Kusama is an experimental blockchain platform that shares many similarities with Polkadot. Kusama's native token KSM has managed to accrue substantial value. As a potential hotbed for innovation in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, Kusama should not be taken lightly, and its native token has already been worth $1.2 billion. The platform is built with the Substrate framework, which allows users to deploy specialized blockchains. Kusama is described by its developers as Polkadot’s “canary network”.
What is Kusama?
The protocol is actively under development and is designed to improve on all the problems that are plaguing other systems. One of the biggest weaknesses of the decentralized web is the trust between users. In Kusama, users will be able to build private networks that share data with a trusted third party in an encrypted way. The developers are also introducing the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the protocol. With the GUI, users will be able to customize a login page and change information on the web browser's home page.
The protocol’s goal is to provide a decentralized network, with an immutable ledger system. In the most basic sense, the system is based on a group of computers, each of which maintains a copy of the blockchain. These computers are called nodes.
How does Kusama work?
Kusama uses Substrate to provide an Ethereum-based blockchain with all the necessary tools for developers and startups. Substrate is an open-source development framework for building applications with the Ethereum blockchain in mind. Substrate works in tandem with the EIP 102 Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP 102) and is necessary for achieving the security and scalability of the Kusama platform.
Kusama ties the purchasing of KSM tokens to a DLT investment that is managed through smart contracts. KSM holders will be able to sell or trade their tokens for Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptocurrencies. KSM holders can also create their own custom tokens to purchase services on the network. Additional services can be accessed through “opendommunity” or “intrigue” tokens.
Kusama and Polkadot will be compatible with the Substrate framework, which is already compatible with a wide variety of Ethereum applications, such as Decent, BitFury, ConsenSys, and Zilliqa.
The history of KSM
A foundation of the Kusama platform is the KSM, the native cryptocurrency of the platform. KSM was created to support the platform. Using a private key system, a digital wallet containing KSM is used to “send” assets (e.g. coins) between the KSM wallets. Additionally, users can generate and sign digital signatures using KSM.