2024 Crypto Bullrun: Why Polkadot DOT is the Ultimate Opportunity

Polkadot. With the possible exception of Cardano, it is the quietest project in crypto’s top 15. It’s the quietest, least hyped project of all the crypto blue chips.

But the real truth is something VERY different. Polkadot has one of crypto’s biggest and best ecosystems, Also, it has great technology that’s easy to use for users and super easy for developers to create blockchain projects. Then, it’s token with a ton of network and ecosystem utility.  So, we are super bullish on Polkadot. And we think some of you have been sleeping on it. Well sleep no more. It’s time to wake up. Today, the bullish case for Polkadot.

What’s OLD with Polkadot?

Before we get into what’s new with Polkadot, let’s talk about what’s old with Polkadot. If you are a fan, or you’ve been watching the project or watching Polkadot Twitter a while, then you’ve noticed some things. Like: 

  1. With the possible exception of Cardano, DOT has the reputation as the slowest-moving big project in crypto. And boy does this frustrate a lot of DOT users.
  2. Here for the tech. You hear this a lot too. And we believe it. Polkadot has very good tech going for it. Substrate looks like it’s both safer and scales easier while maintaining security than Ethereum does. And the smart contract tech seems more secure, too. And this is why combined with #1 above, people are so frustrated.

What they see, and the Polkadot lovers at Altcoin Buzz agree, is junky projects with crappier tech pushing products out the door much faster than DOT is.

And faster isn’t always better. You know this and so do I. But speed, momentum, and the ability to build communities and customers that you get from having a working product out there all matter a lot in crypto. And Polkadot is not working as well as it could in this area.

What’s New with Polkadot?

Many key DOT developers and app builders within the ecosystem are recognizing these issues and starting to do something about it. Here are a couple of the big things happening to help projects ship features faster and increase adoption.

  • Native USDC

You can get native USDC on the Polkadot Asset Hub. As of this past September. And here’s the best part. Using Polkadot’s XCM or cross-chain messaging, you can easily move USDC from the Asset Hub to any parachain for payments.

This one thing alone is increasing Polkadot adoption in a big way. There’s already $4.5 million on DOT chains and that number will grow fast from here.

  • Other Tech Improvements

In 2023, Polkadot also added sharding and tech to allow validators to process multiple parachain blocks at the same time. All these things are keeping security as the high priority it is while improving scalability, speed, and throughput in the system.

The Big Bullish Case for Polkadot

Now all these technical improvements and greater stablecoin access all help. But there is also a bigger bullish case for Polkadot also happening:

  • Parachains

If there’s one thing we don’t like about Cosmos, it’s that a chain can come online without adding any value to the ATOM token.

With DOT, this does NOT happen. Parachains are a key feature of DOT’s utility. And they are only getting better, more successful, and more of them are coming online. Every single one gets a crowdloan of DOT, holds DOT long-term, and is a strong, strong hand.

But you knew that already. What’s important is the number of parachains keeps growing. It’s up to 196 projects with ⅔ of them on sister/testnet chain Kusama. The ecosystem is growing rapidly and it’s getting deeper with talent too.

  • Coretime Lease

OK we don’t want to get too technical here but this is an important advancement.

Coretime is the amount of Polkadot main chain (Relay Chain) space a parachain gets. Instead of a fixed amount of space, growing parachains can scale faster by buying or leasing more Coretime space to process transactions faster. Plus, as a valuable commodity on its own, there is a marketplace to trade Coretime between parachains for greater efficiency.

And of course, all of that is payable in DOT.

  • SnowBridge

Launching sometime in Q1, the Snowbridge will allow trustless bridging between DOT and ETH ecosystems. A big deal. It’s on ETH Sepolia and DOT Rococo testnets now.

This helps with both the interoperability mission and the practical reality that more people use EVM than other networks right now

Top DOT Ecosystem Projects

These 3 big advances help in the bullish case for Polkadot. And in case you were not aware, there are already some HUGE projects in the ecosystem. Some could grow bigger than DOT’s value now and one or two could surpass DOT itself.

Even if that happens, due to the parachains, crowdloans, and need to hold DOT to pay for Relay Chain activity, parachain growth equals DOT growth too. Here are some of the top projects in crypto narratives that are strong and growing:

  • RWA: Centrifuge. Many believe this is the top RWA project in ALL crypto.
  • EVM Support: Astar Network. Best parachain for EVM
  • Liquid staking: Bifrost. Cross-chain staking done here
  • Energy Sector apps: Energy Web X
  • For DAO Management: InvArch Network
  • Decentralized Fundraising: Polimec
  • DePIN: Phala Network

As you can see, the ecosystem covers A LOT of ground. Whatever your favorite narrative is including games, AI, oracles and other infrastructure or privacy, there is a Polkadot ecosystem project for you.

By the way, on privacy, one of our favorite projects, Aleph Zero, is a DOT ecosystem project too. There are so many that you can find one that fits your narrative and risk level. Polkadot is at the stage now where it is so large and growing so fast that network effects are kicking in.

Just as we’ve seen in only a few other ecosystems like Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, Polygon, ATOM, and maybe Solana, Polkadot is back. They are reclaiming their spot as a leading crypto project and ecosystem. And now it is better than ever to invest in it or build a project there.

Disclaimer

The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment, and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to the accepted levels of risk tolerance of the writer/reviewers and their risk tolerance may be different than yours. We are not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments so please do your due diligence. Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.

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