How To Buy Kusama (KSM)?
A common question you often see on social media from crypto beginners is “Where can I buy Kusama?” Well, you’ll be happy to hear it is actually quite a simple and straightforward process.
Step 1: Create an account on an exchange that supports Kusama (KSM)
First, you will need to open an account on a cryptocurrency exchange that supports Kusama (KSM).
We recommend the following based on functionality, reputation, security, support and fees:
1
Binance
Fees (Maker/Taker) 0.075%*-0.1%*
Cryptocurrencies
Available for Trade 500+
Sign-up bonus
10% reduced trading fees*
Available in
Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa
2
MEXC
Fees (Maker/Taker) 0.2%*-0.2%*
Cryptocurrencies
Available for Trade 1500+
Sign-up bonus
10% reduced trading fees & up to $170 in USDT vouchers*
Available in
North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa
3
Gate.io
Fees (Maker/Taker) 0.2%*-0.2%*
Cryptocurrencies
Available for Trade 1000+
Sign-up bonus
Up to $100 in USDT vouchers*
Available in
Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa
In order to sign up, you will need to enter some basic information, such as your email address, password, full name and, in some cases, you might also be asked for a phone number or address.
Note: On specific exchanges, you might need to complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure in order to be able to purchase cryptocurrency. This is most commonly the case with licensed and regulated exchanges.
Step 2: Deposit funds into your account
Many cryptocurrency exchanges will allow you to purchase Kusama (KSM) with fiat currencies, such as EUR, USD, AUD and others. Furthermore, they will also provide you with multiple deposit methods through which you can fund your fiat account, such as credit and debit cards, ewallets or direct bank transfers.
Note: Some payment methods will have higher fees than others, such as credit card payments. Before funding your fiat account on your chosen exchange, make sure to do your due diligence to find out the fees involved with each payment method to avoid unnecessary costs.
Step 3: Buy Kusama (KSM)
This process is similar across almost every cryptocurrency exchange. All you have to do is find a navigation bar or a search bar, and search for Kusama (KSM) or Kusama (KSM) trading pairs. Look for the section that will allow you to buy Kusama (KSM), and enter the amount of the cryptocurrency that you want to spend for Kusama (KSM) or the amount of fiat currency that you want to spend towards buying Kusama (KSM). The exchange will then calculate the equivalent amount of Kusama (KSM) based on the current market rate.
Note: Make sure to always double-check your transaction details, such as the amount of Kusama (KSM) you will be buying as well as the total cost of the purchase before you end up confirming the transaction. Furthermore, many cryptocurrency exchanges will offer you their own proprietary software wallet where you will be storing your cryptocurrencies; however, you can create your own individual software wallet, or purchase a hardware wallet for the highest level of protection.
How to create a Binance account
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Step 1: Go to the Binance website.
Step 2: On the registration page, enter your email address, and create a password for your account.
Then, read and agree to the Terms of Service and click “Create Account”.
Note: Your password must be a combination of numbers and letters.
It should contain at least 8 characters, one UPPER CASE letter, and one number.
Step 3: Complete the Security Verification.
Step 4: The system will send a verification code to your email. The verification code is valid for 30 minutes. If you can’t find the email in your inbox, check your other mail folders as well, or click “Resend Email” to resend.
How to complete KYC (ID Verification) on Binance
Step 1: Log in to your Binance account and click “User Center” and then “Identification”.
Step 2: click “Start Now” to verify your account.
Step 3: Select your country of residence.
Ensure that your country of residence is consistent with your ID documents.
Step 5: Enter your personal information and click “Continue.”
You won’t be able to change it once confirmed.
Refer to the respective options offered for your country.
Step 7: Follow the instructions to upload photos of your document. Your photos should clearly show the full ID document.
Do not wear hats, glasses, or use filters, and make sure that the lighting is sufficient.
Once your application has been verified, you will receive an email notification.
How to buy cryptocurrency on Binance
Step 1: Log in to your Binance account and click “Buy Crypto” and then “Credit/Debit Card”.
Step 2: Here you can choose to buy crypto with different fiat currencies. Enter the fiat amount you want to spend and the system will automatically display the amount of crypto you can get. When you have selected the amount you wish to spend then press “Continue”.
Note: You might not be able to purchase every cryptocurrency directly using fiat, if you’re looking to purchase something that isn’t offered in the currency list on this page, then you will want to purchase USDT. We will then show you how to exchange that on the spot-market for the cryptocurrency that you want in the next section of this guide.
Step 3: Click “Add New Card”. Then enter your credit card details and your billing address.
Step 4: Check the payment details and confirm your order within 1 minute. After 1 minute, the price and the amount of crypto you will get will be recalculated. You can click “Refresh” to see the latest market price. You will then be redirected to your bank’s OTP Transaction Page. Follow the on-screen instructions to verify the payment.
How to Conduct Spot Trading on Binance
Step 1: Log in to your Binance account.
Click on “Classic” under “Trade” on the top navigation bar.
Step 2: Search and enter the cryptocurrency you want to trade.
Step 3: Set buying/selling prices and buying/selling amount (or exchange total). Then click on “Buy”/”Sell”.
(Note: The percentages under the “Amount” box refer to percentages of the total account balance.)
Step 4: If you don’t want to set a manual price, you can place a “Market Order” to set the buying/selling price automatically.
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How to create a Gate.io account
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Step 1: Go to the Gate.io website.
Step 2: Choose your username, your email address and your password. Then check “I certify that I am 18 years of age or older, and I agree to the Gate.io User Agreement Privacy Policy” and click “NEXT”.
Step 3: Set your fund password and click “Create account”.
Note: Your fund password must contain at least 6 characters and can not be the same as your login password.
Step 4: An activation email will be sent to your email address. Complete the rest of the registration process by following the instructions in the email to activate your account. Once this is done done, click “Email activated, please log in”.
How to complete KYC (ID Verification) on Gate.io
In order to ensure the safety of your assets, and to reduce fraud, money laundering, blackmail, and other illegal activities, Gate.io makes it mandatory that all users obtain KYC ID Verification. Only after your account has obtained KYC ID verification, can you withdraw funds or use credit cards or debit cards to buy cryptocurrencies.
Step 1: Log in to your Gate.io account.
Place your cursor on the top-right profile icon and go to “KYC (ID Verification)”
Step 2: Click “Individual (Verify now)”
Step 3: Select your country, input your full legal name (twice), fill in your ID information, upload photos of both sides of your ID card, and a photo of you holding your ID together with your User ID (UID) for Gate.io. You will see your User ID by placing the cursor on the top-right profile icon on the main page. Make sure everything is filled in correctly and then click on “Confirm and Submit”.
Step 4: After you have submitted all the requested information, you will see the pending approval.
Approval can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to complete.
Once the KYC is approved, you’re ready to make your first cryptocurrency purchase.
How to buy cryptocurrency on Gate.io
Step 1: Log in to your Gate.io account.
Then in the Menu Bar at the top of the page, click “Buy Crypto” and select “Credit Card”.
Step 2: Enter the amount you wish to spend in the “Buy with Fiat Currency” tab and select the cryptocurrency that you want to buy under the “Currency Purchased” field. Then select one of the “Service Providers” below and click the “Place Order” button to enter the confirmation page.
Note: You might not be able to purchase every cryptocurrency directly using fiat, if you’re looking to purchase something that isn’t offered in the currency list on this page, then you will want to purchase USDT. We will then show you how to exchange that on the spot-market for the cryptocurrency that you want in the next section of this guide.
Step 3: On the confirmation page, select “Buy Crypto” or the “Create Order” button to complete the payment.
Note: To ensure a quick and secure way of receiving the order, users might need to conduct an additional Identity Verification (KYC) with a third-party service provider. Once successfully verified, the service provider will immediately transfer the cryptocurrencies to your Gate.io account.
How to Conduct Spot Trading on Gate.io
Step 1: Log in to your Gate.io account.
Click on “Spot Trading” under “Trade” on the top navigation bar.
You can either choose “standard” or “professional” version. This tutorial uses the standard version.
Step 2: Search and enter the cryptocurrency you want to trade.
Step 3: Set buying/selling prices and buying/selling amount (or exchange total). Then click on “Buy”/”Sell”.
(Note: The percentages under the “Amount” box refer to percentages of the total account balance.)
Step 4: If you don’t want to set a manual price, you can click on the last prices on the order book to set the buying/selling price automatically.
Step 5: Confirm the price and amount. Then click on “Place Order” to place the order, followed by “Confirm Order” to confirm it.
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For more in-depth instructions, our ‘Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Cryptocurrency Investing‘ will take you through the process step-by step. In addition to providing instructions for sending and receiving your cryptocurrency.
And if you’re completely new to crypto our beginner, intermediate and advanced level articles will get you up to speed with everything you need to know about the cryptocurrency space starting out.
Simplecryptoguide.com
What Is Kusama (KSM)?
Kusama is a public pre-production environment for Polkadot, one that allows any developer to experiment and test new blockchains or applications before releasing them on this network. In this way, it can be said Kusama acts as a kind of sandbox for developers looking to test early versions of Polkadot projects, but with real cryptocurrency traded on an open market.
Official Polkadot upgrades are also tested on Kusama before their release. Because its primary use case is to facilitate testing, Kusama attempts to give developers more flexibility while they finalize the design of their Polkadot projects. In turn, Kusama offers looser rules than Polkadot, including less stringent governance parameters. Elsewhere, Kusama mimics most of Polkadot’s major design features. For example, Kusama uses two types of blockchains – a main network, called a relay chain, where transactions are permanent, and user-generated networks, called parachains. Parachains can be customized for any use and leverage the main relay chain for security.
A potential advantage of starting a project on Kusama is that it allows Polkadot projects to build a user base and gain traction in the community before the official launch.
How do Kusama parachains work?
Parachains are literally ‘parallel chains’ that run alongside the main Kusama relay chain.
Again, imagine a plastic comb (the kusama relay chain) that has a long row of thinner, plastic teeth (kusama parachains).
These multiple chains frequently communicate with each other, which prevents the main relay chain from becoming congested by having to handle every single transaction that comes through the network.
This architecture will help Polkadot and Kusama to scale into the future, and explains why so many developers are seeking to build on the networks. To secure a slot on one of Kusama’s limited number of parachains, projects will have to lock up a competitive number of KSM tokens for up to 2 years, with these being returned after the designated period is up.
In the beginning, only a few projects will be chosen to build on the parachains, so they will have to bid the highest amount of KSM in auctions that will happen just before the network goes live.
Teams that are competing for a slot won’t be able to see how much other teams are bidding, and the auction will end at a random, undetermined moment. Smaller projects that can’t afford to inhabit an entire parachain can also rent a Kusama parathread, which is basically a parachain that has been shared and broken down into smaller chains, or ‘threads’, in order to share the cost.
This is like renting a room within an apartment, instead of paying to rent the entire apartment itself.
Who Are the Founders of Kusama?
Kusama was built by the same team that created Polkadot, a company known as Parity Technologies. Its founder is Dr. Gavin Wood, a world-renowned computer scientist and programmer, who also co-founded Ethereum.
Parity Technologies has an extensive team comprised of some of the world’s most successful blockchain engineers, and has over 100 employees in total spread throughout the world.
In addition, Kusama is funded by grants from the Web3 Foundation, which was launched to help “nurture and steward technologies and applications in the fields of decentralised web software protocols.” The Web3 foundation also supports Kusama with research and community development thanks to its growth team.
How Does Kusama Work?
The Kusama network allows for the creation of two types of blockchains.
- The Relay Chain – The main Kusama blockchain, this network is where transactions are finalized. To achieve a greater speed, the relay chain separates the addition of new transactions from the act of validating those transactions.
- Parachains – Parachains are custom blockchains that use the relay chain’s computing resources to confirm that transactions are accurate.
The Relay Chain
To keep its network in agreement about the state of the system, the Kusama Relay Chain uses a variation on proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus called nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS). This system allows anyone who stakes KSM by locking the cryptocurrency in a special contract to perform one or more of the following roles necessary to its operation:
- Validators – Validate data in parachain blocks. They also participate in consensus and vote on proposed changes to the network.
- Nominators – Secure the Relay Chain by selecting trustworthy validators. Nominators delegate their staked KSM tokens to validators and thus allocate their votes to them.
Users who stake KSM and perform these roles are also eligible to receive KSM rewards.
Kusama Governance
Three types of Kusama users can influence the software’s development.
These include:
- The Referendum Chamber – Anyone who purchases KSM tokens can propose changes to the network and approve or reject major changes proposed by others.
- The Council – Elected by KSM holders, council members are responsible for proposing changes and determining which changes proposed by KSM holders are made to the software. The Council on Kusama started with seven seats, but is intended to increase as community interest grows
- The Technical Committee – Composed of teams actively building Kusama, this group can make special proposals in the event of an emergency. Members of the technical committee are voted in by Council members.
The Difference Between Kusama and Polkadot
Kusama is branded as a “canary network” for the Polkadot blockchain, meaning that it provides early code release that is unaudited and available before it is launched on Polkadot.
The first key difference between the two networks is the speed of the governance system. In Kusama, 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 than in Polkadot.
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.
Kusama development updates in 2023
In 2023, Kusama (KSM) has continued to evolve as a dynamic and innovative blockchain platform, fostering rapid development and experimentation in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Here’s a summary of the key developments and features of Kusama in 2023:
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Scalability and Innovation: Kusama is renowned for its scalability, enabling blockchain developers to explore and innovate rapidly. The platform, built with Substrate and sharing architecture with Polkadot, is ideal for developers eager to test new ideas. Kusama is often described as the “canary network” for Polkadot, providing a lower entry barrier for deploying parachains and a reduced bond requirement for validators, all while offering unmatched interoperability.
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Parachain Auctions: A significant development for Kusama in 2023 is the introduction of parachain auctions. These auctions allow developers to vie for a place on the Kusama and Polkadot platforms, thereby fostering competition and innovation within the ecosystem.
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Governance System: Kusama’s governance system is designed to be fast-paced, with a combined voting and enactment period of just 15 days. This system is much quicker than that of Polkadot, facilitating rapid on-chain upgrades and changes to the protocol. The governance model includes the Referendum Chamber, the Council, and the Technical Committee, each playing a distinct role in the decision-making process.
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Community Support: The Kusama community plays a crucial role in the network’s success and development. The KSM token, which is the native utility token of the platform, enables users to validate the network, nominate validators, bond parachains or parathreads, and participate in governance referenda.
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Treasury and Staking: Kusama’s treasury is designed to collect funds from various sources like slashing, staking inefficiencies, and transaction fees. Users can submit spending proposals, which need approval from a significant portion of the council. Kusama operates on a nominated proof-of-stake system, which is an energy-efficient alternative to the proof-of-work mechanism used by other blockchains.
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Future Prospects and Price Prediction: While specific price predictions vary, there is a general consensus that Kusama (KSM) has strong potential for growth in the coming years, reflecting its role as a vital player in the crypto and DeFi space.
Overall, Kusama’s focus on rapid development, scalability, and a robust governance system makes it an attractive platform for developers and investors alike in the blockchain and cryptocurrency domain.
Official website: https://kusama.network/
Best cryptocurrency wallet for Kusama (KSM)
There are plenty of different crypto wallets available. The best one for you depends on your general trading habits and which provides the most security in your situation. There are two main types of wallets: hot storage wallets (digital) and cold storage or hardware wallets (physical). Both have their pros and cons, and there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer when it comes to figuring out which crypto wallet is best for you.
HOW DO I DECIDE WHICH cryptocurrency WALLET TO USE for Kusama (KSM)?
Deciding which type of wallet to use depends on a variety of factors, including:
- How often you trade. In general, hot wallets are better for more active cryptocurrency traders. Quick login ability means you are only a few clicks and taps away from buying and selling crypto. Cold wallets are better suited for those looking to make less frequent trades.
- What you want to trade. As mentioned earlier, not all wallets support all types of cryptocurrencies. However, some of the best crypto wallets have the power to trade hundreds of different currencies, providing more of a one-size-fits-all experience.
- Your peace of mind. For those worried about hacking, having a physical cold wallet stored in a safe deposit box at the bank or somewhere at home, provides the safest, most secure option. Others might be confident in their ability to keep their hot wallets secure.
- How much it costs. It is important to investigate the costs associated with each wallet. Many hot wallets will be free to set up. Meanwhile, cold wallets, like any piece of hardware, will cost money to purchase.
- What it can do. While the basics of each cryptocurrency wallet are the same, additional features can help set them apart. This is especially true of hot wallets, many of which come with advanced reporting features, insights into the crypto market, the ability to convert cryptocurrencies and more. Security features can also be a good differentiator.
For a more in-depth overview of cryptocurrency wallets visit our “Cryptocurrency Wallets Explained” guide.
If you’re going to be dealing in larger volumes of crypto, investing in cold storage might prove advantageous.
Most widespead examples of this being the Ledger Nano and the Trezor.
Ledger manufactures cold storage wallets designed for users who want increased security. Their wallets are a physical device that connects to your computer. Only when the device is connected can you send your cryptocurrency from it. Ledger offers a variety of products, such as the Ledger Nano S and the Ledger Nano X (a bluetooth connected hardware wallet).
Trezor is a pioneering hardware wallet company. The combination of world-class security with an intuitive interface and compatibility with other desktop wallets, makes it ideal for beginners and experts alike. The company has gained a lot of the Bitcoin community’s respect over the years. Trezor offers two main models – The Trezor One and Trezor Model T (which has a built in touch screen).
Market Overview
Coinmarketcap.com
Coinmarketcap will be your cryptocurrency go-to for just about everything. Here you can see the following:
Market Capitalization And Daily Trading Volume
Current Market Price Of Every Cryptocurrency Relative To USD (And Some Local Currencies)
Circulating And Total Supply
Historical Charts With Prices Relative To USD, Bitcoin (BTC), And Ethereum (ETH).
