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Polkadot (blockchain platform)

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Polkadot Network
Denominations
CodeDOT
Development
Original author(s)Gavin Wood
White paperhttps://github.com/polkadot-io/polkadot-white-paper/blob/5a3f902bda34fe309251edeb9b6382154fc26680/PolkaDotPaper.pdf
Implementation(s)polkadot, gossamer
Initial releaseMay 26, 2020
Code repositorygithub.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk
Development statusActive
Ledger
Timestamping schemeProof of stake
Website
Websitepolkadot.network

Polkadot is a decentralized, nominated proof-of-stake blockchain with smart contract functionality. The cryptocurrency native to the blockchain is the DOT.

It is designed to allow blockchains to exchange messages and perform transactions with each other without a trusted third-party. This allows for cross-chain transfers of data or assets, between different blockchains, and for decentralized applications (DApps) to be built using the Polkadot Network.

History

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Gavin Wood, founder of Polkadot.

Polkadot was created by the Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood,[1] Robert Habermeier and Peter Czaban.[2] The white paper for Polkadot was published by Wood in 2016.[2] The Polkadot SDK and other core technology components are being developed by Parity Technologies. The project raised over $144.3 million in its Initial coin offering in October 2017.[3] Another private sale in 2019 raised an additional $43 million.[2]

Parity Technologies launched a "canary" network based on Polkadot's code under the name Kusama in September 2019. Kusama is used to test new features early before they enter production on the Polkadot main network.[4]

Polkadot's network launched in May 2020.[5] The first blockchains, or parachains, building on top of Polkadot launched in December 2021.[4]

Concepts

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Polkadot relays.

Multi-chain ecosystem

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Polkadot is founded on the premise that there will be a multitude of blockchains in the future. It provides an open-source software development kit called Polkadot SDK that can be used by development teams to build their own blockchains.

These blockchains can run by themselves, referred to as "solochains", or can join the Polkadot ecosystem as "parachains".

Sovereignty, shared security and interoperability

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Polkadot offers three properties to parachains: sovereignty, shared security and interoperability.

Sovereignty refers to the idea that individual blockchains are sovereign in the way they conduct themselves. Blockchains define their own rules for how users can interact on them.

Shared security means that one chain provides cryptoeconomic security to other chains. The Polkadot network has a primary blockchain named the "relay chain", which provides security for parachains. This way, parachains enjoy high cryptoeconomic security, relieving them from the burden to source their own security through means that compromise their sovereignty.

Interoperability is created through a common standard of data exchange, called XCM.[6] Since parachains have shared security, bridging times between parachains are typically under a minute.

Coretime

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Polkadot introduces the concept of cores, leaning on the idea of Multi-core processors in computing. Polkadot provides a few hundred cores. Parachains can rent one or more cores to acquire compute resources to process their workload.[7]

Upcoming Developments

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Polkadot 2.0

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Polkadot 2.0 is a series of technical upgrades intended to improve flexibility of acquiring coretime for parachains. It allows parachains to scale up coretime consumption with their demand.[8] The upgrade consists of async backing, agile coretime, and elastic scaling.

Async Backing allows parachains to submit blocks to Polkadot without having to wait for inclusion of previous blocks. It enables parachains to divert from the previous 12 second block times and choose their own block production speed. Agile Coretime allows parachains to either acquire coretime in 4-week bulk or acquire it on-demand. Elastic Scaling allows parachains to use multiple cores in parallel.[8]

JAM

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JAM is an upcoming upgrade proposed in the "Graypaper" by Gavin Wood that focuses on supporting any kind of application, not just parachains, to run on Polkadot.[9] It would allow simple smart contracts, ZK-Rollups and other kinds of chains to run on Polkadot.[10]

Technical details

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Proof of stake

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Main articles: Proof of stake and Ouroboros (protocol)

The network uses a nominated proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.[11] The protocol used, Blind Assignment for Blockchain Extension (BABE), is derived from Ouroboros.[12]

Substrate

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Substrate is a framework for developing blockchains for the Polkadot network.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vigna, Paul (March 3, 2022). "How Bitcoin and a Crypto Exchange Became Part of Ukraine's War Effort". Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ a b c "About Polkadot, a platform for Web3". PolkadotAbout. October 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Butcher, Mike (October 17, 2017). "Polkadot passes the $140M mark for its fund-raise to link private and public blockchains". Techcrunch.
  4. ^ a b "What is Polkadot? | Messari". messari.io. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  5. ^ "Ethereum Blockchain Killer Goes By Unassuming Name of Polkadot". Bloomberg. October 17, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  6. ^ "Understanding XCM on Polkadot and How It Enables Cross-Chain Use Cases". Moonbeam. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  7. ^ "What Is Polkadot (DOT) Agile Coretime?". cryptodaily.co.uk. 2024-09-10.
  8. ^ a b "Polkadot 2.0: The Next Evolution in Multi-Chain Technology?". dailycoin.com. July 6, 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  9. ^ https://graypaper.com/graypaper.pdf
  10. ^ McCurdy, Decrypt / Will (2024-06-08). "What is JAM? Polkadot's Biggest Ever Upgrade Explained". Decrypt. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  11. ^ Piven, Ben (13 May 2021). "After Musk Bitcoin U-turn, which coins are more climate friendly?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  12. ^ "BABE | Research at Web3 Foundation". research.web3.foundation. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
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