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Summary
- Polkadot uses a proof-of-stake consensus, which is considerably more environmentally friendly than a proof-of-work consensus.
- Polkadot – whose native token is called DOT - has a market cap of around twenty billion US dollars with a current circulating supply of just under a billion tokens.
- Polkadot is a sharded multichain network, which means it can process many transactions on several chains in parallel.
With over four thousand cryptocurrencies currently available in the crypto space, separating the wheat from the chaff can be difficult.
One of the big pulling points for cryptocurrencies is their development team.
This is where Polkadot stands out.
Gavin Wood earned his spurs as cofounder of Ethereum – the second-largest cryptocurrency. In addition, Wood’s founding of Polkadot has helped catapult it to one of the most valuable digital currencies.
Source: © Volmon | Megapixl.com
Polkadot uses a proof-of-stake consensus, which is considerably more environmentally friendly than proof-of-work consensus.
The difference between the two is that with the proof-of-work consensus, complex algorithms need to be solved for their coins to be mined.
This process requires a ton of computing power, and it, therefore, requires the use of excessive electricity.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency – Bitcoin, which uses a proof-of-work consensus – came under fire earlier this year for its excessive use of electricity to mine its coins.
A study from the University of Cambridge found that the energy consumed by Bitcoin miners annually was equal to that of some small countries.
Since then, investors have been more attracted to proof-of-stake crypto platforms as they are much more environmentally friendly.
Polkadot – whose native token is called DOT - has a market cap of ~US$20 billion with a current circulating supply of just under a billion tokens (as at 10 August 2021).
The DOT token serves two particular purposes: offering network governance as well as operations and creating parachains by bonding.
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The Polkadot Developers
Polkadot was founded by the aforementioned Dr. Gavin Wood as well as Robert Habermeier and Peter Czaban.
Of this trio, Wood is the most well known in the crypto community, having founded Parity Technologies and creating the smart contract coding language Solidity and being one of Ethereum’s cofounders.
Habermeier is a cryptography and blockchain developer, while Czaban is the Technology Director at Web3 Foundation.
Source: © Foxm131 | Megapixl.com
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How Polkadot Stands Out
A sharded multichain network, Polkadot, can manage multiple transactions on numerous chains in parallel. This parallel processing power improves scalability.
The network is very adaptable and highly flexible, permitting sharing information between users - similar to apps on a smartphone. While other networks require a fork crypto to allow for upgrades, Polkadot can be automatically upgraded without the need for a fork.
Additionally, the Polkadot platform provides increased security through a highly sophisticated user-driven governance system.
Polkadot trades on all the leading exchanges, including Binance.
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