As Kaspa marks its third year of development, the conversation around decentralization is picking up. For any Layer-1 protocol aiming to become foundational infrastructure in the crypto world, how coins are distributed matters just as much as what the technology can do.
To evaluate where Kaspa stands, it’s helpful to compare it not only to Bitcoin in its third year (2012), but also to Bitcoin today, after more than 16 years of evolution.
Understanding Kaspa Current Supply Distribution
As of early 2025, Kaspa’s wallet distribution looks like this:
- Top 10 wallets hold approximately 18.5% of circulating KAS
- Top 100 wallets hold around 36.5%
- Top 1,000 wallets control nearly 58%
At first glance, these figures suggest a high degree of concentration. However, there’s important context that reshapes what this really means.
Custodial Wallets and the Exchange Effect
Many of the largest wallets in the Kaspa network are exchange-controlled custodial wallets. These include wallets operated by platforms like MEXC, CoinEx, and others.
This means that a single wallet might be holding funds for thousands of users, not a single individual or entity. So, while on-chain data shows centralization, actual ownership is much more distributed.
This is a pattern seen across all major crypto networks, especially during periods of early adoption when most users rely on centralized exchanges.
Bitcoin at the Same Stage: 2012
Let’s travel back in time to early 2012. Bitcoin, at that point, was also three years old, and the numbers looked like this:
- Top 10 wallets held around 10% of the supply
- Top 100 wallets held about 16–17%
- Top 1,000 wallets controlled approximately 27–28%
Compared to Kaspa’s current stats, Bitcoin seemed more decentralized. But that impression can be misleading.
In 2012:
- Satoshi Nakamoto alone held over 1 million BTC, spread across hundreds of addresses
- A handful of early miners dominated supply
- The network was tiny, with limited real-world usage
So while the wallet distribution was flatter, true ownership remained highly concentrated.
Bitcoin Today: 2025 Numbers
Fast-forward to 2025, and Bitcoin’s distribution has evolved:
- Top 10 wallets hold around 6% of all BTC
- Top 100 wallets hold about 15%
- Top 1,000 wallets hold roughly 33%
Many of these addresses are also exchange-controlled. However, this still represents a major shift from the early days. As Bitcoin adoption spread, early holders sold into a growing market, and millions of new users entered the ecosystem.
The result: a meaningful reduction in concentration, driven by user growth, increased self-custody, and the emergence of new use cases.
What This Could Mean for Kaspa
Kaspa is following a familiar pattern. Its early distribution has naturally led to temporary concentration among miners, exchanges, and core users. But if we take cues from Bitcoin trajectory, several things are likely to happen over the next few years:
- Exchange dominance will shrink as more users adopt non-custodial wallets
- New participants will enter the network, distributing supply more broadly
- Utility will increase, encouraging more holders to store and transact with KAS rather than just trade it
In short, Kaspa’s current distribution is a snapshot of an early-stage network, not a final verdict on its decentralization.
Decentralization isn’t binary. It evolves over time, shaped by adoption, infrastructure, liquidity, and utility. Kaspa today may look concentrated on-chain, but when you factor in custody dynamics and compare its position to where Bitcoin was — and where Bitcoin is now — a clearer picture emerges.
Kaspa early distribution is a natural phase in the growth of a blockchain network. If adoption continues, and if user behavior trends toward self-custody and real-world use, Kaspa is on track to become significantly more decentralized in the years ahead.
