the program, you are giving rollups an advantage over regular smart contracts. Meaning you're giving entities that want to siphon the network effect of layer one an advantage over regular smart contracts. 

  This is why it's very important to commit to synchronous composability from the outset— even though it requires more heavy efforts on the research and development side—to ensure that … the development products on Kaspa are cohesive. 

  This is the context or the motivation to commit to synchronous composibility, and why we are taking a very different route than what Ethereum has taken."

• On the need to Bitcoinize: “ when I say ‘Kaspa must Bitcoinize’ people think that [I’m] saying Kaspa needs to replace Bitcoin, or compete with Bitcoin, or to be the second Bitcoin, or second to Bitcoin—all sort of interpretations—but I I think I made it clear that it's not so much a technological positioning, but more of the culture.”

• On proof-of-work vs. proof-of-stake: "Proof-of-work tends to be the more honest form of money where there is an expenditure of energy that justifies the price of the currency. You cannot say that you created that out of thin air. And in the case of Bitcoin, for example, I think that proof of work is the one element of the whole equation that makes it not look like a Ponzi."

This podcast is a must-watch for anyone interested in Kaspa, decentralized finance, and the evolution of proof-of-work blockchains. With a mix of technical insight, community philosophy, and even turtle cameos, it’s an essential deep dive into the mind of Kaspa’s founder. Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/live/GaJmYV8OHfQ.

Proposal for Quantum Resiliency Upgrade

A new Kaspa Improvement Proposal (KIP), shared by @Crypt0Proselyte, outlines a wallet-layer address upgrade designed to protect $KAS from future quantum computing threats. The upgrade introduced by Gaurav Rana is to create P2PKH-Blake2b-256-via-P2SH Shor's Algorithm Resistant addresses. They are a wallet-layer address upgrade that hides public keys until funds are spent, reducing the risk of quantum computers using Shor's algorithm to extract private keys.

This approach is backward-compatible, requires no consensus changes, and can be adopted voluntarily by users, wallets, and exchanges. This means that no hard forks are necessary. The proposal offers clear technical specifications for developers to implement the changes.

With quantum computing expected to become a real threat in the next 10–15 years, this preemptive upgrade positions Kaspa among the first layer-1 blockchains to mitigate potential quantum risks while maintaining network stability.

According to the GitHub proposal, migrating to P2PKH-Blake2b-256-via-P2SH will permit:

• "Postponed public key revelation until spending,

• Backward-compatible usage through existing script validation infrastructure,

• Quantum threat mitigation without hard forks or consensus disruptions."

The proposal, if approved, is to take place in the following three phases:

1. Phase 1: Wallet layer upgrade -- wallets default to new addresses, and CLI tools and SDKs updated to support. 

2. Phase 2: Ecosystem migration -- major exchanges and custodians to support the new wallet addresses. 

3. Phase 3: Legacy Format Depreciation -- transition away from P2PK addresses over a recommended 1-3 month period.

We are happy to see members of the Kaspa community preemptively working on this solution to get ahead of quantum computers. 

To read the full proposal on GitHub, please visit the following link: https://github.com/bitcoinsSG/Kaspas-Phase-I-Towards-Quantum-Resiliency.

Kaspa like the Micromouse Competition

In a recent post, Kaspa community member Eyal shared the story of how the Micromouse competition from the 1980s was used as an analogy for crypto innovation. For decades, contestants thought the maze-solving problem had been fully optimized until 2017, when Masakazu Utsunomiya shocked the field by reimagining the problem itself, creating a vacuum-powered mouse that changed the rules of speed and navigation.

The same holds for crypto. Satoshi's breakthrough was not about following the "shortest path" of consensus but about reframing the problem, introducing tradeoffs that made decentralized security possible at scale. Bitcoin proved that progress comes from new ways of thinking, not just optimizing old methods.

Eyal states: 

"The lesson is that there is always progress. Even if no one can see it for many years, innovation can always disrupt and cannot be stopped. It may be delayed, but progress and efficiency will find their way to becoming the new norm."

Kaspa follows in this spirit, introducing fresh tradeoffs in consensus, such as asynchronous mining and new methods of validating chain integrity. These innovations represent some of the most significant advancements since Bitcoin, reminding us that crypto should never accept "no change" as an option. Innovation always finds a way forward, and Kaspa is paving that path.

To learn more about the Micromouse competition, please see this YouTube video: https://t.co/TuHiP79XXJ.

US SEC Chair Paul Atkins at Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 

At last week’s Wyoming Blockchain Symposium in Jackson Hole, SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled a positive outlook for the crypto space. He emphasized that:

“From the SEC’s perspective, we will plow forward on this idea that just the token itself is not necessarily a security… There are very few, in my mind, tokens that are securities, b

Zealous Swap Explained

Zealous Swap recently shared a post breaking down how their Farms work. Here’s the nutshell version: when you add tokens into a liquidity pool, you’ll receive LP (Liquidity Provider) tokens in return. These tokens serve as proof of your deposit and also entitle you to a share of the trading fees generated by that pool.

By staking your LP tokens in a Zealous Swap Farm, you can earn additional $ZEAL rewards on top of those fees. That means more rewards for you, while the ecosystem benefits from deeper liquidity.They truly live up to the slogan on their page: “The Ultimate Liquidity Layer for On-Chain Trading.”

Zealous Swap also maintains an Insurance Fund to protect users across both Zealous Swap and Fervent Finance. A portion of each platform’s revenue (5%) is allocated to the fund, which gradually grows to provide a financial buffer against unexpected exploits or smart contract problems. The fund holds a mix of LP tokens, KAS, and $ZEAL, helping safeguard users while also supporting liquidity. If needed, it can reimburse affected participants, and during stable conditions, it reinforces overall protocol health. As Zealous Swap and Fervent Finance continue to grow, the fund scales too, giving users added security and confidence in the ecosystem.

We’re excited for the full platform launch. In the meantime, you can try it out now on the testnet here: https://www.zealousswap.com/. 

BSCN Article on What’s Next for Kaspa

Leading crypto news outlet BSCN (bsc.news) recently published an article titled “The Road Ahead for Kaspa: What Next for the Remainder of 2025 and Beyond?.“ This is a big win for Kaspa exposure, especially since their X account, @BSCNews, reaches over 1.3 million followers! We’re thrilled to see Kaspa being highlighted to such a wide audience.

The article does a great job giving newcomers a crash course on Kaspa’s history and vision. But it’s also valuable for long-time supporters, as it shines a light on some of the exciting milestones the community can look forward to through the rest of 2025 and into 2026. Some of the key developments mentioned include:

DAGKnight Protocol: Kaspa is preparing to roll out DAGKnight, an upgrade to its GHOSTDAG consensus, designed to speed up transaction ordering by removing fixed network delay assumptions and strengthening security. The protocol, based on a 2022 research paper, introduces streamlined algorithms and is expected to debut in the next hard fork.

ZK Layer and L1 <> L2 Bridge: Development is also underway on a ZK layer with an L1-to-L2 (layer 1 to layer 2) bridge, enabling zero-knowledge rollups. In this setup, Kaspa’s layer-1 handles sequencing, data availability, and settlement, while the bridge allows atomic composability across rollups. Multi-rollup transaction research is ongoing, with zero-knowledge rollup functionality targeted for late 2025 or early 2026.

Reverse MEV Auctions: Kaspa researchers are exploring reverse MEV (Miner Extractable Value) auctions, a mechanism that lets miners return value to users by offering kickbacks for transaction ordering or inclusion. By leveraging Kaspa’s parallel blocks, this system reduces exploitation and ensures value flows back to the community. Canonical kickback paths and auction rules are under consideration for the next hard fork.

Oracle Voting Mechanism: Lastly, Kaspa is working on an oracle voting mechanism that allows miners to validate external data, such as prices or events, directly at layer-1. Using Kaspa’s high block rate, the system creates sybil-resistant oracles by embedding miner votes in consensus. This offers a secure, decentralized way to overcome current oracle challenges in DeFi.

Kaspa’s development roadmap shows no signs of slowing down. With DAGKnight, ZK rollups, reverse MEV auctions, and oracle voting on the horizon, the ecosystem is steadily laying the foundation for a faster, fairer, and more scalable future. Whether you’re a developer, miner, or community supporter, there’s a lot to be excited about in the next phase of Kaspa’s journey. Stay tuned—the best is yet to come!

Fervent Finance Launched Their Testnet

Fervent Finance, a purpose-built lending and borrowing protocol designed for the Kaspa ecosystem, has officially launched its testnet! By bringing decentralized lending and borrowing to Kaspa, Fervent is laying the groundwork for the core financial infrastructure that will support a thriving DeFi economy. As part of the Zealous Swap family, this launch represents an exciting milestone in broadening the suite of decentralized applications available to Kaspa users.

For now, the team is using a permissioned oracle that fetches data off-chain to support testing. Once stablecoins are introduced and liquidity pools reach healthy levels, they plan to move into a hybrid model using both TWAP (time-weighted average price) and the permissioned oracle. Looking ahead, when solutions like Chainlink become available on Kasplex, Fervent intends to fully transition to a TWAP + Chainlink setup.

Links to access the testnet and documentation are below. Congrats to the Fervent Finance team!

• Testnet: https://fervent.finance 

• Docs: https://fervent-finance.gitbook.io/fervent-finance-docs 

Kaspa Nigeria Tedx

Kaspa Nigeria made a big impact at a recent TEDx Enugu event, introducing attendees to the power of Kaspa. Their booth showcased real-time payments in action, while onboarding newcomers into the ecosystem with fresh wallets and their very first transactions.

A huge congratulations to the Kaspa Nigeria team for their dedication and for spreading the word about $KAS to an even wider audience! Be sure to follow Kaspa Nigeria to stay up to date with their latest initiatives and community efforts.

Kaspa.FYI

Kas.fyi has introduced the Kaspa Developer Platform (KDP), a new toolkit designed to simplify and accelerate building on Kaspa. The platform will feature four main products:

• BlockDAG API – live node data and historical lookups without the need to run your own node (public beta open now).

• Node as a Service (NaaS) – fully managed Kaspa nodes with high performance and no maintenance required (coming soon).

• Big Data & Analytics – deep insights and full visibility into Kaspa’s blockDAG activity (coming soon).

• Layer2 API – standardized APIs for developing across Kaspa’s upcoming L2 solutions (coming soon).

This release represents the first step in Kas.fyi’s broader vision to become the “AWS of Kaspa,” making it easier for both developers and non-technical builders to create on the network. Please follow @kasfyi on X, to keep up-to-date with their progress. 

Kaspa Experience Coming Up

Mark your calendars for September 13, 2025—a full day dedicated entirely to $KAS. With only 500 tickets available, this event offers an immersive Kaspa experience featuring vendors, panels, a developer expo, and even a scavenger hunt. Organized by the Kaspa Alliance for Transparency, it promises to be a landmark gathering for the community.

Scheduled speakers include Kasplex BD Kaspador, researcher Eliott Mea, entrepreneur Christian Ludwig, and Kaskad co-founder Julien Daubert. Alongside these world-class talks, attendees will enjoy some of the community’s favorite Kaspa vendors, including Rock the Kaspa Podcast, Wolfy’s Bar, Down River Designs, and Tangem.

The event is also backed by a strong lineup of sponsors such as the Kaspa Alliance for Transparency, Zealous Swap, Kastle Wallet, Rhubarb Media, Igra Labs, Kasplex, Moonbound, Tangem, Crumpet Media, Kat Pool, The Visual Aye, Blockchain Banter, Web3 Poker, AMBCrypto, Kaspa Finance, and Kaspa Name Service.

And don’t miss Nacho’s 1st birthday afterparty, with 100 exclusive spots to experience real-world $KAS in action.

This will be an epic event you won’t want to miss.

To purchase your tickets and find more details please visit  http://experience.kaspa.events .

Kaspa Street In General Santos, Philippines 

@Kaptain_Kaspa shared a fun video from General Santos, Philippines, where local merchants are accepting KAS for payment. The clip showed several restaurants proudly displaying the “Kaspa Accepted Here” stickers.

While these merchants may not be on social media or listed in the merchant directory on Kaspa.org, it’s inspiring to see everyday store owners already embracing $KAS in their communities. The video perfectly captured Kaptain Kaspa’s new slogan: “Can I pay you in the money of the future, $KAS?”

We love to see this kind of grassroots adoption. Please continue supporting small businesses around the world, and let us know if your business accepts Kaspa!