What is Kava crypto and what is it used for?

Kava crypto refers to KAVA, the native token of the Kava blockchain, a network built to connect the Cosmos and Ethereum worlds in one place. It started out as a lending platform and later grew into a general-purpose layer 1 blockchain. KAVA is the coin you stake, vote with and use across that network.

What is the Kava blockchain?

Kava's documentation describes a co-chain design. One side, the Ethereum co-chain, runs the Ethereum Virtual Machine, so developers can deploy Solidity apps much as they would on Ethereum. The other side, the Cosmos co-chain, is built with the Cosmos SDK and connects to dozens of other chains through IBC, the Cosmos messaging standard. A translator module moves assets and messages between the two halves.

The chain reaches consensus with Tendermint, a proof-of-stake engine. Kava was co-founded in 2018 by Brian Kerr, Ruaridh O'Donnell and Scott Stuart, according to Blockchain.com's asset page. For more on the Cosmos side of the design, see what is Cosmos (ATOM).

What is Kava crypto used for?

Kava's original use was lending. Blockchain.com describes how users lock crypto as collateral to mint USDX, a stablecoin loan meant to track the US dollar. When the loan is repaid, the USDX is burned and the collateral is released. The platform also let people lend and borrow several cryptocurrencies without a bank in the middle. Our guide to crypto lending and borrowing covers the general risks, such as liquidation if collateral falls in value.

Today the network also hosts apps on its EVM side and moves assets between Cosmos chains, so lending is one use among several.

What is the KAVA token?

KAVA has three main jobs, according to the docs. First, staking: the top 100 validators, ranked by the KAVA bonded to them, produce blocks and earn rewards and a share of fees, and they can be slashed for downtime or double signing. Second, governance: holders vote on on-chain proposals that set parameters such as supported assets, collateral ratios and fees, and that spend the community pool. Third, incentives: part of the token budget rewards projects building on each co-chain.

What is a Kava coin's supply?

Kava's Kava 15 upgrade removed inflation from the protocol. Everstake reports that the change took effect on January 1, 2024, fixing total supply at about 1.08 billion KAVA. Kava's own announcement said no new KAVA can be created after that point, and tokens can only be removed by burning. Staking rewards now come from the community pool and network income instead of newly minted coins.

As of October 2026, KAVA works under that fixed-supply model, which can be changed only through governance.