Polkadot vs Kusama
Polkadot (DOT) vs. Kusama (KSM) are two independent platforms on top of which users can launch and operate their own blockchains. Polkadot and Kusama are very closely related due to being built on nearly identical codebases. In the near future, the Polkadot and Kusama networks will be formally connected by a bridge.
Kusama is branded as a “canary network” for the Polkadot blockchain, meaning that new code and features are always battle-tested on Kusama first before they can be launched on Polkadot. It is important to note that Kusama is not a testnet in the traditional sense of the term because unlike a testnet, the Kusama network is host to substantial economic value.
Kusama and Polkadot allow developers to build, deploy and integrate parachains, which are custom, user-generated, blockchains, in an environment with economic incentives that reflect those on their respective networks.
Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot is a platform that aims to create a network of public and private blockchains that can exchange custom assets and data.
There are intricacies that set DOT and KSM blockchains apart, such as different governance parameters, and you can find those by reading our side-by-side comparison of Kusama and Polkadot below.
The difference between Polkadot and Kusama
DATE FOUNDED
Polkadot
Polkadot was founded in 2016.
Kusama
Kusama was founded in 2016.
CREATOR
Polkadot
Polkadot was created by Gavin Wood (a co-founder of Ethereum) alongside co-founders Peter Czaban and Robert Habermeier.
Kusama
Kusama was also founded by the creators of Polkadot, Gavin Wood, Peter Czaban and Robert Habermeier.
TICKER
Polkadot
DOT
Kusama
KSM
VISION
Polkadot
The Polkadot platform is software on top of which users can launch and operate their own blockchains.
Towards this goal, Polkadot’s design allows for two different types of blockchains; a main network, called the Relay Chain, where transactions are settled, and user-created networks, called parachains, that can be customized for any number of uses and communicate with each other via the Relay Chain.
This specific design is intended to let users create many customized parachains for different uses without disclosing the information hosted on them to the Relay Chain or the other parachains, thus allowing for more private and efficient transactions.
Kusama
Kusama is an independent network that aims to be a kind of sandbox for Polkadot developers who wish to deploy and test pre-release versions of their Polkadot projects, but with real cryptocurrency traded on an open market.
Because its primary use case is to facilitate testing, Kusama attempts to give developers more flexibility while they finalize the design of their projects and offers looser rules than Polkadot, including less stringent governance parameters.
It is important to keep in mind that Kusama is a blockchain for experimentation, and that it gives up stability and security to increase the speed of the network.
LAUNCH & ISSUANCE
Polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) is an open-sourced project built and maintained by Web3 Foundation, a non-profit company created to help curate decentralized technologies and applications.
Notably, the We3 Foundation oversaw Polkadot’s DOT token sale which raised over $145 million by selling around 50 million DOT tokens.
The Web3 Foundation also partnered with Parity Technologies to develop Substrate, a software development framework used by Polkadot developers who wish to quickly create parachains.
Kusama
Like Polkadot, Kusama is an open-source project built and maintained by the Web3 foundation and Parity Technologies.
The Kusama Network airdropped their KSM tokens to DOT holders, meaning that users who held the DOT token at the time of Kusama’s genesis block were able to claim an equivalent amount of KSM.
NETWORK DESIGN
Polkadot
To keep its network in sync, the Polkadot Relay Chain uses a variation on proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus called nominated-proof-of-stake (NPoS), allowing anyone who stakes DOT cryptocurrency to take part in its performance.
Stakers can choose one of three roles; validators, who verify data in parachain blocks and participate in Polkadot’s consensus mechanism, nominators, who store and aggregate parachain data into blocks to be added to the Relay Chain, or Fisherman, who monitor the Polkadot network and report bad behavior.
Polkadot is also expected to host several bridges that would allow its network to interact with other blockchains, such as Cosmos, Ethereum and Bitcoin, meaning tokens could be swapped across multiple blockchains without a central exchange.
Kusama
The Kusama network is not only used by developers to test their projects before launching them on Polkadot, it also serves as a platform where official Polkadot upgrades can be tested before their release.
Because of this, Kusama’s architecture is very similar to Polkadot’s and allows for the creation of parachains that are connected to its main blockchain, the Relay Chain.
Kusama differs from its counterpart in its governance parameters. For example, it takes seven days to vote on a referendum and eight days to implement changes after the votes, compared to a month for each on Polkadot. Second, becoming a validator on Kusama is much easier, as the minimum staking requirements are lower. Last, staked KSM can be unbonded in 7 days, as opposed to the 28 days it takes with Polkadot.
MONETARY POLICY
Polkadot
Polkadot initially created and released 10 million DOT, with new DOT tokens expected to be released in perpetuity, at a predetermined inflation rate.
A token holder vote in 2020 later changed the standard unit for DOT tokens, shifting the base unit of the currency and dividing the supply at a ratio of 1:100 to reach a new total of 1 billion DOT. Polkadot DOT tokens do not have a maximum supply cap. DOT is inflationary.
By owning and staking DOT, users gain the ability to vote on network upgrades, with each vote being proportional to the amount of DOT cryptocurrency they stake. Polkadot rewards these users with newly minted DOT based on how many tokens they are staking.
Kusama
Like Polkadot DOT tokens, the total supply of KSM is also uncapped. New KSM tokens are expected to be released in perpetuity, at a predetermined inflation rate.
KSM holders can use their tokens to validate transactions, launch a parachain, pay for transaction fees, nominate validators and vote on governance proposals.
Useful Polkadot & Kusama Resources
If you are interested in learning more about Polkadot and Kusama, please visit Kraken’s What is Polkadot? and What is Kusama? pages.
Review the latest Polkadot price and Kusama price chart.
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