Kusama is a canary network (operational blockchain used as a testing ground), branched from Polkadot and allows for developers to experiment with new code before release onto mainnet. The Kusama network balances low-entry barriers, open governance, interoperability, and innovation to provide more flexibility and facilitate testing to developers.
To begin staking, you can delegate your KSM tokens to Bloq’s public validator or contact us to spin up your own dedicated Kusama validator with Bloq.
Head to https://polkadot.js.org/apps and use the general dropdown in the top left to ensure you are on the Polkadot network. Under ‘Accounts,’ connect an existing or create a new account.
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Hover over the ‘Network’ dropdown in the top navigation bar and select ‘Staking.’ In the subsequent navigation bar, select ‘Accounts.’ Click the ‘Nominator’ button on the right side to delegate to the Bloq validator.
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Select the amount of KSM to stake and click ‘Next.’
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Copy and paste the Bloq validator address and select the delegator from the ‘candidate accounts.’ Nominate the amount of KSM and click the ‘Bond & Nominate’ button to nominate Bloq.
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Authorize the transaction by clicking the ‘Sign and Submit’ button.
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Review the ‘Accounts’ tab to ensure your stake was now populated and successful.
Kusama FAQ
Slashing will happen if a validator misbehaves (goes offline, attacks the network, or runs modified software) in the network. They and their nominators will get slashed by losing a percentage of their bonded/staked KSM. Bloq covers instances of slashing to help you make the most of your staked KSM. Learn more about the risks of staking KSM in the official Kusama guide.
A minimum of 0.1 KSM is required to start delegating to a KSM validator. To spin up your own validator and start earning rewards, your validator must hold more KSM than the 1,000th validator (only 1,000 validators are allowed to participate) in the active set. This number is currently 5,832 KSM. Contact us to spin up your own dedicated KSM validator.
Bloq infrastructure is non-custodial and allows you to stake your KSM while retaining control. At no point does Bloq hold your private keys nor will Bloq have access to withdraw the staked KSM.
A staker can nominate multiple validators. Kusama has a maximum of 1,000 active nominators / validators. Any validators not in the active set do not receive staking rewards.
The Kusama network recommends claiming your staking rewards after every 28 eras, however reward information will be stored up to 84 eras (~21 days). Current era information can be found in the upper-right corner of the Polkadot staking UI. Learn more about payout rewards when staking KSM.
