Kusama, often referred to as "Polkadot's wild cousin," is an experimental blockchain platform aimed at offering an extensively interoperable and scalable infrastructure for developers. Constructed using Substrate, a blockchain development kit created by Parity Technologies, Kusama shares nearly the same codebase as Polkadot, recognized as one of the most successful interoperable blockchains. Deploying on Kusama enables fast-moving projects to leverage a highly scalable, interoperable sharded network, featuring capabilities not yet available on Polkadot. As such, Kusama positions itself as a “canary network.” This platform serves as an experimental ground for developers aiming to innovate and launch their own blockchain projects, acting as a preparatory stage before going live on Polkadot. Nonetheless, numerous projects choose to remain on Kusama for their final deployment. Kusama offers the advantage of a low entry barrier for launching parachains and reduced bond requirements for validators, making it a popular choice among early-stage startups and for experimental purposes.

Kusama was developed by the creators of Polkadot, a company known as Parity Technologies. The founder, Dr. Gavin Wood, is a highly regarded computer scientist and programmer, who also played a pivotal role in the creation of Ethereum. Parity Technologies boasts a comprehensive team of some of the world's leading blockchain engineers, employing over 100 individuals globally. Moreover, Kusama receives funding from grants provided by the Web3 Foundation, an organization established to support the "nurturing and stewardship of technologies and applications in the realm of decentralized web software protocols." The Web3 Foundation also aids Kusama with research and community development through its growth team.

Kusama is distinctive among blockchain platforms as it is primarily designed for developers aiming to launch bold, ambitious projects with a rapidly evolving development process. It is based on a multichain, heterogeneously-sharded architecture that employs a nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) consensus system—an alternative mechanism to the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) model used by several other blockchains. This system allows for swift on-chain upgrades without requiring a fork, and supports cross-chain message passing (XCMP) to facilitate communication with other parachains within the Kusama network. Similar to Polkadot, Kusama incorporates on-chain governance capabilities. This governance is both decentralized and permissionless, enabling anyone holding Kusama (KSM) tokens or parachain tokens to vote on governance proposals, which could include proposed upgrades, protocol changes, and feature requests. The on-chain governance process on Kusama is approximately four times faster than that of Polkadot, with a combined voting and enactment period of just 15 days, leading to the accelerated development pace for projects on Kusama. The project caters to initiatives that want to quickly launch updates and improvements without the need for a fork, thus ensuring optimal community cohesion.

As of November 2020, Kusama has a circulating supply of 8.47 million tokens and a total supply of 10 million tokens. Unlike some other blockchains, this maximum supply is not fixed, as it increases at an inflation rate of 10% per year. The distribution of newly minted KSM tokens, generated from inflation, is influenced by the proportion of KSM that are staked. If exactly half of all KSM are staked, Kusama validators receive 100% of the newly minted tokens. Conversely, if the staked proportion is above or below 50%, a portion of the inflation rewards is allocated to the Kusama Treasury. Kusama was initially launched as an airdrop to participants of the Polkadot (DOT) token sale, distributed at a 1:1 rate. Those without DOT had the option to acquire KSM through a frictional faucet, which has since been decommissioned. Unlike Polkadot, Kusama has not undergone a redenomination to increase its circulating supply.

Kusama employs a nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism. This mechanism involves a network of nominators (KSM stakers) who are responsible for selecting nodes to engage in the transaction validation process. These nominators earn a portion of the inflation reward if their chosen node is included in the subsequent rotation. Validators that fail to act honestly or do not fulfill performance standards risk having their stake reduced. Furthermore, Kusama incorporates a straightforward queuing system based on Merkle trees to facilitate cross-chain transactions. Relay chain validators are tasked with transferring transactions from the output queue of one parachain to the input queue of the target parachain. This is a secure, trustless procedure employing the same validators on each chain to relay the messages.

Kusama (KSM) is presently available for trading on numerous well-known exchange platforms, such as Binance, OKEx, and Huobi Global. The most liquid trading pairs for KSM are currently KSM/USDT, KSM/BTC, and KSM/ETH. To learn more about purchasing cryptocurrencies with fiat, refer to our comprehensive guide on this topic.