The ‘next-generation’ Polkadot network is aimed at attracting developers of decentralized applications (dapps). Its hallmark is the ability to create its own blockchain and interact with other networks, Bloomberg reports.
The Outlier Ventures report noted a 44% rise in Q2 in the number of dapps developers supporting Polkadot, the best among 11 competitors. In Bitcoin and Ethereum, their numbers declined.
“Polkadot stands out in terms of design as well as the size of its community,” said Messari researcher Wilson Uitiem.
According to PolkaProject, 267 projects have already been deployed on the Polkadot network — from stablecoins to social networks. At the start of September there were just over 200, and the network itself was launched in May.
Unlike Ethereum, where dapps run via smart contracts, Polkadot is a protocol for interconnecting disparate blockchains. Developers can decide what transaction fees to charge and how quickly to confirm transactions in the ledgers.
“We will see many innovative products that are difficult to deploy in a smart-contract environment. For example, gaming blockchains that guarantee there is no room for ‘cheaters’. Or blockchains inside consortia,” explained Gavin Wood, the project’s founder.
In Wood’s view, the unremarkable name Polkadot (translating to ‘peppered cloth’) most accurately reflects the essence of dapps — the absence of a single centre.
The Polkadot token sale took place in 2017. The project attracted $145m by selling 5m DOT. But funds for development proved insufficient, and in 2019 the project conducted a secondary token sale. According to WSJ, after that, the project’s market capitalisation rose to $1.2bn.
In August this year, after the denomination of DOT and additions to the listing on major exchanges, the Polkadot token entered the top 10 by assets in the crypto market. At the time of writing, DOT had moved to eighth place with a market cap of $3.76bn, according to CoinGecko.
“Polkadot’s market value is only a tenth of Ethereum’s. Our hypothesis is that Polkadot has a higher than 10% chance of becoming a competitor to Ethereum,” Dan Morehead, chief at Pantera Capital, said.
Earlier in Q1 2021, Interlay blockchain startup announced plans to launch a 1:1 Bitcoin-backed PolkaBTC token.
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