Kusama Gains Further Traction with KSM Listing on LocalCoinSwap

Table of Contents

• A Shared Ideology
• Hackusama - Fostering Innovation for Kusama

Quick Take

2.5 minute read

• Since the Polkadot network launched on mainnet earlier this year, Kusama has become one of the runaway hits of 2020 so far.
• The project’s native KSM token posted gains of over 540% between its January low and early September all-time high, where it reached over $58. 

Since the Polkadot network launched on mainnet earlier this year, Kusama has become one of the runaway hits of 2020 so far. The project’s native KSM token posted gains of over 540% between its January low and early September all-time high, where it reached over $58. 

Now, KSM has received a further boost with a listing on peer-to-peer non-custodial trading platform LocalCoinSwap. Live trading will begin on September 28, although traders can participate in a “liquidity week” beforehand, using the time to create offers for when trading goes live, and familiarize themselves with the platform. This pre-listing period ensures liquid P2P markets once live KSM trading commences. 

Kusama is billed as a “canary network” for Polkadot, built by the same team, using almost the same code and tools as its more famous sibling. Like Polkadot, it offers benefits, including sharding and interoperability. 

However, Polkadot is designed with the kind of stability and security needed for enterprise and financial applications. In contrast, Kusama is a low-barrier sandbox for “radical innovation” where developers can experiment with Polkadot’s features, and perhaps even permanently run dApps that don’t need the robustness of Polkadot. 

A Shared Ideology

While Berlin-based Parity Technologies develops both Polkadot and Kusama, they also come under the stewardship of the Web3 Foundation, a Swiss non-profit. This stewardship ensures both projects remain open-source as part of the projects’ commitment to maintaining a decentralized, user-operated internet. 

Therefore, the listing on LocalCoinSwap fits in well with the overall ideology of the Web3 Foundation. LocalCoinSwap was founded in 2018 as the first-ever community-owned P2P cryptocurrency exchange. In the true spirit of decentralization and open finance, LocalCoinSwap offers the biggest range of tokens and payment methods of any P2P trading platform.

Furthermore, trading KSM on LocalCoinSwap is entirely non-custodial, making use of the Polkadot MultiSig wallet in the Kusama runtime. Even if LocalCoinSwap goes down, users can still access their funds, providing they back up their mnemonic seed or export their private keys. 

KYC is also available on a purely opt-in basis, according to trader preference. 

Hackusama - Fostering Innovation for Kusama

In other Kusama-related news, the project has recently concluded a successful seven-week hackathon, called Hackusama. Unlike many hackathons focused on developing dApps, the Hackusama offered two options, designed to showcase Kusama’s multi-chain architecture and help promote development to other programmers. 

Hackusama teams could choose to “Build a Blockchain” - develop a custom blockchain linked to Kusama’s central Relay Chain. Alternatively, in the “Open Hack” category, they could build tools, visualizers, or other projects to make it easier for devs to build on Kusama. 

Nearly 500 participants competed for a chance to win a share of the $30,000 prize pool. In the “Build a Blockchain” category, the clear winner and “Community Choice” selection was “Unique Network,” a gaming-focused blockchain allowing users to issue their own non-fungible tokens. The Russian team behind this is now planning to launch their own fully operational NFT chain on Kusama. 

A notable entry and second place in the Open Hack category was the Kusama Academy. It brings the style of interactive developer school Crypto Zombies to Kusama. Beginner blockchain developers learn to write smart contracts for Kusama via the means of an NFT token game. A series of chapters walk the learner through building their own virtual, fully operational tank, including features like weapons. 

However, first place in the Open Hack went to Hydra. It aims to replicate an Ethereum-focused project called TheGraph, which allows anyone to harvest historical smart contract data by deploying a query node. 

Along with their share of the prize pool, Hackusama winners also benefit from fast-tracked funding discussions with the Web3 Foundation Grants team along with consultation calls with Web 3 and Parity developers. 

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