Luke Dunshea X (formerly Twitter)
Being a Kaspa ambassador is more than just a title for me; it’s about living and breathing the passion I have for this project. It means actively sharing the story of Kaspa with everyone, in a way that’s genuine and true to the ethos of what we’re building.
From the beginning, the Kaspa project was founded on transparency and decentralization, and the ethos of real people doing real, significant things. All the core team members are “doxxed”, which means their identities and information are publicly available.
They aren’t hiding behind pseudonyms or anonymity. This kind of openness and accountability sets a strong foundation for the kind of community we want to build, and as an ambassador, my role is to find others who naturally resonate with this mindset.
Being Kaspa Ambassador
When it comes to bringing in new ambassadors, I look for people who are already demonstrating their commitment. These are the individuals who are active in online discussions, attending meetups, and spreading the word about Kaspa, even before being formally recognized as ambassadors.
We aren’t looking for people who are simply interested in taking on multiple ambassador roles across different projects just for the sake of it. We want genuine advocates who are already contributing and understand the vision.
My own journey began around mid-2022. I was getting more active on Discord, helping answer questions, and becoming more involved in the community. It wasn’t long before Chad, who had initially launched the ambassador program, reached out to me directly. He noticed my efforts and asked if I’d be interested in officially joining the program.
I have to admit, I had to think about it for a while. Traditionally, I hadn’t gotten deeply involved in community programs for other projects; I would often stay on the sidelines. But there was something different about Kaspa. The more I got involved, the more it consumed my life, but in a positive way.
Eventually, I decided to jump in, and I’ve been loving it ever since. Recently, I took over the ambassador program, which has been both a challenging and rewarding experience. It has given me a chance to focus on something that has become a significant part of my life, and I’m driven to make it grow.
How I Discovered Kaspa Through Mining
My background with mining goes back quite a long way, starting in my teenage years around 2009-2010, right around when Bitcoin was first launched. Back then, I was just a teenager who enjoyed computers and gaming, and I dabbled in mining Bitcoin. It was more out of curiosity than anything else. I mined for a few days but didn’t really understand the significance of what I was doing, so I moved on to other things. There were simply more exciting distractions for me at that age. Looking back, I sometimes think about how I missed the boat on Bitcoin’s early days, but that’s just part of the journey.
I didn’t revisit mining seriously until the 2017-2018 bull run, where I started playing around with it again. I used a single graphics card on my gaming PC to mine Ethereum and some other projects. It was more of a hobby than anything else, but it did help me learn more about the crypto landscape. Then came the 2020 bull run, and this is when things started to get serious. I’ve always been a bit of a nerd and loved building things, especially computers. I used to build PCs for friends and family, and mining felt like the perfect combination of my interests in hardware, software, and making money.
Around mid-2020, the mining scene really heated up, especially with Ethereum. I started with just one graphics card again, but it quickly escalated. Before I knew it, I had a rig with six GPUs, then 24, and eventually, I was managing a farm with over 100 GPUs. Most of them were RTX 3070s and some 3060 Tis. The demand for graphics cards during that time was insane. The market for GPUs was driven up by scalping, and prices went through the roof. To meet the demand, manufacturers like NVIDIA even released nerfed versions of their cards to limit mining capabilities, making it harder for miners to use consumer GPUs.
Why Kaspa Caught My Attention
The turning point for me came when Ethereum announced its transition to proof of stake, signaling the end of profitable mining as I knew it. The writing was on the wall, and I started looking for alternatives. That’s when I stumbled across Kaspa. What initially caught my eye was the energy efficiency. When I was mining Ethereum, the energy consumption was around 150 watts per card. But when I switched to Kaspa, the energy usage per card was cut in half. Immediately cutting my energy costs was a big deal, especially for a large farm like mine. It made me think, “Okay, there’s something interesting happening here.”
But it wasn’t just the energy savings. I remember vividly the first time I completed a transaction on the Kaspa network. Up to that point, I had just been mining and holding the coins without doing much with them, as I was more of a speculative miner. But when I moved some coins from one wallet to another, I was blown away by the speed. I hit enter, and the transfer was instant. Coming from other networks where delays were common, seeing the transaction go through immediately was a game-changer for me. That combination of low power consumption and fast transactions made me realize that Kaspa was not just another mining project; it was something revolutionary.
The Experience at Token 2049 and the Kaspa Industrial Initiative (KII)
The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, especially with my experience at Token 2049 in Singapore and then flying straight to Dublin for the Kaspa Industrial Initiative (KII) event. Token 2049 was the largest crypto event I’ve ever attended. It was overwhelming to be surrounded by that many people who were all there for the same reason – to discuss and learn about crypto. I broke down the attendees into three categories: those who had never heard of Kaspa, those who knew about it but didn’t fully understand what we were doing, and the super fans who were already convinced and ready to advocate for Kaspa on the spot.
My strategy was to start at our booth with a life-sized “battle card” that listed all the key information about Kaspa. This included details like the fair launch, block speed, and the founder’s background. For the people who were just looking for free swag, I’d tell them, “If you want this, you’ll have to listen to me talk about Kaspa for five minutes.” From there, I would guide them to a screen displaying our live UTXO block visualizer. It showed the one-block-per-second and ten-blocks-per-second transaction speeds. People were often stunned because achieving such speeds on a proof-of-work network was considered impossible until Kaspa made it happen.
The reactions varied, but the most rewarding experiences were when I could see someone’s eyes light up with understanding. There were people who showed up at the evening Kaspa meetup after hearing my pitch at the booth earlier in the day. One guy even told me he had gone home, looked up mining rigs, ordered five of them, and planned to start mining Kaspa right away. It’s rare to see someone get that excited and take action so quickly, and it’s moments like these that make all the effort worth it.
After Token 2049, I flew straight to Dublin for the KII event. This was the first time I had met the KII team in person, although Shai had met them briefly before. The event focused on bridging the gap between enterprises and the Kaspa network. The atmosphere was electric, and the people were incredibly passionate. The KII team’s mission is to be a market enabler, making it possible for industries that previously couldn’t use blockchain because of speed and security issues to reconsider their options. They had been searching for the right network since around 2015 and evaluated various options, including Bitcoin, but found them lacking in throughput and speed. When they discovered Kaspa, it only took 49 days to establish the KII foundation.
Technical Insights: Warp Core, Gigawatt, and Real-World Applications
Several projects coming out of KII were highlighted during the event, and one that stood out to me was Warp Core. Warp Core acts as middleware between the Kaspa network and the enterprise world. In many cases, enterprises require certain compliance measures, such as ISO certifications, which can be challenging to obtain. Warp Core could enable enterprises to meet these strict requirements while still leveraging the benefits of Kaspa’s fast and secure layer-one blockchain.
Another project discussed was the Gigawatt stablecoin, which aims to bring a stable value mechanism to the Kaspa network. Given that many blockchains struggle to maintain transaction speed and low fees, Gigawatt could be a valuable addition, especially in enterprise scenarios where stability is crucial. Additionally, there was talk of tokenizing real-world assets (RWA) on the Kaspa network. The idea is to enable industries that traditionally rely on centralized systems to explore decentralized alternatives without sacrificing compliance or efficiency.
KII’s approach is to position itself as a market enabler, pushing boundaries across various industries. For instance, some sectors may have considered using blockchain technology in the past but turned away because existing solutions couldn’t meet their speed, security, or regulatory needs. By focusing on creating frameworks like Warp Core and ensuring that the network can be used in compliance-sensitive industries, KII is making it possible for these businesses to reconsider blockchain technology as a viable solution.
My Journey with Crypto and Mining
Thinking back to my journey, I often reflect on how I missed the early days of Bitcoin. When I first mined Bitcoin, I didn’t understand what it could become, and I missed the opportunity. I vowed not to let that happen again. When I found Kaspa, it felt like a second chance at being part of something revolutionary. The feeling I get when I’m working on Kaspa is the same as I imagine the early Bitcoin adopters felt. It’s a sense of being on the ground floor of a technology that will change the world.
Mining has always been more than just a hobby for me; it’s a passion that combines my love for computers, hardware, and problem-solving. It’s like one big puzzle where I have to figure out how to optimize everything – from cooling to power consumption – to get the best performance. When Ethereum started moving to proof of stake, it was clear that proof of work still had unique advantages, particularly in terms of decentralization and security. That’s why I gravitated towards Kaspa, which was doing things that others said couldn’t be done. Achieving one-block-per-second speed on a proof-of-work network was thought to be impossible, yet Kaspa was delivering.
Challenges and Looking Forward
The past few weeks have been incredibly busy, from attending major events like Token 2049 to traveling to Dublin for the KII conference. We’ve also been expanding the ambassador program. As of now, we have over 500 applicants, and I’ve already onboarded a few new ambassadors. There are more interviews lined up, and I’m looking forward to expanding the team. We’ve started seeing some of our ambassadors organize meetups and events worldwide, which is an exciting step forward for the community.
For me, the future of Kaspa is incredibly bright. The combination of a fair launch, rapid block speed, and a strong community foundation makes it stand out in the crowded crypto space. The goal is to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with proof-of-work technology while making sure that we stay true to our roots of transparency and decentralization. We’ve already shown the world that what was once thought impossible can be achieved. Now, it’s about scaling those achievements and applying them in real-world scenarios, from enterprise solutions to decentralized finance.
I’m committed to making sure I don’t miss this opportunity, like I did with Bitcoin. I see Kaspa as my second chance to be part of something truly revolutionary, and that’s what drives me to put in the time and effort to make this project as successful as it can be. The journey so far has been an amazing experience, and I’m excited to see where it takes us next.