• The Kava Network is a fast and secure Layer-1 blockchain featuring a unique co-chain architecture that combines the speed and interoperability of the Cosmos SDK with the flexibility and developer support of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

• The Kava Network powers a suite of native DeFi products, including decentralized swap pools and collateralized lending and borrowing, with a full ecosystem of 3rd party EVM and Cosmos SDK-based protocols under development.

• The Kava Network is integrated with the Cosmos Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol (IBC) and operates with a Tendermint-based Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

• Kava Network features a governance token, KAVA, that can be staked by validators or delegated to validator nodes. Stakers and delegators earn a portion of the network's fees as a reward for securing the network and also have voting rights in network governance proposals.

• The network empowers developers with:

  • Flexible Deployment: Developers can build and deploy on either of the two most used permissionless execution environments in the world using the EVM-compatible Ethereum Co-Chain or the Cosmos Co-Chain.

  • On-Chain Incentives: A decentralized on-chain incentive model will ensure that the best developers and projects are rewarded in every Web3 vertical, including DeFi, GameFi, and NFTs.

  • Seamless Interoperability: Developers can deploy Solidity smart contracts that interoperate seamlessly with Cosmos SDK protocols in the same network, connecting their project to every major asset and millions of users.

1. What is Kava (KAVA)?

The Kava Network is a Layer-1 blockchain that combine the speed and scalability of the Cosmos SDK with the developer support of Ethereum.

The Kava Network will empower developers to build for next-gen blockchain technologies through its unique co-chain architecture.

Specifically, the Kava Network enables:

• Seamless interoperability: The Ethereum and Cosmos Co-Chains interoperate seamlessly with each other, empowering developers to build in whichever environment they want without sacrificing access to the users and assets of the other.

• Optimized scalability: The Kava Network's unique architecture enables the free flow of users, assets, and projects between Kava and the industry's most relevant ecosystems at scale, all powered by the lightning-fast Tendermint Core consensus engine.

• Rapid ecosystem growth: Innovative and transparent on-chain incentive programs ensure that the best builders in the Ethereum and cosmos ecosystems are properly rewarded for driving growth for the Kava Network.

The KAVA token is integral to the security, governance, and mechanical functions of the platform. There are four main use cases for the KAVA token:

1. Security: The top 100 nodes validate blocks by a weighted bonded stake in KAVA tokens. Economic incentives for validators come in the form of earning KAVA as block rewards and as a portion of the network's transaction fees. Validators risk losing KAVA via strict slashing conditions such as failing to ensure high uptime and double signing transactions.

2. Governance: KAVA is used for proposals and voting on critical parameters of the Kava Network. This includes but is not limited to the types of supported assets and Dapps, their debt limits, and acceptable assets to use as debt collateral, collateral ratio, fees, and the savings rate for various financial instruments introduced to the network. The KAVA token is also used to vote in proposals that would affect the Kava Network SAFU Fund and treasury allocation, such as reward payouts for incentives programs.

3. Incentives: A portion of KAVA emissions is distributed as incentives for scaling the network. These incentives go directly to top projects on each chain to drive growth, encourage competition, and improve the health of the Kava ecosystem.

2. Products and key features

2.1 Co-Chain Architecture

The most important feature of the Kava Network is its co-chain architecture, enabling developers to build and deploy their projects using either the EVM or Cosmos SDK execution environments with seamless interoperability between the two. The following diagram shows how the system will function once the Kava 10 upgrade is complete and the Kava Network mainnet goes live.

More information about Kava 10 (Kava Network 1.0) can be found here.

The co-chains of the Kava Network operate like the two hemispheres of a brain. The Cosmos Co-Chain is optimized for Cosmos ecosystem developers. The Ethereum Co-Chain is optimized for Ethereum ecosystem developers. The Translator Module connects the two distinct execution environments of the Co-Chains, allowing them to work seamlessly together at scale. This packages the industry's two most used execution environments within a single network. Ethereum meets Cosmos via the Kava Network's robust, developer-optimized Layer-1 architecture.

The Ethereum Co-Chain - An EVM-compatible execution environment that empowers Solidity developers and their dApps to benefit from the scalability and security of the Kava Network.

The Cosmos Co-Chain - The Cosmos co-chain is a highly-scalable and secure Cosmos SDK blockchain that connects Kava to the 35+ chains and $60B+ of the Cosmos ecosystem via the IBC protocol.

2.2 Cosmos SDK and Tendermint Core

Kava is built using Cosmos-SDK, an open-source framework for building public Proof-of-Stake blockchains. Core features of Cosmos-SDK include:

• Tendermint Core consensus engine: Kava relies on a Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus engine designed to support Proof-of-Stake systems.

• Cosmos modularity: as new open-source modules are developed for the Cosmos ecosystem, Kava can quickly implement desirable modules. For instance, the Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) (from Cosmos) module enables all Cosmos-SDK blockchains to communicate. Kava Network integrated with the IBC at 16:00 UTC on January 19, 2022.

The following table shows the performance benchmarks of Tendermint Core.

2.3 On-Chain Incentives

The Kava Network features an innovative approach to developer incentivization. Through an open and transparent mechanism, a portion of KAVA emissions are directly awarded to protocols to incentivize usage and drive growth for the Kava ecosystem.

Following the Kava 10 upgrade and Kava Network mainnet launch, the incentive module will distribute KAVA emissions between both chains, with the top 100 protocols on the Ethereum Co-Chain sharing a pro-rata distribution of incentives based on usage metrics and TVL.

2.4 The KavaDAO

The Kava DAO is a fully decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that governs the Kava Network. Made up of the Kava stakers and validators that help to secure and run the network, the DAO operates on a liquid democracy model and determines how the network functions, what changes should be made to it, and most importantly - how the unique on-chain developer incentives are distributed between the two chains.

As a truly decentralized organization, the Kava DAO has no headquarters, no directive, and no leadership. Contributors to the security and stability of the Kava Network are also tasked with providing direction. The DAO self-governs maintains its standards in line with the expectations of the Kava community. This ensures that the Kava Network always serves users' interests and the people who build on it.

3. Economics and supply

Key metrics

The token supply distribution is as follows:

• Private Sale 1 tokens comprise of 30.05% of the total token supply. It was conducted from June 15th to June 30th 2019.

• Private Sale 2 tokens comprise of 5.02% of the total token supply. It was conducted from July 15th to July 31st 2019.

• Private Sale 3 tokens comprise of 4.93% of the total token supply. It was conducted from August 15th to August 31st 2019.

• Binance Launchpad Sale tokens comprise of 6.52% of the total token supply. It was conducted in October 2019 for a total raise of ~$3MM worth of BNB at ~$0.46 per token for 6.52% of the total token supply.

• Kava Labs shareholders tokens comprise of 25.00% of the total token supply.

• Token Treasury tokens comprise of 28.48% of the total token supply.

KAVA token distribution (%)

KAVA token release schedule

The following chart represents the number and breakdown of all KAVA that are to be released into circulation on a monthly basis. In addition, block rewards are distributed to validators according to how many tokens are staked by the current set of validators.

If the overall staked token amount is low, the APR for a KAVA validator will rise to a maximum of 20.00%; if the whole staked token amount is high, the APR for a KAVA validator will drop to a minimum of 3.00%.

KAVA token release schedule

4. Roadmap, updates, and business development

4.1 Completed Milestones

4.2 Updated roadmap

Q1 2022:

• Ethereum Co-Chain Alpha Launch

Q2 2022:

• Ethereum Co-Chain Public Beta Launch

• ETH Bridge Beta Launch: Bridging of ETH, ERC-20 tokens, and ERC-1155 assets to the Kava Network

• MINT Token Launch

• Kava Foundation Launch (KavaDAO)

• Kava Network 1.0 Mainnet Launch

• ETH Bridge Launch

• Kava Network DeFi Incentive Program

• Liquid Staking Goes Live

• Kava Network GameFi + NFT Incentive Program

• CosmWasm Support

Q3 2022:

• BSC Bridge Launch

• BTC Native Bridge Launch

4.3 Commercial partnerships and business development progress

• Ripple: Ripple is a company that enables banks, payment providers, and exchanges to send money globally conveniently using blockchain technology. Xpring, Ripple's ecosystem division invested in Kava Labs in March 2019. Kava intends support XRP as one of the first assets supported on the Kava platform.

• Tendermint: Tendermint is the creator of the Cosmos Hub and Cosmos SDK. Kava is an official partner of Tendermint and aims to make ATOM one of the first assets supported on the Kava platform.

• Validators: Kava has built a global network of validators that are dedicated to securing and governing the Kava platform. Many of these validators are public Kava partners and can be found on Kava's website.

• IBC Protocol: the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol is a standardized interoperability protocol attempting to connect the global economy with blockchain technology.

5. Project team

6. Community

• Twitter

• Telegram

• Discord

• Youtube

• Reddit

7. Appendix

• Website

• Medium

• Github

• Block Explorer

8. Advisors

• Sunny Aggarwal

• Roderik van der Graaf

• Robert Leshner

• Brian Fabian Crain

• Jack Zampoline