Bubble
Kusama KSM
Kusama (KSM) was trading at $3.56, ranked #354 by market cap at $66.83M, with 24h volume of $15.68M.
Data snapshot: 2026-09-02 12:15 UTC.
Kusama is Polkadot's canary network, running the same codebase with shorter governance periods and no safety net so upgrades can be tested against real economic stakes before reaching Polkadot. Its official description — "expect chaos" — is meant literally, and it has hosted experiments that would be far too risky to attempt on the main network. Kusama is Polkadot's live testing network, but it is not a testnet — it uses real value and real economic stakes, with faster governance and shorter waiting periods so changes can be deployed and observed before reaching Polkadot. That makes it genuinely experimental infrastructure with genuine risk, and its own community has treated it as a place for things too fast-moving for the main network. On this map KSM is a smaller asset whose behaviour is loosely tied to Polkadot's but whose risk profile is deliberately higher.
Is Kusama a testnet?
Not in the usual sense. It uses real value and real economic consequences, but with faster governance and shorter delays so changes can be tested under live conditions.
Why test protocol changes with real value?
It lets protocol changes be observed with real stakes before reaching Polkadot, which a conventional testnet with worthless tokens cannot do.
Is KSM related to DOT?
They share technology and are developed by the same ecosystem, but they are separate networks with separate tokens and separate markets.
What is the risk profile?
Deliberately higher. Faster governance and experimental deployments mean more can go wrong, which is the point of the network.
Market cap decides how big a bubble is drawn, so rank is what places KSM on the map relative to the rest of its sector.
| Rank | Coin | Market cap |
|---|---|---|
| #45 | Polkadot (DOT) | $1.43B |
| #87 | Cosmos Hub (ATOM) | $647.51M |
| #117 | LayerZero (ZRO) | $356.33M |
| #196 | THORChain (RUNE) | $155.09M |
| #354 | Kusama (KSM) | $66.83M |