Kusama: Fundamental Analysis

What is Kusama?

Kusama is a scalable network of specialized blockchains based on the same code as Polkadot. The network is intended to act as a canary, however; it is more than just a testnet. Founded in 2019 by Gavin Wood, Kusama is free from the conservative and cautious nature of Polkadot which has earned it the name Polkadot’s wild cousin.

Kusama is an experimental development environment that acts as a testbed for new features before being deployed on Polkadot. Once these new features are tested, and everything looks fine, they are ready to be moved over to Polkadot. In addition to that, Kusama also provides a united form of scalability, security, and interoperability by warning and help detect any kind of vulnerabilities or weaknesses in the Polkadot code base.

It is to be noted that Kusama is not just a Testnet. Testnets are usually playgrounds with no token value, however; KSM has some value because it is based on research and development and also acts as a testbed to Polkadot. KSM value is certainly lower than Polkadot but still has some.

Differences between Kusama and Polkadot:

As mentioned earlier, Kusama is branded as Polkadot’s canary Network, meaning it provides a platform for early unaudited code release before deploying it on Polkadot. The major difference between Kusama and Polkadot is the speed of the governance system. On Polkadot, it takes nearly a month to vote on a referendum and to implement changes after the votes. On the other hand, it only takes seven days for the former and eight days for the latter on Kusama.

Secondly, the minimum staking requirements for becoming a validator are far lower in Kusama than Polkadot. So, it is easier to become a validator on Kusama.

What Does Kusama Offer?

Innovation:

As mentioned earlier, Kusama is built using nearly the same code and tools as Polkadot. The network introduces a way to deploy features from Parity Technologies and Web3 Foundation in the hands of developers, even before they make it to Polkadot.

Scalability:

Kusama aims to address scalability issues by providing a scalable and future-proof infrastructure for the crypto market, businesses, and applications. The network provides economic scalability to process a high number of transactions by enabling a horizontal scaling solution just like Polkadot.

Interoperability:

Kusama uses multiple blockchains and brings them together into one network to allow cross-blockchain transfers. It intends to make the transactions smooth and fast by spreading the transaction load across many more nodes. Hence, interoperability not only improves decentralization but also makes the process a lot cheaper.

Customization:

Kusama offers the opportunity for developers to build their own app-specific blockchain. They build a customized blockchain with the substrate and then connect it to Kusama.

How do Kusama works?

The Kusama network works much like Polkadot by allowing for the creation of two types of blockchains.

• The Relay Chain – It is the main Kusama blockchain that finalizes the transactions by using a variation on proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus called nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS). The relay chain intends to achieve a greater transaction speed by separating the addition of new transactions from validating them.

• Parachains – Parachains are actually customized blockchains that are mainly used to confirm the accuracy of the transactions. Parachains use the relay chain’s computing resources to do the job.

Kusama Roles :

There are several actors participating in the Kusama network. In case you are wondering, there are several ways to participate including builders, maintainers, or end-users.

Builders:Builders are the people who are part of development teams. Their role is to build parachains, block explorers, parathreads, or bridges. If you are a builder, you should consider building on Kusama. The main reason why you should choose Kusama is its close resemblance to the Polkadot, as both of them share the same code base.

Building a parachain in Kusama gives nearly the same experience as Polkadot. Also, acquiring parachain slots in Kusama is not only a lot cheaper as compared to Polkadot but also provides a great learning and testing opportunity to the developers. For developers, building new parachains to be deployed to Polkadot, it is beneficial to first deploy them in Kusama before Polkadot.

Network Maintainers:There are a set of actors in every network that help maintain it. Kusama also has a number of network maintainers who help run the network smoothly. These include validators, nominators, collators, and governance actors.

Nominators:A nominator is the one who chooses good and reputable validators that they trust. The role of a nominator also includes staking KSM. A nominator puts down an amount of KSMs at stake to support the validators. Also, an unlimited number of parties can participate as nominators.

Collators:Collators have a special role in maintaining the network. They do so by collecting parachain transactions from users and producing state transition proofs for validators.

Validators:Validators not only maintain the network but also take part in adding new blocks to the network and consensus with other validators. At Kusama, validators are rewarded for performing their validation duties as there is always a risk of slashing while staking tokens.

Governance actors:You can also participate in the network by attaining the role of a governance actor. The role demands participating in important governance decisions on how Kusama evolves, what improvements and changes to the Kusama code base are required to update the system, and what proposals to submit.

How To Get KSM?

If you want to get KSM, there are several ways to it. Let's discuss them one by one:

Crypto exchanges:It has been listed on most of the top exchanges like Binance, Huobi Global, OKEx, Kraken, KuCoin, and many others where you can not only buy it but also can trade against various pairs.

DOT indicator token holders: if you have participated in the DOT sale and have the DOT indicator token, you will be entitled to an equivalent amount of KSM on the Kusama network. You can easily claim your KSM for the DOT indicator token you hold.

Faucet:Another way to get KSM is through a frictional proof of work faucet. In order to use it, you must own a GitHub account that was created before 21 June 2019. You will then get a KSM address that contains t

he string “ksma”. You can generate the address either via Subkey or PolkadotJS Dashboard. However, it should be noted that this address can only be used once to claim KSM. Also, a Github account can only use the faucet once each 24hours.

Grants from web3 foundation: If you are a builder or a governance participant who wants to obtain larger KSM than through the faucet, you can apply for a grant from web 3 foundation.

Bug bounty program:The bug bounty program is a rewarding protocol that rewards people who are able to discover an unknown vulnerability in Kusama. They are rewarded with KSMs.

The Takeaway:

Kusama is a fully decentralized network that has no Kill switch meaning there is no authority that can put an end to it. The only way to stop it in the future is through governance. In the future, if KSM holders ever decide to end Kusama, they can do it. However, it is highly unlikely to happen. There are chances that Kusama could connect to Polkadot via a bridge.