What is Polkadot used for?

Polkadot is a smart contract blockchain prioritizing decentralization, speed, and security in pursuit of Web3. Unlike Ethereum, Polkadot is designed as a web of standalone blockchains connected to a relay chain .

Ethereum 2.0 and Polkadot both use a sharded model where shard chains (“shards” in Ethereum 2.0 and “parachains/parathreads” in Polkadot) are secured by a main chain by linking shard state in the blocks of the main chains. The two protocols differ in a few main areas.

Polkadot, like many post-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies , is both a token that can be bought or sold via exchanges like Coinbase and a decentralized protocol.

Polkadot is an open source, blockchain platform and cryptocurrency that allows for distributed computing. The network uses a proof of stake consensus algorithm. The protocol used, Blind Assignment for Blockchain Extension (BABE), is derived from Ouroboros.

The main difference between Cardano and Polkadot is that Cardano has a better stake pool than Polkadot . A stake pool is a node that contains combined stakes of various investors. The supply of Cardano tokens is a lot more than the supply of Polkadots.

Polkadot is a protocol that connects blockchains — allowing value and data to be sent across previously incompatible networks (Bitcoin and Ethereum, for example). It’s also designed to be fast and scalable. The DOT token is used for staking and governance ; it can be bought or sold on Coinbase and other exchanges.