KSM is required for staking and voting on governance changes on the Kusama platform. Kusama’s platform is thought of as Polkadot’s canary network because it sends a warning about any issues that could be detrimental to Polkadot’s longevity. Kusama plays a crucial role in maintaining the Polkadot protocol as it acts as a test network with almost the same code base and the exact same consensus algorithm.

Staking rewards in the form of native blockchain tokens (KSM) are distributed to validators for locking up their cryptocurrencies to a blockchain network to support validator node’s participation in the consensus mechanism and securing the network for a period of time. Refer to the data above for the latest Kusama staking reward figures.

StakeSeeker charges a small percentage-based fee (stated above) allocated towards the administerial 24/7 maintenance and monitoring of our staking infrastructure required to operate our validators effectively and securely. The rewards distributed to our community will be a net of the validator fee charged.

When KSM is staked, it’s actually being delegated to a validator. In our case, StakeSeeker provides the ministerial role of validating. Similar to staking tokens on any other protocol, staking KSM comes with certain risks. If any downtime is experienced, or if a validator misses another part of the necessary requirements, then a percentage of the staked KSM can be lost as a penalty (known as “slashing”). StakeSeeker monitors its nodes 24/7 and has an excellent track record that minimizes these risks.

KSM is primarily used to facilitate testing for the Polkadot network, which is home to many different types of decentralized applications. As such, it is the first stop for builders on the Kusama network who want to test their code before deploying directly onto Polkadot. Polkadot’s official upgrades are also tested on Kusama before they go out. Some of the types of applications that are tested on Kusama include open-source gig jobs and platforms for decentralized exchanges.

Kusama is the sandbox for testing out projects on Polkadot. The two are standalone networks, however, Kusama and Polkadot could be thought of as first cousins or even siblings that share much of the same code. As a test environment, Kusama is fast and optimized for experimentation whereas Polkadot is more conservative.

Unstaking (also called unbonding or undelegating) can be initiated at any time. However, it takes approximately 7 days for your KSM to unstake from the network and become transferable. During this time, you will not earn rewards. When the process is complete, you regain the ability to transfer/trade your KSM tokens.

You can stake as little as 1 KSM, but remember to keep some KSM token unstaked in your wallet to pay for any potential future transaction fees.

Like many blockchain protocols, the consensus mechanism used by Kusama includes a slashing mechanism whereby any validator that misses too many blocks or double signs a block is penalized by the network, slashing the staked amount on that validator. StakeSeeker is run by Nasdaq listed BTCS Inc. which has its own tokens staked on the same validator nodes, so we are highly incentivized to minimize these risks and maximize our staking reward. However, delegators should be cognizant of these risks.

To begin staking Kusama, click the “Start Staking” button at the top right, create an account with StakeSeeker and gain access to the platform’s crypto portfolio insights. Then, you can begin staking with our validator nodes by delegating your tokens. Within the platform, there are instructions and tutorials on how to link your crypto exchange accounts and digital wallets and how to navigate the platform’s tools. You can view our supported blockchain networks for staking on our homepage.