True interoperability
Polkadot enables cross-blockchain transfers of any type of data or asset, not just tokens. Connecting to Polkadot gives you the ability to interoperate with a wide variety of blockchains in the Polkadot network.
Economic & transactional scalability
Polkadot provides unprecedented economic scalability by enabling a common set of validators to secure multiple blockchains. Polkadot provides transactional scalability by spreading transactions across multiple parallel blockchains.
Easy blockchain innovation
Create a custom blockchain in minutes using the Substrate framework. Connect your chain to Polkadot and get interoperability and security from day one. This ease of development helps Polkadot's network grow.
Forkless and future-proof
Polkadot can upgrade without hard forks to integrate new features or fix bugs. This capability enables Polkadot to easily adapt to changes and upgrade itself as better technologies become available.
Security for everyone
Polkadot's novel data availability and validity scheme allows chains to interact with each other in a meaningful way. Chains remain independent in their governance, but united in their security.
User-driven network governance
Polkadot has a sophisticated governance system where all stakeholders have a voice. Upgrades to the network are coordinated on-chain and enacted autonomously, ensuring that Polkadot’s development reflects the values of the community and avoids stagnation.
Learn more about Polkadot's technology
Powering the Polkadot network
The DOT token serves three distinct purposes: governance over the network, staking and bonding.
Governance
Polkadot token holders have complete control over the protocol. All privileges, which on other platforms are exclusive to miners, will be given to the Relay Chain participants (DOT holders), including managing exceptional events such as protocol upgrades and fixes.
Staking
Game theory incentivizes token holders to behave in honest ways. Good actors are rewarded by this mechanism whilst bad actors will lose their stake in the network. This ensures the network stays secure.
Bonding
New parachains are added by bonding tokens. Outdated or non-useful parachains are removed by removing bonded tokens. This is a form of proof of stake.
Learn more about the DOT token
An open-source protocol built for everyone
Polkadot is an open-source project founded by the Web3 Foundation.
Web3 Foundation has commissioned five teams and over 100 developers to build Polkadot, including:
Founded by some of the blockchain industry’s foremost builders
From the blog
NPoS
Nominating and Validator Selection on Polkadot
Nominating and validator selection are crucial parts of user interaction with Polkadot. This post presents background information on nominating and things to consider when selecting validators....
Polkadot
Polkadot
Polkadot and Kusama Staking Changes
With the increase in the number of accounts nominating on Polkadot and Kusama, we have seen some limitations of the current staking parameters. In order to prevent issues from occurring when these limits are reached, some restrictions are being added to the staking system on both networks....
- Polkadot
Kusama
The First Parachains Launch on Kusama
The first Kusama parachain slot auction has ended and the first parachains have successfully connected to the Kusama Relay Chain, delivering the last piece of core functionality outlined in the Polkadot whitepaper: purpose-built, interoperable parachains....
- Polkadot
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or learn about how to build on Polkadot.