Polkadot (DOT) vs Kusama (KSM): Two Sides of the Same Multichain Coin

Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama (KSM) are like two cousins ​​who were once inseparable, but grew apart as they grew older and went on their own adventures.

Despite Kusama’s well-known status in the crypto community, many assume that it is just a test network for Polkadot. While the two have always shared a close relationship, their different features and ecosystems still appeal to certain types of investors and users.

Ultimately, whether you’re interested in investing in ambitious multichain startup Polkadot, or want something a little more experimental like Kusama, we’ve analyzed both companies in detail to find out what each company has to offer, and which one is best for you. We’ll let you know if it’s right for you.

What is Polkadot?

In simple terms, Polkadot is a multi-chain network that allows individual blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Cardano to interact with each other, something that would normally be impossible.

Polkadot, like the Polkadot on a T-shirt, brings these different chains together into one network to share and communicate data. In the cryptocurrency world, this is called interoperability.

Polkadot is able to do this thanks to parachains, which are custom blockchains that are integrated into the network and designed for specific purposes that developers can think of.

For example, some people will create parachains simply to trade and manage specific tokens., Others will create entire NFT marketplaces. The important thing is that these parachains are the creation of multiple blockchain networks working together on a single project.

All of this is powered by the relay chain, a large gear-like structure that keeps the entire Polkadot network running in the background. Polkadot is undoubtedly unique in its infrastructure and design, but it would not have gotten this far without the much-needed help of its counterpart, Kusama.

What is Kusama?

A common mistake many people make is calling Kusama a test network. The regular testnet is not designed for buying real assets, but only for practice, so you can’t hold transactions. On the other hand, the Kusama Canary network requires at least some economic value from investors.

So you can literally see it as a “backup” for the Polkadot server, but the actual amount you need to invest is still lower, making it less risky than the Polkadot mainnet.

Over the years, it has differentiated itself by being looser, more fluid, more chaotic, and evolving at a much faster pace than its peers.

The History of Polka Dot and Kusama: How They Became Distant Cousins

Knowing where Polkadot and Kusama come from is important to understanding how and why they developed in different ways. The difference truly began along their development cycle.

The birth of Polkadot

Gavin Wood, the creator of Ethereum, has been mulling over the concept of Polkadot since 2014, but it wasn’t until 2019 that it finally became a reality, with the help of talented developers Peter Czaban and Robert Habermeier, along with the Web3 Foundation.

But Polkadot was ambitious. While the concept existed, the deeper mechanisms and features that would allow the network to work were still being figured out. Governance, security, staking options, etc., all of this would take time to fully come to fruition, and with real money involved, Gavin and the team knew they couldn’t screw anything up for users and investors.

This is where Kusama came in, launching in August 2019 as a sort of “wild wilderness” where early ideas and concepts could be tested in real-world economic situations.

Testing Phase: Kusama’s Time to Shine

In 2019, Kusama will be testing a proof-of-stake (PoS) model that will serve as Polkadot’s on-chain governance model. This model allows users to become validators: individuals who verify transactions on the network as long as they hold enough KSM tokens to prove their credibility.

Initially there were only 20 validators, but as the system gained popularity, 10 more slots were opened each week, bringing in more people to ensure the network runs smoothly.

What’s notable about Kusama’s early stages is how basic it is. Of course, this gave the Polkadot team a good idea of ​​how something like a PoS model could work, and helped inspire the slightly modified Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS) model that would later arrive at Polkadot.

However, many of Kusama’s functions were still limited, such as balance transfers. This showed how rough Kusama was.

A more notable example of this occurred in January 2020 when the Polkadot mainnet runtime was accidentally uploaded to the Kusama chain during a scheduled upgrade. At the time, Polkadot wasn’t even live, so this was clearly an accident and was resolved within a few days, but it showed how messy the relationship between the two was, despite them being relatives at this point.

Parachain Auction

On June 15, 2021, the Kusama Network was used to test another promising feature: parachain auctions. There is a limit to the number of parachains that can be inserted into the network at one time, so to accommodate this, auctions are designed to award slots to the highest bidder to maintain a fair and democratic environment.

It was Karura Network that won the first Kusama parachain slot after bidding a total of 500,000 KSM. This is equivalent to over $100 million at a price of $25 per coin.

Needless to say, the auction went well and Kusama will be home to 700 validators by February 2021. Validators all flocked to the network after seeing how quickly it was evolving and how much promise it held for the future. After testing on Kusama, the parachain auction is scheduled to arrive on the Polkadot mainnet in a few months, in November 2021.

At this point, Kusama has achieved the goal outlined in the Polkadot whitepaper: to experiment with and eventually approve the functionality of a fully decentralized multichain network.

But rather than disappearing, Kusama had already developed a passionate enough audience to survive and gradually began to separate from her distant cousin who was on the verge of stardom.

Current day

Don’t misunderstand. Kusama is still used today as a testing ground for the Polkadot mainnet. For example, OpenGov, a more community-driven form of open governance, was only launched on Polkadot in November 2023 after being squeezed out of Kusama in July of the same year.

It has also proven to be very useful in implementing Polkadot 2.0, which aims to improve network speeds. For example, we tried asynchronous backups, which could free up block space to allow faster transactions.

However, Kusama has also been perceived as a more chaotic, loose and experimental version of herself, which is quite different in itself but still similar in design.

Similarities between Polkadot and Kusama

So far, we’ve witnessed Polkadot and Kusama’s journey and how they slowly grow apart over time due to their different environments. But before we look at the key differences, let’s go back to the basics and recognize the similarities between the two.

Both Polkadot and Kusama use the exact same architecture: a central relay chain, a proof-of-stake model that allows validators to monitor the network, and a parachain that developers can configure using the Substrate toolkit.

Additionally, both use on-chain governance parameters that allow DOT and KSM holders to vote and issue proposals for platform improvements. As such, the use cases for each native token are largely identical.

In fact, Polkadot and Kusama are mostly the same, but when you look closer at their features, the differences start to emerge.

Polkadot vs Kusama: Key Differences

Polkadot and Kusama are built on the same infrastructure, but due to their different design philosophies, there are still many differences to be aware of. The main aspects that differentiate the two are:

• evolution rate – In Kusama, it only takes 7 days for users to vote on a referendum and 8 more days for implementation to be added. For comparison, on Polkadot each can take up to a month. As a result, Kusama moves at a breakneck pace, and while it can be difficult to keep up with for new users, it gives users greater and more immediate control over where the network is heading.
• Bonding requirements – Bonding, also known as staking, involves staking a certain amount of KSM or DOT tokens to nominate a validator, lease a parachain, or fund an auction. Kusama has lower staking requirements, which lowers the accessibility bar.
• security – Nominees do not need to invest a lot of stake to prove their worth in Kusama. This means that there is no need to prove authenticity, making it slightly less secure than Polkadot.
• Token Scarcity – KSM tokens are rare and expensive because the number of KSM tokens is limited compared to the unlimited maximum supply of DOT.

How to choose Polkadot or Kusama

Now that we’ve looked at the key differences between Polkadot and Kusama, you can see who they are best suited for and what you should consider when choosing one or the other.

Kusama is for:

• Investors and developers who want to get involved in more experimental projects.
• Users who want more control over their rapidly evolving network.
• Anyone who wants to stake and invest at a cheaper price.

Polkadot is used for:

• Investors and developers new to multi-chain architecture.
• For those who prioritize the highest level of robust security.
• Users looking for a more streamlined platform.

On the flip side

• Other multichain platforms like Avalanche and Cosmos compete with Polkadot and Kusama in terms of the services they offer.
• Both examples mentioned specialize in smart contract functionality, which is becoming increasingly popular in the cryptocurrency space but is not natively supported by Polkadot or Kusama.

Why This Matters

Even those who are remotely interested in Polkadot should know that there are two networks to choose from, not just one. It may be easy to lump Polkadot and Kusama together, but learning the differences will help you make a more informed decision about which one is more interesting in the long run.

Frequently Asked Questions