BlockDAG Raises $320.5 Million, Aims for Real-Time Payments by 2026

Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) chains have garnered significant attention in recent years for their potential to address major blockchain issues, such as slow transaction times and limited throughput. For instance, Kaspa offers quick confirmations and high throughput. However, most DAG networks have not progressed beyond these speed advantages. The real challenge lies in integrating these networks into decentralized finance (DeFi), payments, and global money transfers.

BlockDAG (BDAG) aims to bridge this gap by combining a DAG structure with a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Additionally, BlockDAG offers Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility and a focus on real-world financial applications. This makes BlockDAG more than just another fast blockchain; it is designed to support real payments, daily transactions, and on-chain financial activities, areas where many other projects have fallen short.

Unlike other DAG networks such as Kaspa, which primarily focus on infrastructure improvements, BlockDAG takes a more comprehensive approach. It integrates several key components that other projects have overlooked, including PoW for decentralization and network security, EVM support to attract Ethereum developers, a no-code builder for easy decentralized application (dApp) creation, and tools for DeFi such as decentralized exchanges (DEXs), bridges, and oracles. This setup is not just about building a fast network; it is about creating a blockchain capable of handling real financial traffic.

BlockDAG's roadmap is centered on integrating financial tools into its Layer 1 core. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2025, just two weeks before its listing on exchanges, key DeFi components will go live. These include a built-in DEX, lending and borrowing platforms, on-chain indexers and oracles, and a multi-chain bridge for liquidity between networks. These features are part of a six-week rollout scheduled to begin right before price discovery starts, demonstrating BlockDAG's commitment to development ahead of time. Most chains typically wait until after listing to build these features, but BlockDAG is pushing development forward.

BlockDAG's long-term goal is even more ambitious. It aims to become a settlement layer for real-time payments, international transfers, and routing trades on DEXs. This is a critical aspect that many fast chains have overlooked, turning speed into real utility. By combining the secure PoW model from Bitcoin with DAG’s ability to process transactions in parallel, BlockDAG can handle thousands of transactions per second without compromising security. This is crucial for financial tasks that require high throughput and security.

On regular Layer 1 chains, validators bundle transactions to save time, but this adds delays. BlockDAG’s system avoids this by confirming transactions in parallel, ensuring trust and preventing manipulation. This setup is ideal for various use cases, including crypto payments in stores, quick foreign exchange transfers, small cross-border DeFi transactions, and instant trade routing on DEXs. If BlockDAG stays on its current development pace, these use cases could become a reality by mid-2026.

BlockDAG has already raised $320.5 million in its presale, with 23.2 billion coins sold. Over 2 million users have joined the X1 app, which allows mining from their phones. More than 18,173 miners have also been sold, with the X30 and X100 miners set to ship starting July 7, and X10 devices from August 15. This shows how the project is turning funds into working tools, enabling it to grow its builder base, launch financial layers, and maintain high-speed performance. BlockDAG’s pricing approach also draws interest, with Batch 29 set at $0.0276, but a special presale rate of $0.0020 running for a short time. This limited price is much lower than the confirmed $0.05 launch price, meaning early buyers from Batch 1 have already seen 2,660% gains. The presale, currently offering this limited price of $0.0020, is pulling in new retail buyers daily and is set to increase to $0.0030 in just a few hours.

Most DAG-based platforms focus solely on speed. In contrast, BlockDAG is building an entire system on top of that speed, designed specifically for crypto finance. The roadmap is clear, tools are already working, and the financial layer is scheduled to launch right before the coin hits exchanges. This kind of planning is rare and sets BlockDAG apart for anyone looking at real blockchain use. If it stays on track, BlockDAG could achieve what no other DAG chain has done: turn great technology into tools people use every day. It may even go further than Kaspa by offering not just speed but real financial applications that work at scale. Speed helps, but speed with function is what changes everything.