Polkadot News
Aventus has been in the lead the entirety of the Ending Period so far, with only a few hours left in the current parachain lease auction. Polkadot/Substrate Portal
Note that Aventus has reached its cap and no more contributions can be made to that crowdloan. Polkadot/Substrate Portal
Referendum 72, proposing to upgrade the Polkadot runtime to v9270, is currently passing unanimously with one day left to vote. Polkassembly
The staking rate on Polkadot has increased slightly to 52.1%. Polkadot/Substrate Portal
You can see the questions and answers from my most recent Reddit AMA here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Polkadot/comments/x36yef/bill_laboon_ama_2_sept_1300_1400_utc_1year/
Kusama News
Snow Network has won the most recent parachain lease auction. Polkadot/Substrate Portal
A new parachain lease auction has begun, and BitCountry Pioneer is currently in the lead. Polkadot/Substrate Portal
Referendum 226, proposing to edit the Snow crowdloan parameters, did not pass. Note that the ICE/SNOW Network team asked people to vote against this. Polkassembly
Referendum 227, seeking to lift restrictions on nomination pools (thus allowing 256 pools and 1024 members/pool), is passing unanimously with six days left to vote. Polkassembly
The staking rate on Kusama has increased 0.7 percentage points over the last few days to 54.0%, while the ideal staking rate has decreased to 49.0%. Polkadot/Substrate Portal
To understand the mathematics of the staking rate, ideal staking rate, and how they impact staking rewards, see Staking ยท Polkadot Wiki