The native token of the proof-of-work cryptocurrency Kaspa, known as KAS, saw a significant surge of 13% following the announcement by major Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital that it has mined over $16 million worth of KAS tokens. Marathon Digital stated that this move allows them to take advantage of the higher profit margins associated with Kaspa mining machines, which can reach up to 95% in certain cases. Currently, KAS has experienced a 145% increase in trading volume and a 10% rise in price within the past 24 hours. Over the last 7 days, the cryptocurrency has risen by 20% and by 26% in the last 30 days, indicating a positive outlook for the altcoin this month.
According to CoinMarketCap data, Kaspa now holds the 24th position in the global cryptocurrency rankings, with a trade price of $0.1759. It has a circulating supply of approximately 24.035 billion KAS tokens and a market capitalization of $4.2 billion.
Kaspa is a cryptocurrency that aims to provide a highly efficient, scalable, and secure blockchain platform. Its unique feature is the use of the GhostDAG protocol, a proof-of-work consensus mechanism that allows for faster block times and increased transaction throughput compared to traditional blockchains. Unlike Bitcoin, GhostDAG enables the simultaneous production of multiple blocks, which accelerates transactions and boosts block rewards for miners.
Marathon’s Chief Growth Officer, Adam Swick, highlighted that mining Kaspa allows the company to generate diversified revenue streams from Bitcoin, leveraging their expertise in digital asset compute. Marathon began mining Kaspa in September of last year and has since acquired around 60 petahashes of KS3, KS5, and KS5 Pro ASICs for mining Kaspa tokens. Currently, half of these machines are operational, with the remaining units expected to be deployed in the third quarter. The company has already mined 93 million KAS, estimated to be valued at around $16 million.
This year, the price of the Kaspa token has surged by approximately 50%, surpassing the 44% increase in Bitcoin’s price. Bitcoin miners have been seeking ways to diversify their revenue streams during the crypto winter, and the recent halving has intensified competition. Some miners have opted to repurpose their existing infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and other computational demands. However, companies like Marathon have chosen to capitalize on additional layers of Bitcoin to enhance their earnings.
In conclusion, Marathon’s mining of Kaspa tokens has propelled the price and trading volume of KAS, positioning it as a promising altcoin in the cryptocurrency market.