Journalist
Posted:
Bitcoin has long been treated as crypto’s gold. Lately, Kaspa has been pulling in comparisons as its supposed silver; being faster, cheaper, and more usable for everyday transactions.
But catchy labels often travel faster than facts. Here’s a closer look.
Why the comparison started
Kaspa is often described as Bitcoin’s silver because it promises speed without abandoning scarcity.
Built on a BlockDAG architecture, Kaspa processes blocks in parallel, allowing for faster confirmations and higher throughput than Bitcoin’s linear chain. Transactions settle quickly and fee remains low.
The project’s fair launch and capped supply are also similar to Bitcoin’s early ethos, which helps miners and traders looking for something familiar.
But is this comparison an expectation or actual proof?
A look at the numbers
Source: CoinGecko
Bitcoin’s scale alone explains why the “digital gold” label persists. At around $89,700, BTC commands a market cap near $1.79 trillion, with daily trading volume above $30 billion.
Supply is tight, with 19.96 million BTC already circulating out of a fixed 21 million.
Source: Santiment
On-chain data makes Bitcoin’s [BTC] maturity apparent. Network growth and daily active addresses were largely flattened, while miner-held supply remains stable. Bitcoin is being held for its value.
Source: CoinGecko
Kaspa [KAS] is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Priced near $0.048 at the time of writing, its market cap is just $1.28 billion, despite similar daily trading volume to BTC at roughly $34 million. There’s more speculative churn.
Source: Kaspa Explorer
Kaspa’s usage is a different ball game, though. With over 589 million transactions, 0.1s block times, and 94% of supply already mined. The “silver” claim is supported by this activity edge.
Notably, not on scale or security parity with Bitcoin.
When the silver narrative starts to break
Kaspa’s price has often been looked at through a power-law model, similar to how Bitcoin was studied in its early days. But that pattern is starting to fade.
Source: X
Data shows KAS falling below its long-term bands more often, meaning the price is no longer moving in line with the curve.
Kaspa’s power-law R-squared has dropped to 0.85, while Bitcoin’s remains much higher at 0.96. BTC is following a steadier long-term path.
This puts limits on the “silver” comparison. Bitcoin’s value today comes from holding and scarcity. Kaspa, on the other hand, is still driven by hopes and future potential.
The comparison works for how they’re used, rather than how they behave as long-term assets.
Final Thoughts
- Bitcoin’s “digital gold” status is backed by scale.
- Kaspa fits the “silver” label only at a use-case level, not as a long-term value asset.