vProgs transform Kaspa from a payment rail into a comprehensive programmable platform. All applications benefit from native L1 deployment (no L2 fragmentation), ZK-based security (cryptographic proof, not economic guarantees), and unified liquidity (all apps share L1 state). Synchronous composability – the ability for vProgs to interact atomically within a single transaction – arrives in Phase 2.

This page covers what is being built now, what becomes possible in each phase, and how the ZK stack maps to application tiers.

What Is Being Built Now

These are concrete applications actively under development or demonstrated, based on Kaspa Core R&D activity as of March 2026.

ZK Covenant Rollups (Demonstrated)

The canonical bridge pattern for all based rollup applications on Kaspa. A full deposit-transfer-withdraw cycle was proven on TN12 by Maxim Biryukov in February 2026:

  • Deposits via delegate script
  • L2 transfers between accounts
  • Withdrawals via permission tree
  • Both STARK (succinct) and Groth16 proof generation with on-chain verification
  • Sequence commitment chaining L1 block data into proofs
  • Sparse Merkle Tree for L2 account state
  • Full on-chain script verification through kaspa-txscript

This PoC represents Milestone 3 completion. Michael Sutton described it as “a highly mature canonical bridge implementation.”

Resources:

Native Assets (Shipping with Covenants++)

First-class token support on L1, activated with the May 5 hard fork:

  • ZK PoC demonstrated using SP1 by Ori Newman (January 6, 2026)
  • Intended as a stepping stone – vProgs will eventually be the canonical token layer
  • Rationale (Sompolinsky): “Native assets render L1 as the primary liquidity hub, and this solidifies social and dev consensus around L1”

Inline ZK Covenants (Noir)

Small, self-contained contracts using Noir for per-transaction proving:

  • Approximately 1 second proving on mobile, approximately 6 seconds on mobile web
  • Ideal for wallets, payment channels, simple escrows, threshold spending
  • No prover market needed – users prove their own transactions
  • Noir PoC work by manyfestation

Based ZK Applications (RISC Zero / SP1)

Larger applications with aggregated proving (10-30 second proof times):

  • Regular-sized smart contract equivalents
  • Provers aggregate multiple user actions into single proofs
  • First applications expected to be sovereign standalone vProgs (Phase 1)

RTD (Real-Time Data)

One of the three founding pillars of Covenants++ alongside covenants and ZK verification:

  • Covenant type allowing inspection and aggregation of miner payloads
  • Enables real-time data feeds and oracle-like functionality at L1
  • No external oracle dependency for on-chain data

Phase 1: Standalone vProgs

Phase 1 deploys sovereign programs that bridge to L1 via ZK proofs but operate independently. There is no cross-vProg composability yet and no L1 account model. Each vProg is an independent entity with its own state, communicating with L1 through its covenant.

Applications suited to Phase 1:

Application Description
Token bridges Canonical L1/L2 bridge using ZK covenant rollup pattern
Sovereign DEXs Order-book or AMM operating within a single vProg
Private transfers ZK-proven confidential transactions within a vProg
DAOs Self-governing organizations with treasury and voting logic
Data feeds RTD-powered oracle equivalents
Gaming On-chain game state with off-chain execution

Phase 2: Composability

Phase 2 introduces synchronous composability – atomic cross-vProg interactions within a single L1 transaction. This unlocks the full power of the platform.

Composability Examples

Flash Loan + Swap + Stake (Single Transaction):

1. Borrow from Lending vProg
2. Swap on DEX vProg
3. Stake in Yield vProg
4. Repay Lending vProg
--> All atomic, all in one L1 transaction

Cross-Border Payment with Compliance:

1. Verify sender identity (Identity vProg)
2. Check compliance rules (Compliance vProg)
3. Execute currency swap (DEX vProg)
4. Settle payment (Settlement vProg)
--> Instant, auditable, no intermediaries

DeFi Primitives

Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)

  • Atomic swaps via synchronous composability (Phase 2)
  • No slippage from bridge delays
  • Unified liquidity pool across all vProgs
  • MEV-resistant order execution via DagKnight ordering

Lending and Borrowing

  • Collateral management across vProgs
  • Instant liquidation via atomic transactions
  • Real-time interest rate computation (off-chain, ZK-verified)
  • ZK-proven solvency

Vaults and Yield

  • Automated yield strategies composing multiple vProgs
  • Single-transaction complex DeFi flows
  • Risk management via deterministic execution

Auctions

  • Sealed-bid auctions with ZK privacy
  • Fair ordering via DagKnight consensus
  • Atomic settlement

DAOs and Governance

Programmable Multi-sig

  • On-chain governance logic via vProgs
  • Threshold signatures with ZK proofs
  • Atomic proposal execution

Autonomous Organizations

  • Self-governing resource management
  • Treasury management composable with DeFi vProgs (Phase 2)
  • Transparent, auditable governance

Privacy and Identity

ZK-Based Privacy

  • Private transactions using built-in ZK computation
  • Selective disclosure of transaction details
  • Compliance-compatible privacy (prove rule adherence without revealing data)

Identity Verification

  • Decentralized identity (DID) on L1
  • ZK identity proofs (prove attributes without revealing underlying data)
  • Cross-vProg identity composability (Phase 2)

Escrow

  • Trustless escrow via atomic vProg interactions
  • Conditional release with ZK verification
  • Multi-party escrow support

Enterprise and Institutional

Automated Compliance

  • Compliance logic encoded directly in vProgs
  • Real-time regulatory reporting
  • ZK-based audit without exposing sensitive data

Settlement Infrastructure

  • Real-time settlement without trusted intermediaries
  • Cross-border payment automation
  • Institutional-grade finality via DagKnight

Supply Chain

  • Immutable record keeping on L1
  • IoT data verification via ZK proofs
  • Cross-organization composability (Phase 2)

Tokenization

  • Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization
  • Fractional ownership with compliance logic
  • Atomic trading on L1

Application Tiers by ZK Stack

The ZK strategy defines three tiers, each mapping to different application categories:

Tier ZK Stack Proof Time Proof Size Best For
Inline Noir / Groth16 ~1s mobile, ~6s mobile web 10-20 KB (Noir), tiny (Groth16) Wallets, payment channels, simple covenants
Based apps RISC Zero / SP1 10-30 seconds Variable DeFi, DAOs, lending, complex contracts
Based rollups Cairo Longer Variable Meta-apps accepting user-defined logic

Why Cairo for rollups: Cairo’s Sierra bytecode format provides provable metering and safety – essential when accepting arbitrary user-submitted logic (e.g., a DEX where users define custom trading strategies).

Why Noir for inline: Sub-second proving on mobile makes Noir suitable for per-transaction proofs where users prove their own transactions without needing a prover market.

Hash function considerations: Blake3 is approximately 10x more costly than Blake2s in Cairo (Blake2s has a precompile), but Blake3 has roughly a 40% advantage over Blake2s in SP1/RISC Zero.

Open Design Questions

These active R&D discussions affect application development:

  • Covenant state past pruning: How do applications preserve state after L1 pruning? An optional kaspad indexer with trustless historical data retrieval is under discussion.
  • KIP-21 RPC layer: External applications need RPC access to lane roots and activity status to produce proofs – not yet designed.
  • Native assets vs vProgs tokens: Native assets ship as a stepping stone with Covenants++, but the long-term plan is for vProgs to be the canonical token layer.

Further Reading