Kaspa Explained STPConsensus assumptions
The security argument depends on honest work and network conditions. A diagram that converges is not proof that all adversarial cases converge safely.
Evaluate
What does the design cost?
Keeping parallel blocks can accommodate frequent discoveries. Nodes still have to receive and check them, and mining can still concentrate. Compare these costs before judging the speed.
Security and operating costs
Parallel blocks
What this enables
Concurrent work can stay in the history.
What it requires
More graph structure to receive, validate, and order.
Frequent blocks
What this enables
More opportunities to include a payment.
What it requires
Propagation, transaction mass, fees, and miner behavior still affect inclusion.
Verification
What this enables
A node can check the rules independently.
What it requires
Hardware, storage, connectivity, and maintained software are still needed.
Proof of work
What this enables
Participation is tied to computing work and physical costs.
What it requires
Specialized hardware and pools can concentrate control.
You have compared all four tradeoffs. Use the tabs to revisit one.
What must keep working
Operational reliability
Software bugs, outages, connectivity failures, and concentrated infrastructure remain possible. Examine incidents and recovery, not just a target block rate.
Miner funding
New issuance falls on a fixed schedule. Fees, KAS’s exchange value, equipment efficiency, and power costs affect the resources miners can sustain.
Actual use
Capacity is not demand. A released feature does not establish dependable applications, repeat users, or fee revenue.
Compare base-layer designs
Scroll sideways to compare all three networks
| Question | Kaspa | Bitcoin | Ethereum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus participation | Proof-of-work miners | Proof-of-work miners | Proof-of-stake validators |
| Ledger and execution | UTXOs with covenant rules | UTXOs with Script | Accounts and EVM execution |
| History | BlockDAG with GHOSTDAG ordering | Chain selected by accumulated work | Chain with checkpoints and economic finality |
| What to examine | Node costs, ordering assumptions, tooling maturity | Inclusion demand, fee conditions, settlement policy | Validator assumptions, contract risk, execution costs |
This is a base-layer comparison, not a ranking. Custodians, bridges, and secondary layers introduce additional assumptions.