Launched on March 30, 1, Casper stands out as the first live proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain built on the Casper Correct-by-Construction (CBC) specification. This innovative platform is designed to accelerate global adoption of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (DApps). Casper's architecture is focused on continuous development to meet the evolving needs of its users, making it highly accessible for developers from various backgrounds. Its mission is clear: to lead the new wave of blockchain technology in the Web3 era by addressing the "adoption trilemma" with enterprise-grade security, scalability, and decentralization—all within the same robust blockchain protocol. Dive in to see how Casper is set to reshape the landscape of blockchain technology.
What Is Casper (CSPR)?
Casper is a pioneering blockchain platform that launched on its mainnet on March 30, 2021. It is the first live proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain built off the Casper CBC specification. The Casper platform aims to drive the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (DApps) on a global scale.
With its forward-looking architecture, Casper ensures that the platform evolves according to the changing needs of its users and remains highly accessible to developers from all backgrounds. According to the official whitepaper, Casper is optimized to meet both enterprise and developer needs. Casper's mission is to usher in a new era for Web3, as the demand for intuitive, interconnected services continues to grow. Casper addresses the adoption trilemma by offering enterprise-grade security, scalability, and decentralization within the same blockchain protocol.
Who Are the Founders of Casper?
Casper was founded by a team of experienced professionals with diverse backgrounds in technology and finance. Medha Parlikar and Mrinal Manohar are the co-founders of CasperLabs, the organization behind the Casper network.
Medha Parlikar, Co-Founder and CTO
Medha Parlikar is one of the co-founders of CasperLabs and serves as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). She began working with technology in the early 1980s, building computers in her basement. Over the past two decades, she has delivered production SaaS software for major corporations such as Adobe, Omniture, and Avalara. Medha's strengths include building high-functioning technical teams and inspiring them to deliver solutions that solve customer problems.
Mrinal Manohar, Co-Founder and CEO
Mrinal Manohar is the co-founder and CEO of CasperLabs. He has an extensive career as both a computer programmer and a finance professional. Before founding Casper, Mrinal was a Principal and the Technology/Media/Telecom Sector Head at Sagard Capital, a Private Equity Associate at Bain Capital, and an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company. In addition to his professional contributions to the blockchain industry, Mrinal has been personally investing in the sector since 2012 as a seed investor in Ethereum, Blockstack, Basis, Maker, Filecoin, and more.
What Makes Casper Unique?
Casper is a unique utilization of blockchain technology and the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus method. Its completely decentralized approach makes the network extremely versatile in terms of use cases. Casper boasts a future-proof design, with upgradeable smart contracts and predictable gas fees for transactions. Additionally, Casper is introducing a new standard for blockchain energy consumption, being 136,000% more energy-efficient than Bitcoin.
The innovative Correct-by-Construction (CBC) Casper specification is a remarkable feature of the network. This specification allows for the rapid adoption of blockchain services on all enterprise levels. By relying on the PoS consensus, Casper ensures scalability and database management solutions. Casper and the CSPR token are the result of years of research by CasperLabs.
CasperLabs exists to provide enterprise-level services and support for organizations building on the Casper Network, similar to how Red Hat supports organizations building within the Linux ecosystem. Thanks to the team's unique experience running services at enterprise software organizations like Adobe, Avalara, and Google, CasperLabs is uniquely poised to elevate Casper as the de facto blockchain for the growing number of enterprise organizations that want to build in Web3 environments but require more dedicated levels of support than are possible from open-source, decentralized projects.
How Many Casper Coins (CSPR) Are There in Circulation?
The initial circulating supply of CSPR breaks down as follows:
- 400M CSPR released from the freely traded tranche of Casper’s Public Sale on Coinlist.
- Approximately 183M CSPR provided as liquidity to exchanges.
- The portion of seigniorage estimated to be allocated to the released tokens above to date. This number updates in real-time as seigniorage is issued.
Additional tranches of CSPR are held by various ecosystem participants, including Validator Node operators, the Casper Foundation, the Team and Advisors, the DAO in charge of Developer Incentives, and CasperLabs AG.
How Is the Casper Network Secured?
The Casper Network relies on a PoS consensus mechanism for its network security. PoS depends on token staking to select node validators, which allows the consensus to be extremely versatile and scalable. Unlike the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus used by the Bitcoin blockchain, PoS does not require huge amounts of electrical or computing power to perform validations and add new blocks to the chain.
Casper also employs the Correct-by-Construction (CBC) Casper specification, which utilizes an upgraded approach to Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) applications. Casper’s enterprise-grade architecture has completed multiple security audits, most recently with Trail of Bits in January 2021, which found zero high-severity results and confirmed that Casper "showed proper use of security hygiene."
Where Can You Buy Casper Coins (CSPR)?
CSPR is available for trading on a growing number of exchanges, with several stablecoin trading pairs currently available. Huobi Global is currently the most active platform for trading CSPR, and other available exchanges include:
Tokenomics and Distribution Model
The Casper crypto token, also known as CSPR, has a dynamic token supply designed to incentivize the ongoing security of the network. While there is no fixed maximum supply, the tokenomics model is inflationary, with new tokens added to the supply over time.
Initial Supply and Distribution
The initial supply of CSPR at the launch of the mainnet was 10 billion tokens. The distribution model of Casper tokens includes allocations for various entities, such as:
- Casper Labs: 10%
- Developer Incentives: 16%
- Validators: 30%
- The Casper Association: 12.6%
- Public Sales: 17.7%
- Team and Advisors: 14%
Inflation and Staking Rewards
The Casper network operates on an inflationary model with an annual inflation rate of approximately 8%, resulting in 80
