Kaspa Announces Two Major Hard Forks in 2026

Kaspa founder Yonatan Sompolinsky (@hashdag on X) confirmed that the blockchain project will undergo two hard forks in 2026.

The first, Covenants++, is scheduled for May 5, 2026, and represents a major step toward greater programmability on Kaspa. This upgrade will introduce foundational support for vProgs, native assets, smart wallets, vaults, and zero-knowledge (ZK) verification directly on the mainnet (Layer 1).

Kaspa’s vProgs are advanced, verifiable smart contracts that perform off-chain computation. Complex logic runs externally by apps or provers, while zero-knowledge proofs are submitted to the chain. Nodes verify these proofs efficiently on-chain, confirming correct execution without re-running heavy computations. This design keeps the base layer lean and scalable, supporting rich, composable programs.

Later in Q3 2026, Kaspa plans the DAG KNIGHT upgrade, which aims to reduce block times to 25–40 ms, achieving near real-time transaction speeds while maintaining proof-of-work decentralization. According to Sompolinsky, this is part of Kaspa’s vision as a “real-time Bitcoin.”

The team is also expanding, signaling strong development capacity for this ambitious roadmap. If successful, Kaspa could significantly challenge networks like Solana and Ethereum in terms of speed and usability.

For a deeper technical overview, Sompolinsky’s Medium post provides full details.