Interested in winning KSM or DOT while learning about Kusama and Polkadot? Check out Hello World! by Polkadot - https://gitcoin.co/hackathon/polkadot
Jaco (developer of Polkadot-JS) has been approved as the curator for the first bounty on Kusama, to develop a better interface for the bounty program itself. https://kusama.polkassembly.io/motion/228
In case you're wondering about all the references to Kappa Sigma Mu, you can get Kusama for getting proof of ink (i.e. a tattoo). Article from earlier this year: https://decrypt.co/20457/this-crypto-fraternity-will-pay-you-3000-to-get-a-tattoo
If you are interested in joining, the steps are here: https://guide.kusama.network/docs/en/maintain-guides-society-kusama
Some very early voters on Kusama may have a small portion of their KSM locked in their accounts. This problem is being fixed; see https://github.com/paritytech/substrate/issues/7223
Motion 229 (replicating referendum #88, to increase the number of validators to 700, incrementing by one each era) has passed. https://kusama.polkassembly.io/motion/229
On that note, Referendum 90 has passed. The maximum number of validators in the active set will increase by 1 each era for 100 eras, up to a max of 700 (currently 607). https://kusama.polkassembly.io/referendum/90
Motion 230 (Treasury proposal providing funding to Polkascan for the next three months) has passed. https://kusama.polkassembly.io/motion/230
The staking rate has dropped to 46% on Kusama. This is expected and due to the migration of some W3F accounts to a more secure setup (funds must be unbonded before being transferred).
Tips and Tricks
Do you want to link your account to a real-world identity on-chain? This can be useful for governance, Treasury proposals, or running a validator, among other reasons. See https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/learn-identity
Want to play around with NFTs on Kusama? Check out RMRK by Bruno Skvorc - https://rmrk.app/
Write your own applications that interact with Kusama and Polkadot. There are a variety of built-in sample JavaScript programs in Polkadot-JS that show you how to listen to balance changes, get network parameters and more that you can build on. https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Frpc.polkadot.io#/js
Interested in discussing Polkadot or Kusama more with others? Check out the Polkadot Wiki's Community page to see official accounts and channels. https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/community
Keep up to date with the news on Kusama with Twitter, Telegram or Element.
