Kusama OpenGov Treasury

Ask KSM holders for funding in an on-chain referendum. The track you pick sets the cap, from 8.25 KSM up to 333,333 KSM.

Apply on official site

Time left to apply

UTC

ANY

RollingNo deadline

Applications are reviewed as they arrive. There is no deadline to plan around.

Grant size: Up to $1.8M; Largest grant $1,750,000
Paid in: KSM; Paid in one go
Funding model: Rolling; Apply any time. Reviewed as applications arrive.
Typical decision: 4 weeks; From submission to an answer

Checked Oct 1 against 12 sources. Confirm amounts and dates on wiki.polkadot.com before you apply.

About the program

Kusama is Polkadot's canary network, and its treasury is controlled by KSM holders through OpenGov. Anyone can submit a spending referendum, and it passes or fails by public on-chain vote. There is no foundation or committee in between.

You pick one of six treasury tracks based on the amount: Small Tipper (up to 8.25 KSM), Big Tipper (33.33 KSM), Small Spender (333.33 KSM), Medium Spender (3,333.33 KSM), Big Spender (33,333.33 KSM) or Treasurer (333,333.33 KSM). Decision periods are 7 days on the tipper tracks and 14 days on the others, followed by a confirmation period of up to 7 days.

Recent approved spends went to infrastructure and services, such as public RPC providers, system chain collators and the Subscan explorer, plus a few builder projects like Bloque. Several 2026 requests were rejected, so post a draft and gather feedback before you go on-chain. For ZK, proof-of-personhood or art projects, the Kusama Vision bounties are a separate route with their own application forms.

What they fund

Network infrastructure such as public RPC nodes and system chain collators
Explorers, indexers and other ecosystem services
Applications and payment products built on Kusama Asset Hub
Zero-knowledge and privacy projects, audits and security work

Who can apply

Check yourself0 of 4

Anyone with a Kusama account can submit a referendum
The request must fit under the cap of the track you choose
You place a decision deposit, from about 0.03 KSM (Small Tipper) to 33.33 KSM (Treasurer)
A public proposal with budget, timeline and deliverables is expected

Tick what applies to you. Saved on this device only.

How applying works

Discuss publicly
Post your draft on Subsquare, Polkassembly or the Polkadot forum's kusama tag and collect feedback.
Create the referendum
Create a preimage with the beneficiary, asset and amount, then submit it on the matching treasury track.
Place the deposit
Pay the track's decision deposit so the referendum can enter its decision period.
Token holders vote
KSM holders vote for up to 14 days (7 days on tipper tracks), followed by a confirmation period of up to 7 days.
Receive payouts
Approved spends are paid from the treasury, either at once or in scheduled installments.

Sources

Checked on Oct 1 against these pages. Programs change often, so confirm the details on wiki.polkadot.com before you apply.

About the program

What they fund

Who can apply

How applying works

Discuss publicly

Create the referendum

Place the deposit

Token holders vote

Receive payouts

Sources

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