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Introduction to Kusama

Kusama has a native cryptocurrency called KSM. 

Kusama is a scalable network of specialized blockchains built using Substrate and nearly the same codebase as Polkadot. Kusama is a faster version of the Polkadot network and their mechanisms are almost identical. But Kusama is 4x as fast as Polkadot will be, except for blocktimes where Polkadot will also have 6 second blocktimes.

The network is an experimental development environment for teams who want to move fast and innovate on Kusama, or prepare for deployment on Polkadot. 

Kusama is a project founded by the Web3 Foundation. Learn more about Kusama on the Kusama official website.

Kusama Wallet

A Kusama wallet can help manage your KSM tokens, including balance inquiry, transfer, etc. At the same time, you are able to interact with the features of the Kusama network such as KSM staking and governance through the wallet.

🔸Wallet

imToken on mobile - Provides secure and trusted non-custodial wallet services to millions of users in more than 200 countries and regions around the world

Polkawallet - Mobile Wallet for Polkadot

🔸Please learn how to make a backup before creating a wallet

Kusama Account

Create a KSM account: You can create a private key and the corresponding address by generating a random number or the mnemonic phrase. However, the account does not truly exist on the network unless it’s activated.

Activate your KSM account: For that, it needs the existential deposit - 0.002 KSM. This deposit is paid by the account sending you tokens. 

Reaped account: Going below 0.002 causes an account to be reaped. Your account will be wiped from the blockchain's state to conserve space, but it can be reactivated by redepositing at least 0.002 KSM. 

Purchasing KSM

There is a wide variety of ways to obtain KSM. Buying KSM through an exchange is the easiest and the most common way. Before doing so, make sure the exchange operates legally in the region you live in and accepts the methods of payment you wish to adopt.

Before any purchase make sure to learn about the different options and understand risks involved in buying KSM.

🔸Exchanges that support the purchase of KSM

  • Kucoin
  • MXC
  • Hotbit
  • ...

Use

KSM Staking

In Kusama, nomination is the process of staking your tokens behind validators to earn rewards. To stake on Polkadot, you need to bond KSM tokens in Staking DApp followed by nominating validators with the bonded tokens.

KSM Transaction

Please make sure that your KSM wallet has sufficient tokens and the balance is enough to cover the transaction fees required for the transfer.

Fees on the Kusama are calculated based on three parameters:

  • A per-byte fee (also known as the "length fee")
  • A weight fee
  • A tip (optional)

🔸How to transfer

Study

Info about KSM

Kusama accurately resembles how you interact with Polkadot, allowing validators to try out Polkadot’s validation functionality, developers to build and deploy a parachain and builders of Polkadot ecosystem to prepare and test in advance so as to ensure the security of the Polkadot network.

While Kusama is a test bed for new features which will be implemented in Polkadot, it is not a testnet. Compared with DOT, KSM, the native token on Kusama is of lower value. Therefore, Kusama is more a shadow network or twin network than a testnet for Polkadot

KSM Price

Kusama Official Channels

Kusama News