What is Kusama Network (KSM)? – Polkadot’s Canary Network

There are several crypto projects all over the world expanding and offering new solutions to users and individuals. Kusama is one of these new projects that is considered to be Polkadot’s canary network. The network is expected to help developers detect vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the Polkadot network. 

In this guide, we will be sharing with you what is Kusama and how it works. Furthermore, AltSignals will go through its main characteristics and which is its main goal in the crypto market. 

Disclaimer: this post should not be considered investment advice. This is only for educational purposes only. Never invest more than what you are able to lose and always ask for information to your professional financial advisors. We are not financial advisors.

What is Kusama?

As we have mentioned before, the Kusama network is a canary network for the Polkadot network. Kusama can be understood as a more advanced testnet for the Polkadot network that helps developers to experiment with the features, test them and eventually apply them to the Polkadot network. 

This is similar to what we have previously seen for Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC). These two virtual currencies work together. Litecoin works as a testnet for Bitcoin. Before implementing a new feature on the Bitcoin blockchain, it is sometimes implemented before on Litecoin to understand the effects this could have on the network. 

The Kusama network has been operating for some months and it is already helping Polkadot continue with its development. Teams and developers can easily start working with this network, try the governance system, the validation process and how everything works. 

What is the KSM cryptocurrency?

If you want to understand what is Kusama, then you also need to know what is the KSM cryptocurrency. The KSM currency is going to be the currency used on the Kusama network. The KSM digital asset is going to be working as a governance token that would allow holders to participate in the network. 

In addition o it, it will also be possible to test new improvements to the KSM cryptocurrency that could be later used on the Polkadot blockchain. Furthermore, it is also possible for Kusama not to work anymore in the future of KSM holders decide to shut the network down. 

Users could get access to the KSM token through a bug bounty program, grants from the web3 foundation or a faucet that provides KSM tokens. 

At the time of writing this post, the KSM cryptocurrency is the 56th largest and it has a price per coin of $30.82. It is worth mentioning there are only 9,651,217 KSM.

Kusama Network Features

The Kusama network has different roles and it would help the Polkadot network in different ways. There are going to be builders, which can be considered developers and development teams. That means that they can try new bridgers, blockchain explorers, solutions and many other things. 

At the same time, builders can use the Kusama network to build an application or solution and then implement it on the Polkadot network. 

In order for Kusama to remain operative, there are network maintainers. These maintainers are divided in nominators, collators, validators and governance actors. Nominators will be choosing good and reputable validators for the network. These nominators are going to be helping new users to understand how to use the network. 

Collators will maintain parachains and collect transactions from users. Validators will be adding new blocks and participate in the entire consensus of the network. Users can earn rewards by becoming validators, even if there are risks. 

Finally, governance actors will be working on the Kusama network implementing changes to the network and they will also be key participants in the future of the blockchain. It may be possible to take part in governance processes through the Referendum Chamber, the Council or the Technical Committee. 

The Referendum chamber will be representing all the KSM holders that can propose new projects and vote on different proposals. Indeed, they can apply to become council members and vote for them. 

The Council has 13 members that have been elected through voting. Every single two weeks there is a vote on the council allowing them to elect technical committee members and vetoing referendum, among other things. 

The technical committee has been elected by the council. These are developers that have been approved to evaluate proposals and move forward with new implementations in the network that would help both Polkadot and Kusama.