Polkadot is a blockchain platform that aims to achieve scalability by making it possible for specialized blockchains called parachains to interoperate. Different types of blockchains, whether they are permissioned or permissionless, can be connected to each other. Polkadot was redenominated on August 21, 2020 after a redenomination proposal. The change did not affect the actual supply of DOT, but changed the number of Planck's (the smallest unit of DOT) that constitute 1 DOT. Polkadot futures traded on the mainnet before mainnet DOT tokens started trading on exchanges
What is DOT?
Polkadot is a blockchain platform that aims to achieve scalability by making it possible for specialized blockchains called parachains to interoperate. Different types of blockchains, whether they are permissioned or permissionless, can be connected to each other. Polkadot was redenominated on August 21, 2020 after a redenomination proposal. The change did not affect the actual supply of DOT, but changed the number of Planck's (the smallest unit of DOT) that constitute 1 DOT. Polkadot futures traded on the mainnet before mainnet DOT tokens started trading on exchanges What is Polkadot? Polkadot is a blockchain platform that aims to achieve scalability by making it possible for specialized blockchains called parachains to interoperate.
The Story Behind Polkadot
One of the most interesting aspects of Polkadot is the recent collaboration between Ethereum and Decentral, the creator of Polkadot. On the blockchain infrastructures portal 3sigma.io, Decentral co-founder Kyle Samani described the collaboration as a “dramatic breakthrough” and “an amazing new technology in the creation of a scalable blockchain architecture”. This collaboration and the Polkadot project could prove extremely beneficial for Ethereum as a whole, especially as the protocol is currently having scaling issues. The project has also brought together a number of industry leaders and financial service specialists to develop the new platform.
How Does Polkadot Work?
Imagine you are an entrepreneur developing a product that is supposed to address a great need. Like many entrepreneurs, you're trying to raise capital for your business. Now, imagine you want to raise this money from a variety of investors. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you probably make this pitch in different ways, depending on who you're talking to. You could turn to venture capitalists. Most VCs are comfortable with established business models and usually only invest in established companies, so you probably have trouble getting an appointment to meet with them. In addition, if you are seeking an angel investor, they may be cautious about investing in an unproven idea.
Who Is Behind Polkadot?
Polkadot is run by a Swiss foundation (established on January 2, 2018) that consists of legal entities based in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The management team was co-chaired by Geoff Miskimins, co-founder and CEO of Quasar, and Romain Dalle-Vigneault, Head of Commercialization at ConsenSys Switzerland. Other Polkadot co-founders include Thomas Kutsch, co-founder of Quasar; Andreas Burckardt, Co-Founder of ConsenSys Switzerland; Fabio Gonzalez, Co-Founder of Quasar; Lorenzo Iorio, Managing Partner at Agape Venture Partners; Maxim Boyko, Head of the Blockchain Lab at University College London; and Serguei Beloussov, Co-founder of Quasar and Polkadot What is the Governance Model? Polkadot is a distributed organization with an elected, general council.
The Future of Polkadot
This new service that makes it possible for cryptocurrencies to interoperate will allow blockchains like Ethereum, Lisk and ZCash to form into more complex smart contract networks that have specific purposes, and which can share code and their databases. Polkadot already supports Ethereum, Poloniex and Bitso. The ability to interoperate means that people could start developing applications that can send Ethereum and Polkadot’s ChainZ tokens from one blockchain to the other with no dependencies and exchange using Dash, Bitcoin or ZCash in a seamless way.
Conclusion
DOT provides decentralized exchange, storage, and publishing on the blockchain. It requires a multitude of blockchain layers to ensure the security of transactions, and thus decentralization. DOT is not the Ethereum cryptocurrency, but many of the features are similar. If you found this content to be helpful or informative, please do your own research and try Polkadot yourself.