Only five auctions have taken place so far, with DeFi platform Acala winning the first and Ethereum-bridge Moonbeam winning the second. In November, Polkadot started auctioning parachain slots to blockchain project developers. That feature is critical because the future of blockchain technology is likely composed of many tailor-made chains, each with a specific use case, all capable of interacting. That means Polkadot is interoperable with other blockchains, making it possible to exchange data with platforms like Ethereum. Polkadot also supports bridges, a special type of parachain designed to communicate with external networks. The relay chain is tasked with orchestrating and securing various programmable side chains (called parachains). At its core is the relay chain, a blockchain that relies on the energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus. To that end, the Polkadot blockchain is architected uniquely. But unlike the internet of today, no corporation would be collecting user data in the background. Just like the internet of today, those dApps could be anything from financial services and productivity tools to video games and social media platforms. If successful, that technology would allow users to access secure web applications that exist beyond the control of any third party. Wood also co-founded the Web3 Foundation, a nonprofit group working to build a decentralized version of the internet, known as Web 3.0. He actually invented Solidity, the programming language used to build smart contracts on Ethereum. Polkadot was designed by Gavin Wood, co-founder and former chief technology officer of the Ethereum Foundation. So if you're looking for a cryptocurrency with moonshot potential, you're better off looking elsewhere.įor instance, Polkadot (CRYPTO:DOT) has an ambitious vision, and an experienced founder backs it. For both reasons, Ethereum still looks like a worthwhile investment, but the odds of a repeat performance are virtually nonexistent. Powered by that innovation, Ethereum's price has skyrocketed 881,500% since hitting a low in October 2015, and it's currently the largest DeFi ecosystem by a wide margin. In turn, that technology has evolved into decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) products.

Specifically, it introduced the concept of programmability, allowing developers to write self-executing code (smart contracts) to the blockchain. Since its debut in 2015, Ethereum has played a crucial role in advancing blockchain utility.

F secure 2015