# Existential Deposit On most Substrate-based chains, an account is only active when it holds a minimum amount, currently set at **1 DOT** on Polkadot and **0.000333333 KSM** on Kusama. This minimum amount is called the Existential Deposit (ED). The ED exists so that accounts with very small balances or completely empty do not "bloat" the state of the blockchain. This limit allows the network to maintain high performance and reduce fees. **Things to note** - * Accounts that have never received a deposit are not discoverable on block explorers. * If you send funds [lower than the ED to an empty account](https://support.polkadot.network/en/support/solutions/articles/65000180045), the transaction will fail (nominators need to pay attention to this when collecting staking rewards, see below). * An account can be reactivated at any time. However, this will not bring back any previously burned funds. * To protect yourself from accidentally slipping below the ED amount and losing your funds, keep the option "transfer with account keep-alive checks" enabled when sending. * If you send all (or almost all) of your funds out of an account, which will result in the remaining balance going under the ED, the account will be reaped, and any remaining funds will be burned. Source - [Polkadot Wiki](https://support.polkadot.network/support/solutions/articles/65000168651-what-is-the-existential-deposit-) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.polkasafe.xyz/faqs/existential-deposit.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.