Polkadot News
There are several Polkadot Technical Fellowship referenda up for vote. The first is to incorporate the Encointer runtime in the Fellowship repository. https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/RFCs/pull/22
Another referendum, #27, would allow parachains to store a list of bootnodes for a parachain on the relay chain DHT, is also up for vote. https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/RFCs/pull/8
Interested in learning how one becomes a member of the Polkadot Fellowship, or becoming a member yourself? As always, check out the Polkadot Wiki: h
ttps://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/learn-polkadot-opengov#becoming-a-fellowship-member
Referendum 166, proposing to adjust the algorithm for determining the ideal staking rate, is currently passing with 99% in favor. Tweak Polkadot's Ideal Staking Rate | Polkassembly
Referendum 179, proposing to approve a Treasury Proposal for the Polkadot Blockchain Academy, is passing with 77% in favor. Polkadot Blockchain Academy - retroactive funding for wave 3 of the Academy held at UC Berkeley this Summer. | Polkassembly
Filippo Franchini, Technical Educator at W3F, has created a nice comic/description of asynchronous backing with a kitchen analogy. https://twitter.com/filippoweb3/status/1711301599656546593
For more information on asynchronous backing, you can read the Polkadot Wiki: Asynchronous Backing ยท Polkadot Wiki
Kusama News
Crust Shadow has won the most recent parachain lease auction. Kusama Auctions and Crowdloans | Parachains.info
Referendum 286, proposing to extend the lease of Encointer system parachain, is now up for vote. System Chain Slot Renewal for Encointer | Polkassembly