Protocol explainer

GHOSTDAG explained

GHOSTDAG is the live Kaspa rule that turns a graph of parallel proof-of-work blocks into one ordered payment history.

Summary: GHOSTDAG is Kaspa's current blockDAG ordering rule; it is not DAGKnight and it does not mean instant finality.

Plain model

Why Kaspa needs it

Problem

If blocks arrive quickly, honest miners can find blocks at nearly the same time.

Old shape

A single chain has to choose one path. Some honest work can become stale or orphaned.

Kaspa shape

A blockDAG keeps more parallel blocks visible in the record.

Ordering rule

GHOSTDAG gives nodes a shared way to classify and order the graph.

User effect

Transactions can appear quickly while confirmation confidence increases over time.

Boundary

Fast mined ordering increases confirmation speed. Irreversibility still depends on confirmation depth and risk tolerance.

Confusions

Say it safely

QuestionAnswerBest wording
Is GHOSTDAG live?LiveGHOSTDAG is Kaspa's live blockDAG ordering rule.
Is it DAGKnight?NoDAGKnight is a separate future consensus direction.
Does it remove finality risk?NoKaspa has fast inclusion and probabilistic confirmation confidence.
Does it mean unlimited TPS?NoThroughput depends on block capacity, policy, fees, demand, and network conditions.

Source list

Verify the claim

Use Kaspa Research for protocol lineage, Rusty Kaspa for implementation, the status page for current labels, and the finality page for payment-confidence wording.