What is a parachain: a review of the Polkadot ecosystem.
Parachain Info
In 2016, one of the developers of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, Professor Gavin Wood, began to create his own network, which was designed to speed up transactions, reduce fees, and at the same time to maintain maximum security. At the moment, Polkadot is not just a cryptocurrency, but a whole multi-chain ecosystem that provides a decentralized, secure and understandable basis for creating other cryptocurrency projects.
A common ecosystem of parachains has been created in the Polkadot network, the basis of which is a zero-level network called Relay Chain. What is a parachain? Basis parachain info is presented below:
Polkadot parachain is a blockchain, which is formed by project teams using a special open database of Substrate tools.Thanks to the presence of the Relay Chain layer, common standards of security and interaction with other blockchains are provided. Other networks, parachains, join this zero-level network. Parachains are sharded chains that run in parallel on the network. You can explain how the parachain works with the following simple example:
The customer needs to order pizza in one place (Blockchain A) and deliver it in another (Blockchain B). Both of these services work independently and in isolation from each other, without sharing information. Polkadot parachain is designed to solve this problem by building bridges between service A and B so that they can share data between themselves and you. In our example, it will look like this:
The chef, when making pizza, calculates the approximate time when it will be ready and notifies the courier.
The courier, having received a sign from the pizzeria, plans his route around the city more efficiently, based on the information received.
The client knows how long it will take to prepare and deliver, having received data from both the pizzeria and the courier, and is ready to visit the pizzeria.
When a parachain is created, it is attached to the main Relay Chain blockchain and embedded in a common mechanism created on Polkadot, which allows a connection between them.
According to Polkadot founder Gavin Wood, interoperability with Relay Chain is a key factor in the evolution of the network. Polkadot thus wants to solve the problem of blockchain interoperability by providing interworking at the protocol level. At the same time, the developers assure that the degree of security and confidentiality does not suffer, but only increases.
The parachain model will be the basis of Web 3.0 technology, solving the problem of the multiple needs of customers of various blockchains.
In order for projects to interact directly with Polkadot and become an independent part of it, auctions are held for parachains, in which the community relying on parachain info selects the most worthy applicants by blocking DOT tokens.
At first, the fight for the slot was in the Kusama experimental network. Kusama is the so-called canary network, which got its name from the workers who, before descending into the mine, checked the content of harmful substances by lowering a cage with a canary into it.
The network is designed to detect various errors that may occur in the main network of experimental networks of projects that subsequently compete for a slot in the Polkadot network.
The developers plan to support approximately one hundred slots for networks. To get the right to add to the network, the parachain needs to occupy one slot. Developers use auction analysis, through which everyone can bid using Kusama crypto tokens (KSM). The startup with the highest amount is declared the winner and integrated with Polkadot and Kusama.
Tokens of participating projects are blocked for the period of provision with slots, for 96 weeks. The duration of one auction is one week. Each auction has an initial stage, which begins after 1 day and 18 hours from the start of the auction and continues until the end of the first week of auction. The auction of the one-week final stage ends automatically, randomly and at an unknown time.
If the project wins, its DOT tokens are sent to a specialized storage, where they are stored throughout the entire lease period, after which the tokens are returned to the original owners. Tokens are only frozen for the duration of the auction and slot rental in case of victory, and do not disappear altogether.
The creators of parachains have two ways to get a slot: purchase a slot with their own funds or launch a crowd loan (a kind of crowdfunding, it is also a regular fundraising). Considering that buying a slot is a very expensive process, most often developers attract user funds in exchange for tokens of their projects.
How to Become a Member of the Polkadot Auction
To participate, you must pay a minimum stake of 5 DOT when voting. The upper limit of the rate is not set. Development teams have the right to raise funding from users in the following ways:
Through the network's official mobile wallet – Polkawallet;
Via Polkadot JS Portal;
on the exchanges;
through their platforms.
The easiest and most reliable way is to raise funds through the Polkadot JS Portal. This official platform already has a parachain tab.
In order to become a member, you need to purchase DOT tokens, for example, on the Binance exchange, and transfer digital cash to the official wallet of the Polkadot network.
