What is @Polkadot?

Thanks to Crypto boomer (twitter account ) To understand what @Polkadot is, you need to know what is a blockchain platform. Examples of these are platforms such as @ethereum @solana @Cardano . These are blockchains which allow developers to build dApps - decentralised applications, ontop of them. Example being @ethereum - $ETH devs can build applications on it using smart contracts in solidity. In $SOL devs build apps on the blockchain using Rust/C/C++. These apps could be something like @MetaMask , a @Uniswap clone or a defi staking platform. @Polkadot is a bit different. This can be highlighted best with some of things people often say when they first look at it. "I don't get it why will people pay millions to run on Polkadot when the others are free!?" "Why are there only 100 or so parachains?!" This stems from a misunderstanding. Rather than being a blockchain upon which apps are built, $DOT is a means by which blockchains running apps, can interact. If blockchains such as $ETH $SOL $GLMR are huge cities (running apps), DOT is a highway which interconnects the cities. This is why theres only a few hundred parachains, because with bridges also, thats likely more than enough. Why will blockchains pay? Because they want their chain connected on the biggest highways and to interact with other chains. When people say "X is building on $DOT ", its not entirely correct. One of the reasons for the misunderstanding is actually one of the platforms biggest successes. Thinking up $DOT is great but how do you actually get blockchains to implement it so that their chain works with it? (In our city example it would be like the city needing to build a new subway system terminal). @ParityTech (the developers of @Polkadot ) did something smart, They created a @substrate_io . A 'toolkit' that lets developers make new blockchains very quickly (which would work with @Polkadot 'out of the box'). Using the city example again, its like a "city building starter kit" (which includes the Polkadot subway system terminal in it) Those using @substrate_io would automatically be @Polkadot compatible. So when someone says "X is building on $DOT ", what they usually mean is "X is building using Substrate, and intends to connect their chain as a DOT parachain". All the project so far which have connected as parachains have been substrate based projects, but technically any chain could adhere to the protocol and connect. So you can think of it as a highway ( @Polkadot ), and a city building kit (substrate). The mass adoption, the apps, the defi platforms, all of that occurs within these chains running on it. (That degen defi app youre building doesn't need millions to get a parachain slot. You'll build it and run it one of the 100 chains connected to Polkadot ) This is why there is a great deal of hype around $DOT , Because the auctions will be so competitive. It's going to end up with the top most adopted blockchains, all competing to get/renew their slot to be on the "highway". This is also why holding DOT does not "conflict" with holding tokens like $ETH or $SOL . They are not the same thing but actually complimentary. Giant cities of defi adoption, offering different dev/user environments, interconnected by highways like @Polkadot + @cosmos A common question is "Well how does Kusama $KSM fit into this?" When projects like blockchain platforms deploy new features/code they face a problem. You want your platform to be stable/secure, but at the same time you need to update & innovate. If you don't develop and innovate in tech, you get left behind. The problem however is that when you deploy new features/code you bring in the risk by potentially introducing unforeseeable bugs/issues/consequences. Different projects deal with this in different ways. Some like $ETH innovate less frequently, have extensive levels of testing (as can be seen with the $ETH 2.0 upgrades), others like $SOL update more frequently but label themselves as a "beta mainnet" to make it clear. Polkadot takes a different approach: It uses a canary network model. Kusama is Polkadots canary network (hence the bird). The @Polkadot code is deployed on $KSM first and if all is well, deploys later to $DOT. Some people think that this means KSM is a testnet. It isn't. Code is tested prior to deployment and the apps deploying on it have real world value. By doing this it helps ensure that $DOT is as safe/secure/stable as possible with $KSM running the code first as a kind of real world test. By taking this canary network approach it allows the project to experiment and innovate more using KSM (albeit with increased risk), but without compromising DOTs stability/security Many of the projects launching on $DOT have taken this canary approach also. Launching a canary instance of their L1 parachain on $KSM to run their code first, with it later pushing to their L1 parachain on $DOT once its demonstrated its stability/security Nobody knows now what the canary ecosystem itself will yet evolve into (which is in the hands of the community and projects). We are too early into this to yet know.. All of this is separate to the issue of what is a good investment on either, but it is important to understand regardless.