Kusama ($KSM)

Kusama is the “canary network” to Polkadot. Although some may think of it as a “testnet” it is actually much more than just that. It acts as a sandbox environment for developers looking to test early versions of Polkadot projects, but with real money and crypto traded on an open market. It is built using the same code base and the same structure/architecture as Polkadot except unaudited (Relay Chains, Parachains, Substrate, XCMP etc..)

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→ See Polkadot Notion for more information about the structure/architecture.

Even though its built using the same, Kusama governs itself, which operates as a DAO, and its own token. The token works in the same way for maintaining and operating the Kusama network. By owning and staking KSM, you can vote on network upgrades, earn rewards, and partake in Parachains just like $DOT. The requirements for (Validators and Parachains are cheaper, allowing more people to enter compared to $DOT).

“Governance on both Polkadot and Kusama is designed to be decentralized and permissionless, giving a say in how the network is run to everyone who owns the native token (DOT for Polkadot, KSM for Kusama).”

Kusama moves a lot quicker than Polkadot. Allowing teams to try out new technologies, and innovate on existing projects, quicker and more effectively. Votes on Polkadot, last 28 days followed by an enactment period of 28 days Kusama, on the other hand, is 4 times faster than Polkadot with only 7 days for voting and the next 8 days for realization.

This does not mean that the Kusama blockchain necessarily has faster “block times and transactions”, they are the same on both networks. It just means there is a shorter amount of time between governance → Proposing new referenda, voting, and enacting approved upgrades. This allows Kusama to adapt and evolve faster than Polkadot.

“Kusama is continuously battle-testing not just the various projects on it but the ecosystem itself. It is always one step ahead of Polkadot, trying out new features that the latter would like to eventually deploy once the kinks are worked out, providing the team with a vehicle that allows them to be much more innovative and take big risks, without putting the Polkadot ecosystem in danger.”

Lots of projects will likely use Kusama as a “testbed” for developing before transitioning to Polkadot, but not all will move on nor is it a requirement.

Link: https://dotsama-channels.vercel.app/#/

GOVERNANCE

Kusama uses the same set of actors as Polkadot to maintain its network.

Nominators - Have the responsibility of choosing validators who will act properly and who will remain reputable. Nominators can be anyone and they vote for validators by delegating their tokens to the validators they choose. In return, they receive a portion of the block rewards earned by the validators they have voted for.

Collators - Have the responsibility of creating blocks on the parachains that contain the most up-to-date transactions.

Validators Decide which blocks are the most accurate representation of the state of the parachain and then add those blocks to the relay chain. Responsible for maintaining the network by adding new blocks and by reaching consensus with other validators.

GOVERNANCE ACTORS

Kusama is owned and governed by a community of network participants who vote on and control the evolution of the network. Anyone with a minimum number of KSM is able to submit proposals for change. Votes are done on the top proposal (determined by the amount of KSM bonded to each proposal) once every 8 days. There are three branches to the governance process on Kusama:

Referendum chamber: This is all KSM holders. You can submit proposals, and vote on those proposals. They vote for the council members and can apply to become council members.

Council: The Council consists of 13 members who are elected to represent the members of Kusama. They are responsible for electing the technical committee, they can veto referendum, and can propose and fast track referendum as well.

Technical Committee: Have the responsibility to determine how critical each proposal is and decide along with the council whether it needs to be fast-tracked. This makes sure that if a proposal is urgent it can get voted on and implemented first, even if the amount of KSM bonded is in favor.

TREASURY

Kusama also operates as a DAO, it collects funds from transaction fees, lost deposits, inefficiencies in staking, and slashing penalties.

Anyone holding the $KSM token can make a “spending proposal” by bonding 5% of the amount proposed to be spent from the treasury. If the proposal gets 60% of the council votes it will pass but if it gets less than 50% then the 5% bond is slashed if the proposal is rejected, and returned if it is accepted. This process occurs once every 6 days.

Proposals may consist of (but are not limited to)

Infrastructure deployment and continued operation.

Network security operations (monitoring services, continuous auditing).

Ecosystem provisions (collaborations with friendly chains).

Marketing activities (advertising, paid features, collaborations).

Community events and outreach (meetups, pizza parties, hackerspaces).

Software development (wallets and wallet integration, clients and client upgrades).

Treasury Link: https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fkusama.api.onfinality.io%2Fpublic-ws#/treasury

Treasury payout is an automatic process, If the Treasury ends a spend period without spending all of its funds, it will cause a 0.2% burn of its funds. This encourages spending.

https://polkadot.network/blog/kusama-treasury-funds-seven-teams-in-seven-weeks/

PRICE HISTORY

The KSM token opened at a price of $1.71 in December 2019. It continued climbing steadily higher through mid-August, when it hit levels above $14 and then took off higher in response to the launch of the Polkadot mainnet. Price hit an all-time high of $621.71 on May 18, 2021 and has retreated since.

KSM Spiked In Mid-May 2021, But Has Since Retreated – Image via CoinMarketCap

DOTSAMA

What Is DotSama? DotSama is a handy way to refer to Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama (KSM) in just one word. $KSM and $DOT can hold up to 100 parachains each.

Polkadot operates on parachains. Parachains are essentially entire blockchains of their own that are built on top of Polkadot and connected to it from the ground up. All parachains are therfor connected to each other via XCMP (Cross-Chain Message Protocol) by default.

The current makeup for blockchains to move assets across chains requires a bridge. The Relay chains and the parachains will be able to move assets within the Dotsama ecosystem, without bridges, making them interoperable.

https://yungbeefbigbags.medium.com/a-case-for-the-dotsama-ecosystem-overtaking-bitcoin-and-ethereum-5d262c130ef9

https://medium.com/momentum6/dont-miss-out-on-the-dotsama-the-scoop-on-polkadot-kusama-and-parachain-auctions-b7a76e7ccfb7

TOKENOMICS

All the $DOT or $KSM used to secure parachain slots will be locked up for 6–48 weeks until the lease expires. And then that slot will be up for grabs again, and DOT/KSM tokens will be locked up again. Both $DOT and $KSM are inflationary by design, currently inflating by around 10% annually.

In the initial days of KSM tokens, DOT holders received KSM tokens at a 1:1 ratio in an airdrop.

Kusama Network has implemented a unique way to decide how much proportion of newly minted KSM tokens will go to the validators. If the percentage of staked KSM tokens is more than 50% of its circulating supply, the validators will receive all newly minted KSM tokens. But if the percentage of staked KSM tokens is less than 50% of the KSM token’s circulating supply, some part of the newly minted tokens will go to the Kasuma treasury.

https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fkusama.api.onfinality.io%2Fpublic-ws#/staking

TEAM

Run by web3 foundation and developed by parity technologies, both of which Gavin Woods is a co-founder.

https://research.web3.foundation/en/latest/team_members.html