## ما هو بولكادوت (DOT)؟

بولكادوت (Polkadot) هو [بروتوكول متعدد السلاسل مفتوح المصدر](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/a-deep-dive-into-polkadot) يربط ويؤمن شبكة من سلاسل الكتل المتخصصة، مما يسهل نقل أية بيانات أو أي نوع من الأصول عبر السلاسل، وليس الرموز المميزة فقط، ويسمح بالتالي بالتشغيل البيني بين سلاسل الكتل. فقد صُمِّمَت بولكادوت لتشكل البنية التحتية لإنترنت لامركزية، قائم على سلاسل الكتل، وهو ما يُعرف بـ Web3.

يُعرف بولكادوت بأنه بروتوكول فوقي من الطبقة-0؛ لأنه ينضوي على -ويحدد- نوعٍ من شبكة لسلاسل الكتل الطبقة-1 تسمى باراتشينز (السلاسل المتوازية). ولأنه بروتوكول فوقي، فهو قادرٌ على تحديث قاعدة التعليمات البرمجية الخاصة به، بشكل مستقل، وبلا انقسام للكتل عبر الحوكمة على السلسلة، وفقًا لما تمليه إرادة مجتمعها من مالكي عملات دوت (DOT).

حيث يوفر بولكادوت الأساس لقيام شبكة لا مركزية، يتحكم فيها مستخدموها، وتدعم تبسيط إنشاء تطبيقات ومؤسسات وخدمات جديدة.

يمكن لبروتوكول بولكادوت ربط سلاسل الكتل العامة والخاصة، والشبكات، ومصادر بيانات أوراكل، والتقنيات المستقبلية المفتوحة، الأمر الذي يمكِّنُ سلاسل الكتل المستقلة هذه من مشاركة المعلومات والمعاملات دون حاجة لترخيص من أية جهةٍ، من خلال سلسلة الترحيل بولكادوت (موضحة بمزيد من التفصيل أدناه).

يُستخدمُ رمز بولكادوت المميز DOT، في ثلاثة أغراضٍ واضحة: الرهن من أجل التشغيل والتأمين، وتسهيل حوكمة الشبكة، ورموز الربط المميزة؛ لربط سلاسل الكتل.

وتتكون بولكادوت من أربعة مكونات أساسية:

* سلسلة الترحيل: تعتبر "القلب النابض" لبولكادوت، حيث تساعد على خلق الإجماع، وقابلية التشغيل البيني، والأمن المشترك، عبر شبكات سلاسل الكتل المختلفة؛
* السلاسل المتوازية: سلاسل مستقلة يمكن أن تكون لها عملاتها الخاصة، ويتم تطويرها من أجل حالات استخدام محددة]؛](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-parachain-slot-auctions-and-crowdloans)
* الخيوط المتوازية: مشابهة للسلاسل المتوازية، لكنها تتميز بمرونة الربط، حيث تستند إلى النموذج الاقتصادي "الدفع حسب الاستخدام"؛
* الجسور: تُمكِّنَ السلاسل المتوازية، والخيوط المتوازية، من االاتصال والتواصل مع سلاسل الكتل الخارجية، مثل إيثريوم.

### من هم مؤسسو بولكادوت؟

تعد بولكادوت البروتوكول الرئيسي لـWeb3 فاونديشن (Web 3 Foundation)، وهي مؤسسة سويسرية مهمتها تسهيل إنشاء شبكة إنترنت لامركزية مفتوحة المصدر، بها جميع الوظائف، وسهلة الاستخدام.

مؤسسو بولكادوت هم الدكتور غافين وود، ووروبرت هابرماير، وبيتر تشابان.

وود، رئيس مؤسسة ويب3 فاونديشن، هو الأكثر شهرة بين الثلاثي بفضل تأثيره الكبير في هذا المجال، باعتباره أحد المؤسسين المشاركين لإيثريوم، ومؤسس شركة باريتي تكنولوجيز (Parity Technologies)، وصانع لغة ترميز العقود الذكية "سوليدتي"، كما يعودُ الفضلُ إليه، في ابتكار مصطلح Web3.

هابرماير هو زميل في كلية ثيل، وباحث ومطور في مجال التشفير. تشابان هو مدير التكنولوجيا السابق في مؤسسة Web3، ولديه خبرة كبيرة في مجال التكنولوجيا المالية عالية التخصص.

### ما الذي يميّز بولكادوت؟

بولكادوت هي شبكة مقطعة متعددة السلاسل، ما يعني أنه يمكن لها أن تعالج العديد من المعاملات على العديد من السلاسل بشكل متوازي ("سلاسل موازية")، وتعمل قوة المعالجة المتوازية هذه على تحسين قابليتها للتوسع.

كما أن سلاسل الكتل المخصصة سريعة وسهلة التطوير، بفضل استخدامها لإطار عمل Substrate، وصُمِّمَت سلاسل الكتل القائمة على إطار العمل هذا بطريقة تسهل اتصالها بشبكة بولكادوت. وتتميز الشبكة أيضا بقدر كبير من المرونة والقدرة على التكيف، مما يتيح تبادل المعلومات والوظائف بين المشاركين. إضافةً إلى ذلك، يمكن ترقية بولكادوت تلقائيًا، دون حاجة إلى انقسام في سلسلة الكتل لإضافة ميزات جديدة أو معالجة الخلل البرمجي.

تحتوي الشبكة على نظام حوكمة متطور للغاية يقوم عليه المستخدمون، حيث يتمتع جميع مالكي الرموز المميزة بها بحق التصويت على كيفية تشغيلها. ويمكن للفرق تخصيص حوكمة سلسلة كتلهم على بولكادوت، كلّ حسب حاجته وظروفه المتغيرة. يؤدي كل من المرشحون والمدققون والمجمعون، جمعيهم واجبات مختلفة؛ للمساعدة في تأمين الشبكة وصيانتها والقضاء على السلوك السيئ بها.

في نهاية عام 2021، أجرت بولكادوت بنجاح أولى [مزادات سلاسل الكتل الموازية](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/polkadot-parachain-auctions-go-live)، والتي جاءت بعد نظام مزاد الشمعة المفتوح، الذي يكون الفائز فيه هو صاحب أعلى عرض يُقدَّم في تلك اللحظة العشوائية، التي ينتهي فيها المزاد.

وخصصت بولكادوت المراكز الخمسة الأولى للفائزين بالمزاد التالية أسماؤهم: [أكالا](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/acala/)، و[مونبيم](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/moonbeam/)، و[أستار](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/astar/)، و[بارالل](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/parallel-finance/)، و[كلوفر](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/clover/). وستمتلك هذه المشاريع سلاسل كتلها الموازية الخاصة، لمدة 96 أسبوعًا بضمان مقدمي العطاءات بعملة دوت (DOT). وكما جرت العادة في بولكادوت، خضعت جميع المشاريع مسبقًا لاختبار قدرة على شبكتها الاختبارية [كوساما](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/kusama/).

#### صفحات ذات صلة:

تعلَّم المزيد عن [كوزموس (ATOM)](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/cosmos/).

تعلَّم المزيد عن [إيثريوم (ETH)](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/ethereum/).

تعلَّم المزيد عن [كاردانو (ADA)](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/cardano/).

هل تريد معرفة المزيد عن عالم العملات المشفرة؟ اقرأ هذا القسم التعليمي لدينا — [Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/).

هل تريد أن تكون على اطلاع دائم على أسعار بولكادوت لحظة بلحظة؟ حمِّل [تطبيق CoinMarketCap للهاتف](https://coinmarketcap.com/mobile/)!

هل تريد معرفة سعر بولكادوت مقابل أي عملة نقدية تقليدية؟ جرِّب [حاسبة سعر الصرف الخاصة بـ CoinMarketCap](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/).

لمعرفة المزيد عن هذا المشروع، ألق نظرة على هذا الشرح المفصَّل عن [بولكادوت](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/a-deep-dive-into-polkadot).

تعرف على المزيد عن السلاسل الموازية [Parachains](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-parachains-2) و[جسور سلاسل الكتل](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-blockchain-bridges) من Web3 فاونديشن.

### كم عدد رموز بولكادوت المميزة (DOT) المُتداولة؟

بعد [تغيير قيمة العملة](https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/redenomination) من خلال استفتاء أُجريَ على بولكادوت، زادت أرصدة مالكي دوت (DOT) بمقدار 100 ضعف، وأصبحت كل قطعة من عملة دوت (DOT) القديمة تعادل 100 قطعة جديدة، وهذا يعني أن الحد الأقصى للمعروض الأولي البالغ 10 ملايين دوت (DOT) قديمة في أغسطس 2020 أصبح مليار دوت (DOT) جديدة. وقد أُجريت عملية تغيير القيمة لمجرد تجنب استخدام الأعداد العشرية الصغيرة، وتيسير الحساب. ورغم زيادة جميع الأرصدة مائة ضعف، إلا أن ذلك لم يؤثر على توزيع الحصص النسبية، أو حيازات مالكي العملات.

أُجريَ أولُ طرحٍ أولي في بولكادوت (ICO) في أكتوبر 2017، وكان سعر بولكادوت فيه 0.29 دولار، عند عرض 2.24 مليون عملة للبيع. فيما عُقِدَ الطرحُ الأولي الثاني في يوليو 2020، وكان سعر بولكادوت فيه 1.25 دولار، وبيع فيه 342,080 رمز دوت (DOT) مميز.

### كيف تُؤمَّنُ شبكة بولكادوت؟

تَستخدمُ الشبكةُ آليةَ NPoS (إثبات الحصة بالترشيح) من خلال مجموعة من المدققين، والمرشحين، حيث يدعم المرشحون المدققين برموزهم المميزة، وتعمل هذه العملات المرهونة على تعظيم أمن السلسلة من خلال جعل إساءة التصرف أمرًا باهظ التكلفة.

فيما يشارك المدققون في إثبات الحصص على سلسلة الترحيل؛ ليصادقوا على المعاملات القادمة من مختلف السلاسل الموازية. ويعمل مخطط المصادقة الفريد هذا على تمكين سلاسل الكتل من التفاعل مع بعضها البعض بشكل آمن، بموجب نفس القواعد، دون المساس باستقلالها من حيث الحوكمة.

### أين يُمكن شراء بولكادوت (DOT)؟

أفضل منصات التداول لبولكادوت (DOT) حاليًا هي [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/exchanges/binance/)، و[Huobi Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/exchanges/huobi-global/)، و[OKEx](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/exchanges/okex/)، و[Coinbase](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/exchanges/coinbase-exchange/)، و[KCOCin](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/exchanges/kucoin/) وغيرها من المنصات. كما يمكنك العثور على مزيد من منصات التداول في [صفحة أسواق بولكادوت](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/polkadot-new/markets/) على CoinMarketCap.

ويمكنك الآن أيضًا شراء العملات المشفرة، مثل بيتكوين وإيثيريوم مباشرة عن طريق بطاقة الائتمان بالعملة النقدية التقليدية التي تختارها، لمعرفة كيفية عمل ذلك، [اقرأ المزيد هنا](https://www.binance.com/en/buy-sell-crypto).

لمتابعة أسعار بولكادوت مقابل أي عملة نقدية تقليدية لحظة بلحظة، يمكنك استخدام خاصية محول العملة من CoinMarkCap عبر [صفحة عملة بولكادوت](https://coinmarketcap.com/ar/currencies/polkadot-new/) مباشرةً.

وفيما يلي بعض المقالات الأخرى، التي قد تهمك:

* [ما هو صنبور العملات المشفرة؟](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-a-crypto-faucet)
* [ما هي بطاقات السحب المصرفية للعملات المشفرة؟](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-crypto-debit-cards)
* [ما هو Web 3.0؟](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-web-3-0)
* [ماذا تعني زراعة الغلال (Yield Farming)؟](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-yield-farming)
* [ما هو إقراض العملات المشفرة؟](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-crypto-lending)

If you haven't already, be sure to visit the Polkadot booth tomorrow for the last day of 

⚡️ Day 2 was electric  ⚡️ 

If you haven't already, be sure to visit the Polkadot booth tomorrow for the last day of #Consensus2024 and register for the closing party. 

As covered in Part 1, staking involves committing DOT to help secure the network. This post provides a step-by-step guide on how to stake.

🔹 Enter staking with a minimum of 1 DOT

🔹 Allows Nomination Pools and Direct Staking

Nomination Pools are a unique feature on Polkadot, providing a minimum native staking entry.

🔹 Pool your DOT with others, allowing the pool operator to select validators on your behalf. Set it and forget it.

🔹 Open your own pool with a minimum of 500 DOT.

🔹 DOT in pools can’t be used for governance.

🔹 Stake your DOT directly by selecting validators yourself.

🔹 Staked DOT can be used to participate in Polkadot’s governance

🔹 Requirements: minimum ~558 DOT as of today, can fluctuate over time.

Non-Custodial, Fully Open-Source Ecosystem Wallets

You can stake DOT directly from the Polkadot wallets in 2 simple steps.

🔹 Provides both Nomination Pools and Direct Staking

🔹 Seamlessly participate in Polkadot governance

🔹 Super Simple Staking: simplifies the decision-making process for users by automatically directing them based on the amount staked. If you stake less than the minimum active nomination value (which is currently 558 DOT), the system routes you to Nomination Pools.

🔹 Browser extension, mobile app, and web dashboard.

🔹 Allows liquid staking on Acala, Bifrost, and Interlay.

Fearless Wallet, PolkaWallet, and PolkaGate also provide staking.

Stake your DOT and allow your tokens to still be used elsewhere aka staying liquid. Get derivative tokens representing your percentage share of the DOT staking pool, which you can use in DeFi.

Remember to always DYOR, do your own research.

Secure your assets and then stake DOT for the future of Web3.

🔦✨ Spotlight on: Staking - Part 2

As covered in Part 1, staking involves committing DOT to help secure the network. This post provides a step-by-step guide on how to stake.

🌐 Where to stake DOT?

Native Staking on Polkadot Dashboard

🔹 Enter staking with a minimum of 1 DOT
🔹 Allows Nomination Pools and Direct Staking
🔹 Fully trustless and decentralized
🔹 Supported by Ledger.

🔄 Nomination Pools vs. Direct Staking

Nomination Pools are a unique feature on Polkadot, providing a minimum native staking entry.
🔹 Pool your DOT with others, allowing the pool operator to select validators on your behalf. Set it and forget it.
🔹 Start staking natively with 1 DOT.
🔹 Open your own pool with a minimum of 500 DOT.
🔹 DOT in pools can’t be used for governance.

Direct Staking:
🔹 Stake your DOT directly by selecting validators yourself.
🔹 Staked DOT can be used to participate in Polkadot’s governance
🔹 Requirements: minimum ~558 DOT as of today, can fluctuate over time.

🖥️ Ecosystem Wallets

Non-Custodial, Fully Open-Source Ecosystem Wallets
You can stake DOT directly from the Polkadot wallets in 2 simple steps.

☑️ Set up the wallet of your choice
☑️ Add DOT and start staking

@NovaWalletApp 

🔹 Provides both Nomination Pools and Direct Staking
🔹 Seamlessly participate in Polkadot governance
🔹 Mobile app and desktop version: @NovaSpektr.
🔹 Super Simple Staking: simplifies the decision-making process for users by automatically directing them based on the amount staked. If you stake less than the minimum active nomination value (which is currently 558 DOT), the system routes you to Nomination Pools.

🪬 @wearetalisman
🔹 Easy to use Nomination Pool
🔹 Browser extension and web dashboard
🔹 Works with Ledger

@subwalletapp 

🔹 Browser extension, mobile app, and web dashboard.
🔹 Works with Ledger.
🔹 Allows liquid staking on Acala, Bifrost, and Interlay.

Fearless Wallet, PolkaWallet, and PolkaGate also provide staking.

💧Liquid Staking - What is it?

Stake your DOT and allow your tokens to still be used elsewhere aka staying liquid. Get derivative tokens representing your percentage share of the DOT staking pool, which you can use in DeFi.

Platforms for Liquid Staking:

@Bifrost: vDOT
@AcalaNetwork: LDOT
@StellaSwap: stDOT

Remember to always DYOR, do your own research.

Secure your assets and then stake DOT for the future of Web3.

What Makes Bull Market Winners So Successful?

What Is an Application-Specific Blockchain (AppChain)?

Technical Analysis: LINK, HIVE, DOT, BAT, FLUX and APT (Mar. W5) 

Layer 0 Blockchains: Closing the Gaps Between Blockchains

Technical Analysis: LINK, HIVE, DOT, BAT, FLUX and APT (Mar. W1) 

P2P.org

Binance

Polkadot

Ledger

Trezor

Trust Wallet

Math Wallet

Fairy-wallet

Parity Signer

Safepal

Ownbit

Dharma

HyperPay

MetaMask

Binance Chain Wallet

Atomic wallet

Subsocial

Interlay

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Cardano.

The open-source project also aims to “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals” — helping to create a society that is more secure, transparent and fair.

Cardano was founded back in 2017, and named after the 16th century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano. The native ADA token takes its name from the 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer. The ADA token is designed to ensure that owners can participate in the operation of the network. Because of this, those who hold the cryptocurrency have the right to vote on any proposed changes to the software.

The team behind the layered blockchain say that there have already been some compelling use cases for its technology, which aims to allow decentralized apps and smart contracts to be developed with modularity.

In August 2021, Charles Hoskinson announced the launch of the Alonzo hard fork, causing Cardano price to surge, gaining 116% in the following month. On Sept. 12, 2021, the Cardano ‘Alonzo’ hard fork officially launched, bringing smart contract functionality to the blockchain. Over 100 smart contracts were deployed in the following 24 hours after the launch.

Cardano is used by agricultural companies to track fresh produce from field to fork, while other products built on the platform allow educational credentials to be stored in a tamper-proof way, and retailers to clamp down on counterfeit goods.

Cardano

Polygon (previously Matic Network) is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building multiple types of applications.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Polygon Matic.

Using Polygon, one can create optimistic rollup chains, ZK rollup chains, stand alone chains or any other kind of infra required by the developer.

Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system (aka Internet of Blockchains). This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.

The $MATIC token will continue to exist and will play an increasingly important role, securing the system and enabling governance.

Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a Layer 2 scaling solution backed by Binance and Coinbase. The project seeks to stimulate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by resolving the problems of scalability on many blockchains.

Polygon combines the Plasma Framework and the proof-of-stake blockchain architecture. The Plasma framework used by Polygon as proposed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, allows for the easy execution of scalable and autonomous smart contracts.

Nothing will change for the existing ecosystem built on the Plasma-POS chain. With Polygon, new features are being built around the existing proven technology to expand the ability to cater to diverse needs from the developer ecosystem. Polygon will continue to develop the core technology so that it can scale to a larger ecosystem.

Polygon boasts of up to 65,000 transactions per second on a single side chain, along with a respectable block confirmation time of less than two seconds. The framework also allows for the creation of globally available decentralized financial applications on a single foundational blockchain.

The Plasma framework gives Polygon the potential of housing an unlimited number of decentralized applications on their infrastructure without experiencing the normal drawbacks common on proof-of-work blockchains. So far, Polygon has attracted more than 50 DApps to its PoS-secured Ethereum sidechain.

MATIC, the native tokens of Polygon, is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain. The tokens are used for payment services on Polygon and as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Polygon ecosystem. The transaction fees on Polygon sidechains are also paid in MATIC tokens.

Polygon

Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that enables universally connected smart contracts. Through a decentralized oracle network, Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.

The Chainlink Network is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, node operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralized participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Chainlink.

Chainlink

Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. While the idea and initial work on the project began in 2017, Solana was officially launched in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Solana.

The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app (DApp) creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus combined with the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.

Because of the innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike. A significant focus for the Solana Foundation is to make decentralized finance accessible on a larger scale.

Solana

Avalanche is a layer one blockchain that functions as a platform for decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks. It is one of Ethereum’s rivals, aiming to unseat Ethereum as the most popular blockchain for smart contracts. It aims to do so by having a higher transaction output of up to 6,500 transactions per second while not compromising scalability.

This is made possible by Avalanche’s unique architecture. The Avalanche network consists of three individual blockchains: the X-Chain, C-Chain and P-Chain. Each chain has a distinct purpose, which is radically different from the approach Bitcoin and Ethereum use, namely having all nodes validate all transactions. Avalanche blockchains even use different consensus mechanisms based on their use cases.

After its mainnet launch in 2020, Avalanche has worked on developing its own ecosystem of DApps and DeFi. Different Ethereum-based projects such as SushiSwap and TrueUSD have integrated with Avalanche. Furthermore, the platform is constantly working on improving interoperability between its own ecosystem and Ethereum, like through the development of bridges.

Avalanche

Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts.

Ethereum was first described in a 2013 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project in an online public crowd sale in the summer of 2014. The project team managed to raise $18.3 million in Bitcoin, and Ethereum’s price in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) was $0.311, with over 60 million Ether sold. Taking Ethereum’s price now, this puts the return on investment (ROI) at an annualized rate of over 270%, essentially almost quadrupling your investment every year since the summer of 2014.

The Ethereum Foundation officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015, under the prototype codenamed “Frontier.” Since then, there has been several network updates — “Constantinople” on Feb. 28, 2019, “Istanbul” on Dec. 8, 2019, “Muir Glacier” on Jan. 2, 2020, “Berlin” on April 14, 2021, and most recently on Aug. 5, 2021, the “London” hard fork.

Ethereum’s own purported goal is to become a global platform for decentralized applications, allowing users from all over the world to write and run software that is resistant to censorship, downtime and fraud.

Ethereum

In a nutshell, Cosmos bills itself as a project that solves some of the “hardest problems” facing the blockchain industry. It aims to offer an antidote to “slow, expensive, unscalable and environmentally harmful” proof-of-work protocols, like those used by Bitcoin, by offering an ecosystem of connected blockchains.

The project’s other goals include making blockchain technology less complex and difficult for developers thanks to a modular framework that demystifies decentralized apps. Last but not least, an Interblockchain Communication protocol makes it easier for blockchain networks to communicate with each other — preventing fragmentation in the industry.

Cosmos’ origins can be dated back to 2014, when Tendermint, a core contributor to the network, was founded. In 2016, a white paper for Cosmos was published — and a token sale was held the following year. ATOM tokens are earned through a hybrid proof-of-stake algorithm, and they help to keep the Cosmos Hub, the project’s flagship blockchain, secure. This cryptocurrency also has a role in the network’s governance.

Cosmos

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency originally described in a 2008 whitepaper by a person, or group of people, using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. It was launched soon after, in January 2009.

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer online currency, meaning that all transactions happen directly between equal, independent network participants, without the need for any intermediary to permit or facilitate them. Bitcoin was created, according to Nakamoto’s own words, to allow “online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”

Some concepts for a similar type of a decentralized electronic currency precede BTC, but Bitcoin holds the distinction of being the first-ever cryptocurrency to come into actual use.

Bitcoin

Launched in 2021, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is an open-source, permissionless and decentralized technology. Benefits of the XRP Ledger include its low-cost ($0.0002 to transact), speed  (settling transactions in 3-5 seconds), scalability (1,500 transactions per second) and inherently green attributes (carbon-neutral and energy-efficient). The XRP Ledger also features the first decentralized exchange (DEX) and custom tokenization capabilities built into the protocol. Since 2012, the XRP Ledger has been operating reliably, having closed 70 million ledgers.

Launched in July 2017, Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally based on daily trading volume. Binance aims to bring cryptocurrency exchanges to the forefront of financial activity globally. The idea behind Binance’s name is to show this new paradigm in global finance — Binary Finance, or Binance.

Aside from being the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, Binance has launched a whole ecosystem of functionalities for its users. The Binance network includes the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Academy, Trust Wallet and Research projects, which all employ the powers of blockchain technology to bring new-age finance to the world. BNB is an integral part of the successful functioning of many of the Binance sub-projects.

Uniswap is a popular decentralized trading protocol, known for its role in facilitating automated trading of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.

An example of an automated market maker (AMM), Uniswap launched in November 2018, but has gained considerable popularity this year thanks to the DeFi phenomenon and associated surge in token trading.

Uniswap aims to keep token trading automated and completely open to anyone who holds tokens, while improving the efficiency of trading versus that on traditional exchanges.

Uniswap creates more efficiency by solving liquidity issues with automated solutions, avoiding the problems which plagued the first decentralized exchanges.

In September 2020, Uniswap went a step further by creating and awarding its own governance token, UNI, to past users of the protocol. This added both profitability potential and the ability for users to shape its future — an attractive aspect of decentralized entities.

Uniswap

VeChainThor (VET) is a versatile enterprise-grade L1 smart contract platform whose origins began in 2015. VeChain is known as a pioneer of real-world enterprise applications, and built a distributed platform powered by Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, NFC chips and blockchain to help various industries solve data-related challenges.

VeChain solves major blockchain adoption hurdles. The platform uses an intelligent two token model, VET and VTHO, separating the protocol's Store of Value and gas fee payment mechanisms, ensuring costs can be kept low and stable. Fee delegation allows smart contracts to pay gas fees on behalf of business users, and an advanced transaction model allows data to be packaged more efficiently while ensuring finality of data.

VeChain is focused on delivering a wave of incentive-based sustainability dApps through its new platform, VeBetterDAO, working closely with Boston Consulting Group to achieve adoption across enterprise and individual users, and helping  onboard the next billion users to Web3 over the coming decade.

From supply chains to sustainability, VeChain has continuously demonstrated its leading role as a driver of blockchain in business, and is dedicated to its role as a pioneer of driving real world adoption of blockchain technology.

VeChain

Decentraland (MANA) defines itself as a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to create, experience, and monetize content and applications.

In this virtual world, users purchase plots of land that they can later navigate, build upon and monetize.

Decentraland was launched following a $24 million initial coin offering (ICO) that was conducted in 2017. The virtual world launched its closed beta in 2019 and opened to the public in February 2020. Since then, users have created a wide range of experiences on their parcels of LAND, including interactive games, sprawling 3D scenes and a variety of other interactive experiences.

Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA and LAND. MANA is an ERC-20 token that must be burned to acquire non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. MANA tokens can also be used to pay for a range of avatars, wearables, names, and more on the Decentraland marketplace.

Decentraland (MANA) is a decentralized virtual world platform with software based on the Ethereum blockchain, where users create, test and monetize content. In short: users buy virtual plots of land as NFTs with MANA tokens on the Decentraland platform. Progress in the game depends only on players themselves, their efforts and their imagination.

The digital platform is completely owned by its users. Within the Decentraland metaverse, participants can explore the virtual world, purchase plots of land that can be monetized, create works of art, own non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and take part in a decentralized autonomous organization of the platform Decentraland DAO. Due to the DAO, the community influences the development vector of the project.

In addition, users have access to interactive applications, in-world payments and peer-to-peer communication. The 3D world resonates with many participants as Decentraland has many applications, both entertainment for gamers and business for investors.

Two types of tokens called MANA and LAND govern operations in Decentraland. They also allow users to interact with the platform.

MANA is the official currency of Decentraland. It’s an ERC-20 standard token that powers the Decentraland platform. With MANA, users can purchase plots of LAND, as well as pay for in-game items and services.

MANA gives its holders the right to vote in Decentraland DAO. MANA can be purchased on a cryptocurrency exchange or by selling collectibles on Decentraland Marketplace. The owner of tokens converts them to wrapped MANA, or wMANA, and then commits them to the DAO. One wMANA equals one vote. MANA can be exchanged for fiat currency and other digital assets.

As for LAND, it’s a non-fungible token (NFT) based on Ethereum (ETH). It is used to track ownership of land parcels aka digital real estate. Like MANA, LAND is part of the protocol and confers voting rights, but LAND does not need to be fixed in the DAO. One LAND is equal to two thousand votes.

Players choose what to do with their land. Owners store tokens in crypto wallets and buy necessities with MANA tokens on the Decentraland Marketplace. Moreover, on the marketplace, participants can manage or exchange LAND tokens (priced in MANA). Holders use the marketplace to transact or transfer in-game items. All transactions are conducted, regulated and registered via the Ethereum blockchain.

Decentraland combines an online gaming space and blockchain technology. All control over the rules is given to the players, and token holders vote on in-game and organizational policies. The original goal was to form a decentralized virtual reality, but in practice, Decentraland has turned into a massive NFT market.

A special role in Decentraland is assigned to NFTs, such as collectibles, virtual equipment and real estate (LAND). However, for new players who want to join the universe and seize NFTs, the entry barrier will be high.

The Decentraland protocol is built on three levels using Ethereum smart contracts. On the consensus layer, the ownership of LAND is tracked and managed. The land content layer displays the content of the Decentraland virtual world. Finally, on the real-time layer, participants interact with each other.

The platform was co-founded by two blockchain experts, Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano, in 2015. Officially it was launched a year later and became available only in February 2020, gradually turning from a 2D experiment into a full-fledged 3D world.

To sum up, Decentraland is a decentralized game and a 3D virtual reality platform where players own lands and create limitlessly. Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) software is at the core, and governance is in the hands of the community. Through the native token MANA, players participate in any proposals for managing and improving the ecosystem, the auction system, and the in-game policy.

Decentraland

NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain that was designed as a community-run cloud computing platform and that eliminates some of the limitations that have been bogging competing blockchains, such as low transaction speeds, low throughput and poor interoperability. This provides the ideal environment for DApps and creates a developer and user-friendly platform. For instance, NEAR uses human-readable account names, unlike the cryptographic wallet addresses common to Ethereum. NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems and has its own consensus mechanism called “Doomslug.”

NEAR Protocol is being built by the NEAR Collective, its community that is updating the initial code and releasing updates to the ecosystem. Its declared goal is to build a platform that is “secure enough to manage high value assets like money or identity and performant enough to make them useful for everyday people.”

Flux, a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and Mintbase, an NFT minting platform are examples of projects being built on NEAR Protocol.

NEAR Protocol

Dogecoin (DOGE) is based on the popular "doge" Internet meme and features a Shiba Inu on its logo. The open-source digital currency was created by Billy Markus from Portland, Oregon and Jackson Palmer from Sydney, Australia, and was forked from Litecoin in December 2013. Dogecoin's creators envisaged it as a fun, light-hearted cryptocurrency that would have greater appeal beyond the core Bitcoin audience, since it was based on a dog meme. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted several tweets on social media that Dogecoin is his favorite coin.

Dogecoin

Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient, all critical properties for effective applications in the real world. Algorand will support computations that require reliable performance guarantees to create new forms of trust.

The Algorand mainnet became live in June 2019, and was able to handle almost 1 million transactions per day as of December 2020. Algorand transaction metrics can be viewed here. Algorand initial coin offering (ICO) was held in June 2019, with the Algorand price of $0.24 per token.

Algorand

Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that was designed to provide fast, secure and low-cost payments by leveraging the unique properties of blockchain technology.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Litecoin.

The cryptocurrency was created based on the Bitcoin (BTC) protocol, but it differs in terms of the hashing algorithm used, hard cap, block transaction times and a few other factors. Litecoin has a block time of just 2.5 minutes and extremely low transaction fees, making it suitable for micro-transactions and point-of-sale payments.

Litecoin was released via an open-source client on GitHub on Oct. 7, 2011, and the Litecoin Network went live five days later on Oct. 13, 2011. Since then, it has exploded in both usage and acceptance among merchants and has counted among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization for most of its existence.

The cryptocurrency was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, who intended Litecoin to be a "lite version of Bitcoin," in that it features many of the same properties as Bitcoin—albeit lighter in weight.

Litecoin

Launched in 2011 by Pixowl, The Sandbox is a blockchain-based virtual world allowing users to create, build, buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game. By combining the powers of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the Sandbox creates a decentralized platform for a thriving gaming community.

According to the official whitepaper, the Sandbox platform’s main mission is to introduce blockchain technology in mainstream gaming successfully. The platform focuses on facilitating a creative “play-to-earn” model, which allows users to be both creators and gamers simultaneously. The Sandbox employs the powers of blockchain technology by introducing the SAND utility token, which facilitates transactions on the platform.

The Sandbox

Fantom is a directed acyclic graph (DAG) smart contract platform providing decentralized finance (DeFi) services to developers using its own bespoke consensus algorithm.

Together with its in-house token FTM, Fantom aims to solve problems associated with smart-contract platforms, specifically transaction speed, which developers say they have reduced to under two seconds.

The Fantom Foundation, which oversees the Fantom product offering, was originally created in 2018, with the launch of OPERA, Fantom’s mainnet, coming in December 2019.

Fantom is an open-source decentralized smart contract platform for DApps and digital assets that was created as an alternative to Ethereum. Fantom has the goal of overcoming the limitations of previous generation blockchains and balancing three components: scalability, security and decentralization. The project offers a set of tools to simplify the process of integrating existing DApps, as well as a detailed staking reward system and built-in DeFi instruments.

Fantom is a Layer-1 blockchain that uses a scratch-built consensus mechanism and independent consensus layer, Lachesis, to facilitate DeFi and related services on the basis of smart contracts. Lachesis provides security for other layers as well, including Opera, Fantom's EVM-compatible smart contract chain. The long-playing mission of the project is to “grant compatibility between all transaction bodies around the world.”

One of Fantom's key strengths is its performance and efficient transaction processing, namely thousands of transactions per second, where transactions are settled in 1-2 seconds, and the cost is fractions of a cent per transaction. As a result, Fantom provides higher scalability but at a lower cost.

The ecosystem is based on two main technologies: Lachesis protocol and Opera.

The Lachesis protocol is the core consensus layer that secures the Fantom network by providing both transaction speed and security.

Lachesis is an aBFT consensus engine that uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) algorithm. How it works: network data can be processed at different times, and the network filters the participants, allowing only one third, which are allocated due to erroneous or malicious behavior, without compromising network processes.

Fantom's Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism maintains the efficiency of the entire network, its design provides security at maximum speed. Fantom developers emphasize that the PoS mechanism is a leaderless phenomenon — there are no leaders of blocks and participants, and anyone can join (or leave) the network of nodes at a convenient moment.

The key qualities of Lachesis are: asynchronous, leaderless, Byzantine fault-tolerant, and near-instant finality.

As for Opera, it's an application development layer or Fantom's mainnet deployment platform, permissionless and open-source hosting DApps. Thanks to EVM integration and support for the Solidity programming language, Fantom has a full set of smart contract capabilities, which allows users to seamlessly interact with Ethereum platforms while maintaining the advantage of Fantom's transaction efficiency.

The Fantom Foundation concluded that removing block leaders improves network security, so Opera uses a PoS model and leaderless validators (validators do not determine which blocks are valid).

In addition to being a fast, secure and cheap payment platform that enables to make fast and secure payments at minimal cost, Fantom also features on-chain governance where users vote with FTM tokens (one token equals one vote). Of the features: users have the right to express the degree of agreement / disagreement on a scale from 0 to 4.

FTM is the native utility in-house PoS token of Fantom that powers the ecosystem and is applied for payments, network fees, staking, and governance. FTM forms the backbone of transactions, and allows fee collection and staking activities, along with the user rewards the latter represents.

Fantom

Stellar (XLM) is a peer-to-peer (P2P) decentralized network created in 2014 by The Stellar Development Foundation or Stellar.org. The network officially launched in 2015 with the purpose of connecting the world's financial systems and ensuring a protocol for payment providers and financial institutions. The platform is designed to move financial resources swiftly and reliably at minimal cost. Stellar links people, banks, payment processors and allows users to create, send and trade multiple types of crypto.

The basis of the network is its native digital currency - XLM or Lumens. XLM acts as an intermediate currency for operations and is also used to pay transaction fees. How it works: the protocol converts money in a few seconds, first into XLM, and then into the requested currency.

The Stellar payment protocol is based on distributed ledger technology -- an open-source development, community-owned and distributed by community. The crypto asset of the Stellar platform helps with cross-border transactions, overcoming the problems of high fees and slow procedures. XLM is more focused on assisting individuals transfer money than they are with institutions. Thus, Stellar offers access to financial systems, and people can send money at low cost and promptly around the world.

Moreover, Stellar serves as a decentralized exchange and marketplace, with a built-in order book that tracks ownership of Stellar assets. Platform users can manage buy/sell orders, as well as select and set their preferred assets in settlements. XLM is a built-in coin that helps reduce transaction fees.

The network maintains a high level of security.  XLM holders must have at least one token in order to remain active on the network. This nuance performs a global goal - the execution of network transactions efficiently and with minimal time costs. Plus, Lumens offers protection against flood attacks by making microtransactions too expensive for hackers with no chance of profit, which keeps Stellar Network safe from serious threats.

The target audience of Stellar is the inhabitants of developing countries, ordinary users who are provided access to the global economy through fast, simple and inexpensive transactions. Stellar Network makes extensive use of Lumens to produce live convection as well as to send cash in multiple currencies; currency is sent from one peer, and the recipient can receive the amount in another currency. This feature is beneficial when a transaction is made between currencies without widely traded pairs.

Support for multi-currency transactions is another competitive advantage of Stellar, and the ability for cross-currency transactions has only enhanced processes with foreign operations. Moreover, stable speed and low transaction costs are a privilege that users receive.

This functionality is powered by a development called Anchors (a bridge between different currencies and the network), which simplifies the exchange within the network and helps speed up the whole process.

In summary, the benefits of Stellar (XLM) include: