Kaspa and Ripple represent two different approaches to blockchain technology—one emphasizes decentralization, the other infrastructure for financial services.
Kaspa: The Miner's Revolution
Kaspa kicked off in November 2021 with no pre-mine or ICO, giving miners the opportunity to participate from day one. This initiative stood in stark contrast to existing founder-focused projects. At Kaspa's core is the BlockDAG protocol, which transforms traditional blockchain principles with parallel block placement, avoiding power grid overheat through the kHeavyHash algorithm. In March 2025, Kaspa announced successful testing of its network at 10 blocks per second with plans for further acceleration and smart contract support.
Ripple: Financial Infrastructure Provider
Ripple Labs crafted the XRP Ledger in 2012 to provide financial institutions with capabilities for digital assets. The XRP Ledger employs a consensus protocol, ensuring transactions are processed in 3-5 seconds and supporting over 1500 transactions per second. Ripple and its technology are used by more than 300 financial institutions, including Santander, to accelerate cross-border payments and provide tokenization and digital asset services.
Head-to-Head: Where They Stand in 2025
Kaspa and Ripple manage their networks differently: in Kaspa, decisions are made by miner consensus, while in Ripple, they are made at the corporate level. In terms of speed, Kaspa plans to increase performance to 10 blocks per second by Spring 2025, whereas XRP Ledger has long been consistently processing over 1500 transactions per second. Despite the differences, both approaches complement each other, contributing to the development of blockchain technology.
The different approaches of Kaspa and Ripple reflect the diversity within blockchain technology. Kaspa focuses on decentralization and maintaining the original principles of cryptocurrency, while Ripple collaborates with financial institutions to enhance the existing financial system. Both approaches bring valuable innovations to the blockchain ecosystem.
