Kusama

What is Kusama (KSM)?

Kusama can be described as a type of prototype network that utilizes the PoS (proof-of-stake) consensus mechanism. Moreover, it is based on what Polkadot uses as its underlying code.

A Brief History

From what we have gathered, Kusama was founded or launched in 2019. Its founders wanted it to serve as a testnet, i.e., mainly as a testing ground of sorts before fully releasing features.

Founding Team

Kusama was made by exactly the same team that made Polkadot. The founder is Dr. Gavin Wood, who is one of the leading computer scientists and programmers in the world and the same person who co-founded Ethereum.

Other than that, the firm behind the network, i.e., Parity Technologies, has more than 100 employees, which consist of leading blockchain engineers and developers. In other words, Kusama was founded and is backed by an extensive and experienced team.

Relationship with Polkadot

Kusama can be thought of as a “cousin” to Polkadot since it has been based on the same code.

As stated earlier, it serves as an experimental environment for various developments, which teams looking for innovation or preparation for deploying features within Polkadot can use.

Main Objectives of Kusama

Due to the deteriorating relationship between technology and society, which has resulted in large entities overstepping their authority, Kusama was built as a platform to build change, where control can be taken back and the status quo can be disrupted, all while serving as the ideal testing ground for Polkadot’s developers.

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How Does Kusama Work?

Here, we will be looking at some of the primary components that make up the Kusama blockchain, i.e., the things that make it work.

Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS)

To properly understand this, we must first look at the Relay Chain, which is Kusama’s main blockchain network, where transactions can be finalized. To accomplish greater speeds, this chain helps by separating the process of adding new transactions from that of validating them.

And this is where NPoS (nominated proof-of-stake) comes in. So, to maintain the agreement within the network with regard to the system’s state, Kusama’s Relay Chain uses this variation on PoS.

This system enables users who stake their KSM by locking it within special contracts to execute the roles required for its operations, such as those of validators and nominators.

Parachains

Parachains are custom blockchains using computing resources from the relay chain to verify the accuracy of transactions.

Validators and Nominators

Validators validate the data within parachain blocks. They can even take part in consensus while voting on any proposed alterations. As for nominators, they secure relay chains by choosing trustworthy validators. They can then delegate the KSM tokens they stake to validators, thereby allocating their votes to the validators they have chosen.

Governance

Governance at Kusama can be conducted by three kinds of users. These include the Council, the Referendum Chamber, and finally, the Technical Committee, each of which carries unique roles within governance.

Staking

Since Kusam operates using a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, you can stake its native token, KSM, to perform a range of tasks and be rewarded for doing so, like governance, validating blocks, etc.

Why Kusama Matters?

Why does Kusama serve as an integral tool for the functionality of the Polkadot blockchain, along with being a driving force for innovation? Let’s find out.

Serving as a Testnet for Polkadot

Kusama is officially branded as Polkadot’s “canary network” in that it essentially serves as a testnet for providing early code releases that are unaudited, but still accessible before being launched within Polkadot.

Fostering Innovation

Due to Kusama’s experimental nature, it serves as the perfect ground for fostering innovation, as new features can be tested, and the impacts brought about by them can be observed without any potential consequences normally experienced if they were to be implemented on the mainnet.

Low Barrier to Entry for Projects

Since Kusama is a testnet, any economic barriers to entry with regards to launching projects will likely be lower than those deployed on mainnets, which is why it can be suitable for lean startups that are seeking to move quicker and iterate.

Strong Community

Kusama has managed to gather a robust community filled with individuals who are enthusiastic about the project; some of them have even gone as far as tattooing the Kusama Canary logo. This will have its obvious benefits, such as immediate support or access to resources.

The KSM Token

We will now be directing our attention towards its native token, briefly covering its tokenomics and utility.

Utility

The KSM token’s utility plays a vital role with regard to the maintenance and operation of the Kusama Network.

This can be observed in its governance and staking processes, among others, all of which necessitate its token.

Staking

Staking on Kusama will yield several benefits and is an important function within Kusama. For one, you can take part in governance, which will give you a voice within the community. Secondly, by staking, you can also become a validator or a nominator and earn some rewards in the process.

Tokenomics

Moving onto tokenomics, its current market capitalization sits at over $172 million, and its fully diluted valuation is more than $192 million. As for its daily trading volume, that is nearly $7 million. Its maximum token supply would be 10 million tokens, with its current circulating supply sitting at nearly 9 million tokens. And its price is currently valued at approximately $20.

How to Buy KSM Token on Binance

If what we have highlighted so far has gotten you interested in buying its native token, then we will show you how to do that on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Registration Steps

If you haven’t already, then you will need to create an account. You can easily do so by clicking on the link below, which will take you to Binance’s registration page with a special Coin Labs referral code. Following that, on the registration page, fill in all of the fields required of you, like your email address, password, etc.

Identity Verification

Following that, you will need to get your identity verified if you plan on withdrawing larger amounts. So, head over to the verification page of Binance and enter information about your identity, and then back it up with some documents that can prove what you entered.

Deposit Funds

Next comes funding your account, which you will need to do to buy KSM. So, navigate to the deposit page of Binance and select a token and the network for it. This should result in a deposit address being generated. Paste this address into an external service, whether a wallet or an exchange, and confirm your withdrawal. You might have to wait a while for your transaction to be fully processed.

Also, make sure that whatever you select should be chosen the same on both ends, i.e., the deposit and withdrawal platforms, respectively. Otherwise, chances are, you will lose your funds.

Exploring and Buying Process

Now, there are several ways to buy KSM on Binance. The easiest of which would be simply converting whatever it is that you have deposited for KSM. Other ways include buying it through its spot and futures pages or through its P2P trading option, all of which can be easily navigated to from its homepage.

But if you plan on buying the token through its spot trading page, for example, then start by navigating to the relevant page. Once there, look for a trading pair that has your preferred tokens, for which you can utilize the search bar since there are many tokens that Binance supports.

After selecting an appropriate trading pair, head over to the buy and sell section and choose the type of order you’d prefer to place, like Market or Limit, for instance. Adjust those parameters for your order, then place it. Your order might take some time to fully process, depending on what you have chosen.

To read more about how to trade on Binance, click here.

Storing Your KSM Safely

After finally acquiring some KSM tokens, you might want to store them in a secure cryptocurrency wallet.

Currently, the safest option would be cold wallets, as they come with offline storage and are therefore less susceptible to online threats.

So, to store them in your wallet, you can do that through Binance’s withdrawal page.

Future of Kusama

Due to the sheer utility that Kusama provides as a testnet, it will likely continue to garner attention in the future, as more and more developers flock to it to test out their projects before launching them on the mainnet. This may even have a positive impact on its price, potentially resulting in a substantial increase in the long run, despite the current bearish sentiments.

Conclusion

Through its utilization of the parachain infrastructure, along with the option of testing any blockchain-based project or application prior to deployment on Polkadot, Kusama is able to be a vital player in the technical evolution of Polkadot. Because of this and its other unique features, both the token and the platform, may warrant the interests of those heavily immersed in the cryptocurrency sphere.

We Coin-Labs.com provides only objective information about Kusama.
Therefore, we are not responsible for the investment decision in Kusama and the resulting loss.

Kusama Basics

Here are some factors that investors should consider before investing in Kusama.

Cryptocurrency Features	Kusama (KSM)
Publisher or Developers	Dr. Gavin Wood
Headquarters (Registration Number)	Switzerland
Symbol	KSM
Platform	Polkadot
Published Date (CMC Registration)	2024-11-01
Max Supply	No limit

Reliability Score of Kusama in 2024

These are indexes mesuring the investment reliability of Kusama conducted by Coin-Labs.com.

Investment Reliability Rating Items	Scores and Current Status
Company Activation Rate	/ 10.0 CAR
Communication Rate	/ 10.0 CR
Technology Transparency Rate	/ 10.0 TTR
Development Participation Rate	/ 10.0 DPR
Listing Status on the World's Top 10 Exchanges	Listed on 9 Exchanges
Number of Available Pairs Worldwide	246 Pairs
Market Cap of the Cryptocurrency	321,469,813 USD (Rank #142)

The table above shows the result of investment suitability evaluation for Kusama.
Check out how we evaluate cryptocurrencies on the crypto rating description page.

Kusama Price

Here are the price and recent trading volume of Kusama. (Data of 2024-11-02 00:35:00)

Price Items	Price and Trading Volume of Kusama
Kusama Price	16.570 USD
Price Change 24h	-2.11%
Price Change 7d	-7.94%
Trading Volume 24h	10,592,932 USD
Trading Volume Change 24h	11.37%

Cryptocurrency Metadata

You can check the development status and social media information of Kusama through the links in the table below.

Metadata Source	URL
🌎 Official Website	https://kusama.network/
📖 White Paper
🛰️ Source Code (GitHub)	https://github.com/kusamanetwork
🐦 Twitter	https://twitter.com/kusamanetwork
🤖 Reddit
🎺 Message Board	https://forum.kusama.network/

Where to Buy Kusama

Here are the top ten world crypto exchanges where traders can buy Kusama in 2024.

Top10 Exchanges	Listed Status	Page URL
Binance	Listed	https://www.binance.com/en/trade/KSM_USDT
Coinbase	Listed	https://pro.coinbase.com/trade/KSM-USD
Kraken	Listed	https://pro.kraken.com/app/trade/ksm-usd
KuCoin	Listed	https://www.kucoin.com/trade/KSM-USDT
Bitfinex	Listed	https://trading.bitfinex.com/t/KSM:USD?type=exchange
OKX	Listed	https://www.okx.com/trade-spot/ksm-usdt
Huobi	Listed	https://www.htx.com/en-us/trade/ksm_usdt
Bitstamp	Not listed
Bybit	Listed	https://www.bybit.com/trade/usdt/KSMUSDT
Gate.io	Listed	https://www.gate.io/trade/KSM_USDT

Frequently Asked Questions