Polkadot is inevitably becoming one of the most significant projects in the crypto sphere, next to Ethereum. Dubbed the Ethereum killer, the project followed its roadmap step-by-step, and it is currently in the parachain rollout phase.
In other words, Polkadot has started to add projects to its network, and each project will occupy a slot for a parachain, an independent blockchain that uses Polkadot’s relay chain for functionality and security. Simply put, Polkadot has started to build its network of interoperable blockchains, and there are plenty of projects interested in becoming part of it.
This article will serve as a short overview of the history of Polkadot auctions and discuss the possible projects that will be fitting for the upcoming auctions.
Previous Auction Winners
The tenth parachain auction started recently and is officially underway. Once it is completed, it will wrap up the second round of auctions and welcome five other companies to the Polkadot network.
The first round was quite exciting, and the five companies that managed to reserve their spots were: Acala, Moonbeam, Astar, Parallel, and Clover.
All of these projects are quite exciting, contributing to Polkadot’s vision in their unique way. For instance, Moonbeam aims to make natively-interoperable blockchain apps. Acala will contribute from the financial perspective, and Astar will act as a Polkadot dApp hub with support for Ethereum. Parallel will focus on financial products, and Clover offers multi-chain indexing.
Efinity officially became the sixth project to get a parachain and the first one in the second round of auctions. It was followed by Composable Finance, Centrifuge, and HydraDX.
By the time you read this article, the tenth auction may already be over. However, that’s not even close to the end of parachain slot auctions.
What’s Next for Polkadot?
According to Polkadot, there will be a total of 100 parachains, and each will offer one slot for a project. The good news is that there are plenty of exciting projects that want to secure a slot and become part of the Polkadot family.
Perhaps one of the most innovative projects at the moment is called t3rn. It’s described as a smart contract hub whose ultimate goal is to achieve smart contract interoperability. On top of that, it serves as a smart contract repository, where developers can create contracts and get paid whenever someone uses that code. The project was actually funded by the Web3 Foundation grants program, meaning the big industry players recognized it as significant.
Polkadot will frequently release news about every new auction, so you can follow the latest winners and learn more about them.
Once this part of the roadmap is over, the developers behind Polkadot will focus on further upgrades of the platform, including introducing XCMP (Cross-Chain Message Passing) and parathreads. The latter will allow parachains to participate in Polkadot’s overall security without leasing a parachain slot.
Why Is It Beneficial for Projects to Win a Slot in Polkadot Auctions?
Polkadot’s network revolves around parachains, which are different blockchains all connected to Polkadot’s main chain — the relay chain. By occupying a parachain, a project will become interconnected and interoperable with all other projects that have a parachain. Polkadot’s goal is to become the main project behind Web 3.0 — the decentralized internet. It’s only logical for projects to position themselves as early adopters of Polkadot’s technology and harness its power.
These auctions work because projects simply need to stake DOT and buy a two-year lease to use a parachain. It’s like staking for ordinary users, except entire organizations stake DOT (collected via crowdfunding). The organization that offers the most money for a parachain gets to keep it.
There’s also a marketing perspective to it. Being part of Polkadot will make the selected projects more popular in the crypto and blockchain community. Consequently, it will bring more investors and users who are Polkadot enthusiasts.
Final Thoughts
Polkadot is very serious about reshaping the future of the internet and, consequently, the future of the world. It was founded and developed by a group of very talented individuals, among whom is Gavin Wood, who co-founded Ethereum.
The innovators behind Polkadot have a grand vision of Web3 and are currently considered pioneers in making cross-chain interoperability the reality. The auctions are an important step in the process, with the entire crypto world is now focused on the upcoming bidders and winners. Ten auctions have been successful, with 90 more to go.
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