Kaspa Aims for 100 Blocks Per Second: DAGKnight, ZK, and VProgs

In 2026, Kaspa ceased to be "just" a fast payment network. After the Crescendo hard fork brought the network to 10 blocks per second in 2025, the Toccata update added native smart contracts, KRC-20 tokens, and zero-knowledge (ZK) verification by the end of June 2026. This raises the question that every follower of the project is really asking: what’s next? The answer lies in three points: DAGKnight, the rise to 100 blocks per second, and VProgs, along with a layer 2 ecosystem taking shape, not without friction. Here’s what the upcoming updates are preparing, and what they have yet to prove.

In Brief

• Kaspa is a proof-of-work blockchain built on a BlockDAG architecture (the GHOSTDAG protocol), launched fairly at the end of 2021 without pre-mining or ICO.
• Already delivered: Crescendo (10 blocks per second, 2025) and Toccata (end of June 2026), which transformed Kaspa into a programmable layer 1 (native contracts, KRC-20, ZK, the SilverScript compiler).
• Upcoming: DAGKnight (a new adaptive consensus) with a ZK bridge between layer 1 and layer 2, the gradual rise to 100 blocks per second (expected in 2027), and VProgs for native and composable contracts.
• As of September 18, 2026, KAS was trading around $0.035, with a market cap of nearly one billion dollars, and about 96% of the supply already in circulation (issuance nearly complete).
• Recent friction: an exploit in late September 2026 on the Kasplex Layer 2 reignited criticism from co-founder Shai Wyborski regarding the security and governance of the ecosystem; the Kaspa Layer 1 was unaffected.

Where Does Kaspa Stand at the End of 2026?

Kaspa is a PoW cryptocurrency built on a BlockDAG, a directed acyclic graph where multiple valid blocks coexist in parallel rather than competing, thanks to the GHOSTDAG protocol. The result is high throughput without sacrificing decentralization. The network has been operating at 10 blocks per second since the Crescendo hard fork (2025), made possible by rewriting the software in Rust.

The recent turning point is Toccata. Activated at the end of June 2026, this update transformed Kaspa from a fast payment chain into a programmable layer 1: native contracts via conventions, KRC-20 tokens integrated into the protocol, ZK verification opcodes, and the SilverScript compiler to facilitate development. On the market side, KAS was trading around $0.035 on September 18, 2026 (market cap close to a billion), with a fair launch, no pre-mining, and issuance nearing the end of its curve. The technical foundation is thus in place; the next step is to make it thrive.

DAGKnight: The Next Leap in Consensus

This is the most anticipated update. DAGKnight (DK) is a next-generation consensus protocol, derived from a 2022 research paper by Kaspa researchers Michael Sutton and Yonatan Sompolinsky, designed to extend or replace GHOSTDAG. Its distinguishing feature: it is "parameterless" and adaptive. Where the current system relies on fixed assumptions about network latency, DAGKnight dynamically adjusts to real conditions, which should allow for faster finality (target block times of around 25 to 40 milliseconds) and better resilience to disruptions, with Byzantine fault tolerance of up to 50%.

According to the roadmap published by the project, DAGKnight is expected to be delivered with a ZK bridge between layer 1 and layer 2 in a single hard fork. However, the timeline calls for caution: initially planned for the third quarter of 2026, it is now more often mentioned for 2026-2027, and the team acknowledges that the topic has been postponed after the Crescendo effort. Notably: DAGKnight is structural, but it is also the milestone whose date has shifted the most.

Towards 100 Blocks Per Second

Kaspa does not intend to stop at 10 blocks per second. The roadmap outlines a gradual increase in throughput, in stages (around 25, then 40, and finally 100 blocks per second), targeted for a hard fork in 2027, with resilience mechanisms designed to ensure that payments continue to function even in the event of a network partition. The logic is a horizontal scaling: rather than increasing the size of each block, the network processes more blocks in parallel. If successful, this increase in throughput would bring confirmations down to the only limit of internet latency.

VProgs: Native and Composable Contracts

Still in the research stage, VProgs ("virtual programs") aim to give Kaspa native smart contracts capable of executing in parallel while remaining synchronously composable, a delicate point for decentralized finance and complex applications. The stated goal is to offer large-scale programmability without breaking the performance model of the BlockDAG. This is a thorough foundational work, expected around 2027, to be followed more as a direction than a precise deadline.

Igra and Kasplex: The Application Layer Takes Shape

Alongside the protocol, the Layer 2 ecosystem is being established. Projects like Igra (an EVM-compatible Layer 2 built on Kaspa's BlockDAG) and Kasplex are maturing the application layer, with KRC-20 tokens as the first testing ground. The idea is familiar yet coherent: layer 1 provides speed, security, and settlement, while Layer 2 hosts part of the application activity. It is this combination, a fast base plus an active ecosystem, that will determine whether the recently added programmability transforms into real usage. For now, this is also where the risks are concentrated.

Behind the Scenes: The Kasplex Exploit and Shai Wyborski's Warning

At the end of September 2026, a signature bypass vulnerability in the off-chain indexer of Kasplex's KRC-20 tokens allowed attackers to mint, without possessing the private keys, 186 million ZEAL tokens and approximately 54.4 billion NACHO, via Igra Labs' EVM layer and the Kasplex Layer 2, before selling them on the DEX Zealous Swap. According to specialized media (KuCoin, ChainCatcher), the value of the affected pools dropped by 94% to 99.6%. A crucial point for accuracy: Kaspa's Layer 1 consensus and unbridged assets were not affected, as the flaw was located in a Layer 2 component rather than in the core protocol. Igra suspended iKAS withdrawals, and Zealous Swap stated it needed to correct and reindex its indexer.

This context is essential for understanding Shai Wyborski's public post (@DesheShai). To recall: co-author of the PHANTOM and GHOSTDAG research that underpins Kaspa, a doctor in quantum cryptography, and the project's first contributor. Since April 2026, he had distanced himself and publicly expressed his distrust towards part of the ecosystem. According to coverage by CaptainAltcoin, he pointed out the rivalry between three programmability projects (Kasplex's ZK-EVM, Igra, and the core team's vProgs), criticized core leaders (Michael Sutton and Yonatan Sompolinsky) for their hostility towards Igra, judged that Kasplex was hiding protocol details and fees, and feared that dependence on funding from the Kaspa Eco Foundation (KEF) and personal grudges would steer decisions to the detriment of the community. His wording reflected his position: he cannot work with people he does not trust.

After the exploit, Wyborski claimed that his warnings were materializing, stating that he had repeatedly signaled the need to address security issues before any launch, and abruptly labeled KEF as reckless and Kasplex as a bad project. These are his opinions, expressed publicly; they target entities within the ecosystem (KEF, Kasplex, Igra) distinct from Kaspa's Layer 1, and the concerned parties are communicating about the incident on their side. Notably, he did not dismiss the base protocol, which he praised elsewhere.

To Watch (and Cautions)

A note of honesty is necessary. Kaspa's roadmap is credible, and its actual execution history (Crescendo, then Toccata, has been delivered), but three cautions remain.

• First, deadlines are slipping: DAGKnight is an example, having been postponed several times.
• Second, having the capacity is not the same as using it: several analyses note that on-chain activity remains low compared to the available throughput, a classic case of "build it and they will come" whose outcome is not guaranteed.
• Third, as the Kasplex exploit and internal criticism remind us, the security and governance of the Layer 2 ecosystem are ongoing works in progress, distinct from the robustness of Layer 1.

The right way to follow Kaspa is therefore not to aim for a price, but to check three things: the actual landing of the DAGKnight and ZK branches in the development repository, the materialization of application demand on Layer 1 and Layer 2, and how the ecosystem corrects its flaws and clarifies its governance. The next verifiable technical step will be for the DAGKnight work and the ZK bridge to reach the testnet, then activate via hard fork.

This article is informative and does not constitute investment advice. Crypto markets are volatile; the figures cited are dated and change rapidly. Update schedules are indicative and subject to slippage. Statements attributed to named individuals are their public remarks; the presumption of innocence and good faith applies to the mentioned entities.

FAQ

What is DAGKnight? An adaptive consensus protocol <> designed to extend or replace GHOSTDAG on Kaspa, for faster finality and better resilience to real network conditions. When will DAGKnight be delivered? The project has mentioned 2026-2027, often accompanied by a ZK bridge between Layer 1 / Layer 2. The timeline has already been pushed back; no date is guaranteed. What did the Toccata update add? Activated at the end of June 2026, it made Kaspa programmable: native contracts (conventions), KRC-20 tokens, ZK verification opcodes, and the SilverScript compiler. Who is Shai Wyborski and why do his criticisms matter? Co-author of the PHANTOM/GHOSTDAG research and one of the early contributors to Kaspa, he distanced himself in 2026 due to distrust of the ecosystem's governance; after the Kasplex exploit, he claimed that his security alerts were confirmed. His statements reflect his personal opinion. Did the Kasplex exploit hit Kaspa? The vulnerability concerned the KRC-20 indexer of Kasplex (Layer 2) and the Igra Labs bridge, not the Layer 1 of Kaspa, whose consensus and non-bridged assets were not affected. Is Kaspa still proof of work and fair-launch? Yes. Kaspa retains its PoW core (the kHeavyHash algorithm) and its fair launch from 2021, with no pre-mining or founder allocation; updates do not change this foundation.