Polkadot

Note: Data in this section last updated August 26th, 2022

Polkadot was created by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood in 2016. The project is unique in that it is taking a different approach than many of its competitors – instead of primarily focusing on speed like many of the other “Ethereum Killers”, the project is betting on interoperability.

One of the key problems with the crypto landscape today is that smart contract platforms generally have little to no ability to communicate with one another. Polkadot’s goal is to connect all of them, creating an “internet of interoperable blockchains.”

To do this, it utilizes a “hub and spoke” structure, where different Layer 1 blockchains (called “parachains”) can share data via Polkadot’s central chain, known as the “Relay Chain”.

As you’ve probably noticed, this structure is similar in many ways to Ethereum 2.0’s beacon chain and shard architecture. The key difference is that while all chains in Ethereum 2.0 are subchains of Ethereum, Polkadot’s parachains are all independent Layer 1s. In Polkadot’s ideal world, this could even mean that Ethereum, Cardano, Avalanche, Solana, BSC, etc… all connect to and communicate through the DOT network. For this reason, the project often calls itself a “Layer 0” protocol.

Notable dApps in the Polkadot Ecosystem include:

Polkdadot Ecosystem Overview

Source: Coin98 Analytics

Source: Coin98 Analytics

Like Cardano, Polkadot got off to a slow start, preferring to focus on internal research and development before launching. That said, the project went live in December, and it is already showing 150 dapps on its website.

Polkadot has its share of critics and fans. Some of the more common praises and criticisms of the protocol are listed below:

It’s not clear to me that Polkadot is vastly superior or differentiated to ETH 2.0, and without any real traction, it’s tough to make a solid argument otherwise.