Staking KSM means bonding it and nominating validators from your own account. Kusama staking now runs on Kusama Asset Hub, so that is the chain your wallet must be connected to. This guide covers direct nomination and nomination pools, with the LUX8 validator as the example.
Live figures fetched from lux8.net/data.json, the same feed used on the homepage. Commission and stake are live; the Kusama APY is an indicative figure, not a measurement. APY and commission can change.
You bond and nominate directly from your own Substrate account. Custody of your KSM never changes hands; LUX8 only operates the validator node that produces blocks when elected.
Hardware runs in enterprise-grade data centers with 24/7 monitoring and automated failover — the same operational standard as LUX8's other validators.
APY, commission, and total delegated stake are published live and used by this page — no stale marketing figures.
LUX8 also runs validators for Solana, NEAR, Monad, X1, and Pactus — see the full list on the homepage.
You bond KSM from your own account and choose the validators yourself. The protocol minimum to nominate is 0.1 KSM, but only nominators above the threshold of the last election are counted; at the latest election that threshold was about 0.116 KSM. Rewards follow whichever of your nominees are elected each era.
A pool bonds many small deposits together and nominates on everyone’s behalf. Joining takes about 0.0017 KSM. You give up choosing validators yourself; the pool operator picks them. Your KSM still stays under your account and is not sent to the operator.
Values read on-chain from Kusama Asset Hub on 3 October 2026: 13,173 nominators and 195 nomination pools. Minimums can change by governance.
Open Polkadot.js apps (or a Substrate wallet such as SubWallet, Talisman, or Nova Wallet) connected to Kusama Asset Hub, and bond the amount of KSM you want to stake.
Go to Nominate and search the validator list for the stash address Dom3VWEQu8JNePDhX3Ce581eVLK77rSdBbqDLtRb5ZWHV31, then select it as one of your nominees. You can nominate several validators; the wallet shows the current limit.
Sign the transaction. Nominations take effect at the next era boundary (Kusama eras run about 6 hours). Unbonding, if you later withdraw, takes 7 days.
Your KSM never leaves your wallet or moves to LUX8. Kusama staking works by nominating validators from your own account; the tokens stay bonded under your control the whole time. LUX8 only operates the validator node that gets elected and produces blocks.
Dom3VWEQu8JNePDhX3Ce581eVLK77rSdBbqDLtRb5ZWHV31. Look for this exact stash address when selecting validators to nominate.
Kusama uses Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS). Instead of delegating to a single validator, you bond KSM and then nominate several validators from a list; your stake backs whichever of your nominees get elected for the active set. Rewards depend on which nominees are elected, not just on which ones you picked.
Commission is shown live at the top of this page, sourced directly from lux8.net/data.json. It can change over time, so check the live value before nominating.
Kusama's unbonding period is 7 days: 28 eras of about 6 hours each (read on-chain from Kusama Asset Hub, 3 October 2026). so nominations you set can become active quickly, but withdrawing bonded funds always requires the full unbonding period first. This is a network-level rule and applies regardless of which validator you nominate.
On Kusama Asset Hub. Bonding, nominating, nomination pools and rewards all live there, so connect Polkadot.js apps or your wallet to Kusama Asset Hub, not to the Kusama relay chain, where the staking pages are now empty.
Yes, through a nomination pool. Joining a pool takes about 0.0017 KSM, while nominating directly needs at least 0.1 KSM and, to be counted in the election, about 0.116 KSM at the latest election (values read on-chain, 3 October 2026).
Open Polkadot.js apps (or a Substrate wallet such as SubWallet, Talisman, or Nova Wallet) connected to Kusama Asset Hub, bond the KSM you want to stake, go to Nominate, search for the LUX8 validator address Dom3VWEQu8JNePDhX3Ce581eVLK77rSdBbqDLtRb5ZWHV31, select it among your nominees, and confirm.