In a world where GPU mining has become unprofitable after the ETH merge, one crypto currency now stands above the others. This coin is not yet widely adopted but shows promise for now and potentially the future of POW coins, this coin is Kaspa.
Topics:
General overview of Kaspa (What is Kaspa?)
The GHOSTDAG protocol
Kaspa financial overview
GPU mining profitability
What is Kaspa:
Kaspa is a blockchain-based platform and cryptocurrency that aims to provide a more scalable and secure alternative to traditional blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It uses a unique protocol called GHOSTDAG (Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree Directed Acyclic Graph) which is designed to improve the scalability and security of blockchains.
The GHOSTDAG protocol allows Kaspa to process a high number of transactions per second while also maintaining a high level of security. It does this by allowing multiple blocks to be mined simultaneously and then selecting the heaviest chain of blocks based on a set of specific rules.
Kaspa's native cryptocurrency is also called Kaspa (KSP). It is used to facilitate transactions on the Kaspa network and to incentivize miners to secure the network through the proof-of-work consensus algorithm. KSP can be bought and sold on several cryptocurrency exchanges, and can also be used to pay for goods and services at merchants that accept it as a form of payment.
Overall, Kaspa aims to be a more efficient and scalable blockchain platform that can meet the needs of a wide range of use cases, from simple peer-to-peer transactions to complex decentralized applications (dApps). However, like all cryptocurrencies, Kaspa comes with its own set of risks and uncertainties, and investors should conduct their own research and exercise caution before investing.
Check out the KSP Block Visualizer here
How does GHOSTDAG work:
The GHOSTDAG (Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree Directed Acyclic Graph) protocol is a consensus algorithm that is used by Kaspa and some other blockchain platforms. It was designed to address some of the limitations of traditional blockchain protocols, such as scalability, security, and confirmation time.
In the GHOSTDAG protocol, transactions are organized into a directed acyclic graph (DAG) instead of a linear chain as in the case of the traditional blockchain. In this DAG, each node represents a transaction and the edges represent the connections between them. This structure allows for greater parallelism in transaction processing and enables the network to process a higher volume of transactions per second.
The "heaviest" part of the GHOSTDAG protocol refers to the part of the DAG that contains the most transactions and has the most proof-of-work (PoW) mining power behind it. This ensures that the most reliable and secure part of the network is used to validate transactions and add new blocks to the chain.
The GHOSTDAG protocol also enables Kaspa to achieve faster confirmation times than traditional blockchains, since transactions can be confirmed as soon as they are included in a block that has been added to the heaviest part of the DAG.
Overall, the GHOSTDAG protocol is designed to provide a more scalable and secure consensus algorithm for blockchain networks, while also improving transaction processing times and reducing confirmation times. However, like any consensus algorithm, it comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and its effectiveness will depend on various factors such as network size, miner incentives, and security considerations.
Kaspa Financials:
Currently, on 4/8/2023, 1 KSP is worth $0.02948. From the chart above we can see there has been a massive increase in the interest in this coin, represented by the price increase of 14,878.87% and the increasing amounts of content being created covering the coin.
The coins market cap is currently $525 million dollars and ranks in the top 200 crypto currencies on coinmarketcap. With a current supply of 17,803,025,814 KAS and a total of 28,704,026,601 KAS there are only 10,901,000,787 KAS coins left to mine.
With the coin being fairly new and what most would consider a speculative investment, its fair to assume most of these coins will be held directly on exchanges instead of in a cold wallet. This will make it easier for users to buy/sell more often which is why we see a larger trading volume compared to other assets, however the trading volume is down by ~14% today. The total volume traded in the last 24 hours is $13,523,850 or 458,746,608 KAS.
GPU Mining Profitability:
GPU mining has been mostly unprofitable for the past 7 months. With the increase in coin price for KASPA we can see that most of the newer GPU's are able to turn a profit in this market. Some good sources to check GPU mining profitability are Whatomine and Hashrate.no.
While the coin is currently profitable to mine, it is important to consider the factors that make it profitable. Companies have started to build more efficient ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) miners that are more efficient. One miner the Osprey Electronics E300 14 GH/s can make a hug impact on the network hashrate and in turn, up the network difficulty and decrease the amount of coins that get paid out to GPU miners.
We can see from the network hashrate chart a few spikes. The most important ones to note are in December and March of this year. The Osprey Electronics E300 release around this time and more than likely accounts for some of this increased network hash rate. On March 1st the total network hashrate for KASPA was 438.9789TH/s and is now at 803 TH/s.
While GPU miners aren't priced out, it is important to keep this in mind when purchasing new hardware. It is also important to note that this coin was initially designed for Optical proof of work. No one is sure how long it will be profitable to mine KASPA, it seems GPU miners will not be on this coin forever, but this coin has offered some hope and profits for miners
