Kusama

Kusama (KSM)

GetBlock provides fast and reliable access to Kusama nodes via JSON-RPC and WebSocket APIs. Connect to the Kusama network without running your own infrastructure.

Kusama is a Substrate-based, Nominated-Proof-of-Stake relay chain — Polkadot's canary network — used to trial runtime upgrades and parachains under real economic conditions before they reach Polkadot. It is not an EVM chain: applications interact with it through the Substrate JSON-RPC, a set of namespaced module_method calls (for example chain_getBlock, state_getStorage, system_health). The native token is KSM, denominated in Planck (10^-12 KSM), and accounts use the SS58 address format with Kusama's prefix (2).

Interfaces

Interface

Transport

Use it for

JSON-RPC (HTTP)

Substrate JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP POST

Request/response queries and extrinsic submission

Substrate

The Substrate JSON-RPC method family

The same namespaced module_method calls (served over both HTTP and WebSocket)

WebSocket (WSS)

Substrate JSON-RPC 2.0 over WebSocket

The same methods, plus pub-sub subscriptions (new heads, storage changes, extrinsic status)

The JSON-RPC and WebSocket interfaces share the same Substrate method set; "Substrate" refers to that method family. HTTP is best for one-off request/response calls, while WebSocket keeps a persistent connection and is required for subscriptions.

Substrate JSON-RPC API — request/response, HTTP + WS
WebSocket Subscriptions — WS-only streams

Interface Endpoints

https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/

wss://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/

Replace <ACCESS-TOKEN> with the token from the GetBlock dashboard. Each interface is provisioned as its own endpoint; the WebSocket interface is required for subscriptions.

Network Information

Property

Value

Network Name

Kusama

Native Currency

KSM

Token Decimals

12 (Planck = 10^-12 KSM)

SS58 Format

Framework

Substrate (relay chain)

Consensus

Nominated Proof-of-Stake (BABE + GRANDPA)

Block Time

~6 seconds

Finality

Deterministic (GRANDPA)

Supported Networks

Network

JSON-RPC (HTTP)

WebSocket (WSS)

Substrate

Frankfurt, Germany

New York, USA

Singapore, Singapore

Mainnet

✅

❌

APIs

Substrate JSON-RPC API — request/response methods (System, Chain, State, Author, Payment, RPC), over HTTP and WebSocket
WebSocket Subscriptions — pub-sub streams (new heads, finalized heads, storage, extrinsic status)

Support

For technical support and questions:

Support: support@getblock.io