The Evolution of the Kaia Ecosystem: On-chain Growth Model Centered Around Mini Dapp

1. Overview of the Kaia Blockchain Ecosystem

1.1 Origin and Team Background

Kaia is a new ecosystem formed by the merger of the blockchain projects Klaytn and Finschia, both under the tech giants Kakao and LINE. Klaytn was initially launched in June 2019 by Kakao's blockchain subsidiary Ground X, with early governance alliances including well-known South Korean companies such as LG Electronics, Celltrion, and Netmarble. Finschia originated from LINE's LINK chain launched in August 2018, and was later rebranded in 2022. In April 2023, LINE established the Finschia Foundation in Abu Dhabi to operate the Finschia mainnet and its native asset LINK. In January 2024, Klaytn and Finschia proposed a merger to their respective communities, aiming to create the "largest Web3 network in Asia." After the proposal was approved, the two chains officially merged at the end of August 2024, launching the Kaia mainnet. The merged Kaia is managed by the newly established Kaia DLT Foundation.

Kaia is positioned as an L1 public chain focused on large-scale applications, featuring high TPS and developer-friendly characteristics. Its core advantage lies in its mature SDK system and deep integration with KakaoTalk and LINE platforms, supporting various decentralized applications to run directly on these mainstream social platforms. As a public chain based on BFT consensus, Kaia has been highly optimized, committed to achieving enterprise-level reliability and performance, providing solid underlying support for the next generation of Web3 applications.

1.2 Important Milestones

• June 2019: Ground X launched the Klaytn mainnet
• December 2022: LINE launched the Finschia mainnet
• April 2023: LINE established the Finschia Foundation
• August 2024: Kakao and LINE jointly launch the Kaia mainnet
• April 2025: Kaia secures funding led by 1kx and Blockchain Capital
• May 2025: Tether issues USDT on the Kaia chain

1.3 Main Features

Kaia adopts a layered node architecture, including core units, consensus nodes, proxy nodes, and endpoint nodes. The network uses an improved Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus algorithm to achieve a 1-second block time and instantaneous finality, currently having over 50 consensus nodes, with a theoretical peak throughput of up to 4000 TPS. Kaia is EVM compatible, supports Ethereum ecosystem smart contracts, and integrates with various cross-chain bridges.

Kaia closely integrates with the LINE ecosystem, supporting developers to deploy native Dapp directly within the chat application through SDK/API. LINE has 196 million monthly active users, providing a broad foundation for Kaia applications. In May 2025, Tether will issue native USDT on the Kaia链, allowing users to use stablecoins directly in the chat interface.

Kaia adopts a sustainable token economy model, with the native token KAIA used for paying transaction fees and incentivizing network operation. Block rewards are distributed at a fixed ratio to proposers, stakers, the ecological fund, and the infrastructure fund. Kaia supports on-chain governance, allowing the annual inflation rate and fee structure to be adjusted according to community resolutions.

2. Progress in Ecosystem Construction

2.1 Kaia Wave Project and Mini Dapp Ecosystem

The Kaia mainnet will go live in August 2024, simultaneously launching the Kaia Wave program. This program is jointly developed by Kaia and LINE NEXT, enabling Web3 developers to build Mini Dapps for LINE users through the NEXT WEB SDK. The first batch of Mini Dapp projects will go live within LINE in Q1 2025.

To energize the ecosystem, Kaia has jointly launched the Mini Dapp Growth Competition with LINE Dapp Portal, focusing on project MAU and on-chain token holder rise. So far, two sessions have been successfully held, continuously driving the ecosystem's accelerated growth.

The simultaneously launched Dapp Portal serves as a Mini Dapp directory and entry point, allowing users to discover and use various Kaia ecosystem Dapps within the LINE environment, enjoy the reward mechanism, and conduct asset transactions.

2.2 Kaia Stablecoin Plan

In May 2025, Kaia reached a strategic partnership with Tether to natively issue USDT on the Kaia blockchain. These USDT are deployed in the form of native contracts and are directly managed and issued by Tether, ensuring a 1:1 dollar reserve. The first batch of native USDT has been integrated into the Mini Dapp ecosystem within LINE, enabling the everyday use of stablecoins.

Many mainstream exchanges have supported the USDT-KAIA network, including Bitget, Bitfinex, Bybit, and Gate. Looking ahead, Kaia is fully promoting the issuance plan of the Korean won stablecoin.

2.3 Ecological Investment Progress

In April 2025, the Kaia Foundation announced that it had secured funding led by 1kx and Blockchain Capital, with well-known institutions such as Galaxy Digital and IDG Capital participating. This collaboration will support the promotion of LINE NEXT and Mini Dapp services, strengthening Kaia's global influence.

2.4 Ecological Strategic Cooperation

Kaia continues to expand its collaborations in dimensions such as data visualization, secure custody, and asset circulation:

• Integrated with Dune, launching on-chain data analysis
• Collaborate with Fireblocks to provide asset custody for ecosystem partners
• Reached a strategic partnership with KuCoin to support the listing of Mini Dapp
• Collaborating with Republic to provide financing advisory support for developers.
• Establish cooperation with MEXC to jointly support potential projects
• Collaborating with Travala to integrate the KAIA payment system
• Integrate with Team Finance to provide token locking and other functions.

2.5 Developer Support and Community Building

Kaia enhances the developer experience and stimulates community vitality through various means:

• Conduct blockchain training at educational institutions in Singapore
• Launch Yapper Leaderboard content reward program
• Released the DEX Scanner feature to facilitate on-chain trading.
• Open Kaia Developer Bootcamp Pre-registration
• Launched the Kaia Agent Kit development suite, supporting AI + on-chain collaboration

3. Excellent Project Cases of the Kaia Ecosystem

3.1 Excellent projects that have completed TGE

• Elderglade: Web3 game ecosystem, over 11 million players across all platforms.
• Bombie: A zombie shooting game based on LINE, with over 11 million registered players.
• Frog Defense: Bringing TikTok IP into the Web3 gaming sector
• Lair: Next-Generation Liquid Staking Product

3.2 Other promising leading projects

• SavannaSurvival: A game that combines automatic combat, educational entertainment, and management simulation.
• Boxing Star X: Web3 Boxing Game
• DarkStar: Cross-platform space game
• Captain Tsubasa: A football game based on the classic manga.
• Slime Miner: Web3 Idle Role-playing Game
• Fate War: The first "play-to-earn" RPG game
• Kyuzo's Friends: A groundbreaking social game

These projects demonstrate the competitiveness of the Kaia ecosystem in core sectors such as gaming, setting a diversified benchmark for Web3 applications. With more innovative projects emerging and infrastructure being improved, Kaia is expected to further consolidate its position in the Web3 field, driving applications from "early adopters" to "mainstream users."