Polkadot (DOT)
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Chart: TradingView Lightweight Charts™ · Data: CoinMarketCap
Polkadot value in USD
Conversions using the latest available price. Excludes fees and the bid-ask spread.
| DOT amount | Value |
|---|---|
| 0.001 DOT | $0.00102 |
| 0.01 DOT | $0.0102 |
| 0.1 DOT | $0.1016 |
| 1 DOT | $1.02 |
| 10 DOT | $10.16 |
| Budget | Estimated amount of DOT |
|---|---|
| $100.00 | 98.44975363 DOT |
| $500.00 | 492.24876815 DOT |
| $1,000.00 | 984.49753629 DOT |
| $5,000.00 | 4,922.48768147 DOT |
| $10,000.00 | 9,844.97536295 DOT |
Polkadot in brief
Polkadot (DOT) is the native cryptocurrency of a multi-chain network designed by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood that lets different blockchains interoperate under shared security. DOT is used for staking, governance and coretime.
Official source: docs.polkadot.com
Safety note: download wallets and apps only from the official site, and beware of unsolicited "support" accounts and fake airdrop sites.
Where does Polkadot trade against the Turkish lira?
- Binance TR
- BtcTurk
- OKX TR
- Paribu
On this page 8
Polkadot is a multi-chain network that lets different blockchains work together while sharing a common security layer, and DOT is its native cryptocurrency. It was designed by Gavin Wood, an Ethereum co-founder and the creator of the Solidity programming language, developed with backing from the Web3 Foundation and Parity Technologies, and launched in May 2020. The goal is to let teams build specialised blockchains without having to bootstrap their own security from scratch.
How does Polkadot work?
At the heart of the network is the relay chain. It handles security, consensus and cross-chain communication, but it does not run applications itself. Applications run on independent blockchains called parachains that connect to the relay chain, each with its own token, fee model and rules.
Polkadot’s core idea is shared security: relay chain validators also verify the blocks of every connected parachain, so even a small project benefits from the security of the whole network. Parachains can send tokens and data to each other using a common message format called XCM, which makes Polkadot one of the pioneers of blockchain interoperability.
What is DOT used for?
- Staking: Polkadot uses nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS). DOT holders act as nominators, backing validators they trust and earning rewards. Nomination pools let you stake even small amounts. Unstaking takes 28 days.
- Governance: DOT holders vote on every change to the network (see below).
- Buying coretime: projects buy “coretime” with DOT to use the relay chain’s processing capacity.
- Fees: transaction fees on the relay chain and system chains are paid in DOT.
OpenGov: how decisions are made on Polkadot
Protocol upgrades, treasury spending and parameter changes on Polkadot are all decided by on-chain referendums. Under OpenGov, introduced in June 2023, any DOT holder can submit a proposal and vote. Holders who lock their tokens for longer get more voting weight. This makes Polkadot one of the most extensive real-world examples of a governance token in action.
Kusama, known as Polkadot’s “canary network”, runs the same technology in a faster, more experimental setting; new features are usually tried out on Kusama under real economic conditions before reaching Polkadot.
What is coretime?
Originally, projects became parachains by winning parachain slot auctions, locking up large amounts of DOT for leases of up to two years; the first auctions began in late 2021. In 2024, this model was replaced by Agile Coretime, which lets projects buy the processing capacity they need in shorter blocks of time using DOT. The change lowered the cost of entry for smaller teams.
DOT supply
DOT’s issuance policy is not hard-coded; it is set and can be changed through governance referendums. New DOT is created regularly for staking rewards and the treasury, so it has historically been an inflationary asset, and the community has voted in recent years on proposals to limit new issuance. In August 2020, DOT was redenominated so that one old DOT became 100 new DOT, which is worth remembering when comparing against very old price data.
What are the risks of Polkadot?
DOT is volatile. While its multi-chain architecture is technically ambitious, Polkadot competes for users and developers with Ethereum’s Layer 2 networks and fast monolithic chains such as Solana. The architecture’s complexity also raises the learning curve for newcomers. The 28-day unbonding period limits liquidity during sudden market moves. And because governance can keep changing the rules, it is a source of both flexibility and uncertainty.
How to read DOT market data
Depending on the issuance policy, the maximum supply field for DOT may be empty or subject to change; it helps to look at the annual issuance rate alongside the share of DOT that is staked. Because staked DOT is locked, not all of the circulating supply can be sold immediately.