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The Kusama team announced the next phases of their blockchain release via a blog post on 7 June. The first real-world parachain is set for a major upgrade and the Kusama team hopes to build a flourishing community with parachain slot auctions. Kusama Parachain has taken these innovative steps with the help of technology from Polkadot.
Just a week after the team released the initial shell, the roadmap for the next steps is awaiting approval by the Kusama Council. The Kusama Council is the de facto governing body that approves the direction of the project. The release is set to come gradually beginning on 15 June and is expected to be completed on 13 July with the 5th and final auction.
As a canary network of Polkadot, protection of the network increases with exposure. This will allow the protocol to function in the wild and properly develop. Cross-chain connections add exponential complexities and time in the open is a good way to find inefficiencies in the chain’s logic. There is a clear motivation to deploy the logic quickly to best protect Polkadot. As the first chain of its kind, careful steps are a wise approach.
The Kusama team completed Statemine testnet last week, their version of Polkadot’s Statemint parachain. The Kusama team posted in a tweet that the Council moved forward with referendum 115 on June 3rd agreeing to fully upgrade the Shell parachain to Statemine.
The Shell originally released was not complete. As the name implies, it was meant to be filled and invigorated. The Kusama chain now supports important functionality to take their project to the next level. The team successfully started producing new blocks on the chain on June 1. The team plans for a rich and functional ecosystem of chains to emerge once the shell is fully supported.
Kusama has deployed this code gradually from Polkadot in a step-by-step manner so as to mitigate any chance of unpredictable surprises. The chain looks ready for evolution as the team cannot find any further technical impediments to parachain functionality that could stop the auctions. There is also an external audit of the chain’s logic underway by SR Labs (Parity’s chosen external auditor).
The chain has some exciting new features. First, it is now a low-cost place to hold and transfer the Kuasam token $KSM where the minimum balance and transaction fees are much lower than on their relay-chain. The platform can also transfer permissioned fungible assets (like non-algorithmic stable coins). It will also allow for permissionless creation, issuance, and transfer of both fungible assets and NFTs (non-fungible assets).
The XCM (cross-chain messaging) protocol will allow KSM to move without inhibitions between Kusama and Statemine. The same protocol opens Statemine to interaction with other parachains, one of the main attractions to the whole operation. This seamless connection across chains makes the Kusama protocol a trustless reserve to hold KSM and other assets as well.
How to Participate and get involved
The Kusama chain is unique in that it is not just a single, solitary chain. The heterogeneously-sharded blockchain can become a part of different chains and link together into a community. The Kusama team is hoping to create a community surrounded by its blockchain.
Kusama will begin participation with a set of auctions beginning 15 June and the path to participation will be different for each interested team. There will be five auctions over the next five weeks. Auctions will last for two days followed by a five-day end period.
The Auction Schedule, pending approval from Kusama Council:
The team is giving notice a week in advance to allow the staking community time to unstake their KSM and prepare for the auction. Only bids in the initial two days will be considered in the final result. Bids made after the two-day limit will have a linearly reducing chance for consideration. Auction winners will be declared at random to the highest bidder during the closing period.
Vote for the next steps awaits approval from the Kusama Council. Kusama’s protocol is a risk-taking, fast-moving ‘canary in the coal mine’ network. The parachain venture is risky and complicated one however the potentials are enormous. Kusama is definitely a project to keep an eye on. For more information about how the Kusama infrastructure and cross-chain functionality works, Hypercube is making a series of five videos to explain. You can also learn about the Kusama parachain from the source itself.
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MetaMask has improved accesibility for Ledger users in its latest update. The update will roll out from next week, simplifying the proces by which Ledger users connect their hardware wallet to MetaMask.
At present Ledger users are required to open Ledger Live first, then connect their Ledger, then connect MetaMask to it. The sheer number of steps required to make the connection is prohibitive. Community feedback has now prompted MetaMask to streamline the process.
“Ledger users, we hear you,” said MetaMask in a tweet on October 26th. “We have a new improved Ledger support that should be starting to roll out next week. The new support will be entirely in-browser, and won't require Ledger Live installed to use.”
MetaMask went on to tease “extra good news” for hardware wallet users coming very soon.
MetaMask recently launched version 10.3.0 of its extension with a subtly altered login screen. The company is also working on an improved token detection algorithm that is resistant to airdrop scams.
ConsenSys is a leading Ethereum software company. It enables developers, enterprises, and people worldwide to build next-generation applications, launch modern financial infrastructure, and access the decentralized web. The ConsenSys product suite is composed of Infura, Quorum, Codefi, MetaMask, Truffle and Diligence.
The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) issued a statement denying a report that it has shifted its investment strategy to allocate part of its capital into Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The article published by The Korea Economic Daily titled, ‘KTCU to be Korea’s first pension fund to invest in cryptocurrency ETF’ got the entire crypto community abuzz with excitement.
The move is seen as a leap of faith because pension funds are often regarded as conventional investors that favor low-risk traditional products. If the rumor is true, it also signals a departure from the institution’s usual investment strategy.
In a statement released by KTCU and quoted in The Korea Herald, it says - The KTCU has never reviewed an investment in a bitcoin-related ETF, and will never have a plan to do so’
KTCU is a pension fund with $47 billion of Asset Under Management (AUM) raised eyebrows when the local daily published the report. KTCU is dedicated to promoting teachers’ welfare and financial benefits and investment by pension funds is the clearest sign that Bitcoin is now regarded by institutional investors as a mainstream asset.
Korea continues to rein in on the crypto ecosystem and the latest decision to proceed to tax crypto earnings of more than 2.5 million Korean won (approximately $2,105) affirms the government’s tough stance against the crypto industry. The Korean authority has recently shut down more than half of the crypto exchanges operating within its jurisdiction for failing to get the relevant approvals from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
Given the general policy and regulatory sentiment in Korea, institutional investment decisions are unlikely to favor the crypto industry. Whilst in the US, institutions are taking bold steps ahead.
In a recent announcement, the Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund has bought into Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is probably a result of the recent Bitcoin ETF’s approval by the SEC which is seen by observers as the regulator’s stamp of approval for the new asset class.
It would be ideal for traditional institutions such as pension funds to dip their toes into crypto-related investments. This is because pension funds are geared towards capital preservation rather than growth. If Bitcoin can provide this assurance, its narrative as a store of value is bolstered.
Mass institutional adoption for crypto assets may not take place at the pace that many enthusiasts would have wished. Cryptos as an asset class still suffers from volatility and once this massive price fluctuation decreases, it becomes a more viable alternative to other traditional assets.
After a successful launch of its Shell parachain, the team will bring upgrades to the first fully decentralized, secure heterogeneously-sharded blockchain.
The Kusama team announced the next phases of their blockchain release via a blog post on 7 June. The first real-world parachain is set for a major upgrade and the Kusama team hopes to build a flourishing community with parachain slot auctions. Kusama Parachain has taken these innovative steps with the help of technology from Polkadot.
Just a week after the team released the initial shell, the roadmap for the next steps is awaiting approval by the Kusama Council. The Kusama Council is the de facto governing body that approves the direction of the project. The release is set to come gradually beginning on 15 June and is expected to be completed on 13 July with the 5th and final auction.
As a canary network of Polkadot, protection of the network increases with exposure. This will allow the protocol to function in the wild and properly develop. Cross-chain connections add exponential complexities and time in the open is a good way to find inefficiencies in the chain’s logic. There is a clear motivation to deploy the logic quickly to best protect Polkadot. As the first chain of its kind, careful steps are a wise approach.
The Kusama team completed Statemine testnet last week, their version of Polkadot’s Statemint parachain. The Kusama team posted in a tweet that the Council moved forward with referendum 115 on June 3rd agreeing to fully upgrade the Shell parachain to Statemine.
The Shell originally released was not complete. As the name implies, it was meant to be filled and invigorated. The Kusama chain now supports important functionality to take their project to the next level. The team successfully started producing new blocks on the chain on June 1. The team plans for a rich and functional ecosystem of chains to emerge once the shell is fully supported.
Kusama has deployed this code gradually from Polkadot in a step-by-step manner so as to mitigate any chance of unpredictable surprises. The chain looks ready for evolution as the team cannot find any further technical impediments to parachain functionality that could stop the auctions. There is also an external audit of the chain’s logic underway by SR Labs (Parity’s chosen external auditor).
The chain has some exciting new features. First, it is now a low-cost place to hold and transfer the Kuasam token $KSM where the minimum balance and transaction fees are much lower than on their relay-chain. The platform can also transfer permissioned fungible assets (like non-algorithmic stable coins). It will also allow for permissionless creation, issuance, and transfer of both fungible assets and NFTs (non-fungible assets).
The XCM (cross-chain messaging) protocol will allow KSM to move without inhibitions between Kusama and Statemine. The same protocol opens Statemine to interaction with other parachains, one of the main attractions to the whole operation. This seamless connection across chains makes the Kusama protocol a trustless reserve to hold KSM and other assets as well.
How to Participate and get involved
The Kusama chain is unique in that it is not just a single, solitary chain. The heterogeneously-sharded blockchain can become a part of different chains and link together into a community. The Kusama team is hoping to create a community surrounded by its blockchain.
Kusama will begin participation with a set of auctions beginning 15 June and the path to participation will be different for each interested team. There will be five auctions over the next five weeks. Auctions will last for two days followed by a five-day end period.
The Auction Schedule, pending approval from Kusama Council:
The team is giving notice a week in advance to allow the staking community time to unstake their KSM and prepare for the auction. Only bids in the initial two days will be considered in the final result. Bids made after the two-day limit will have a linearly reducing chance for consideration. Auction winners will be declared at random to the highest bidder during the closing period.
Vote for the next steps awaits approval from the Kusama Council. Kusama’s protocol is a risk-taking, fast-moving ‘canary in the coal mine’ network. The parachain venture is risky and complicated one however the potentials are enormous. Kusama is definitely a project to keep an eye on. For more information about how the Kusama infrastructure and cross-chain functionality works, Hypercube is making a series of five videos to explain. You can also learn about the Kusama parachain from the source itself.
