Csaint02

Beginner's Guide

What is up my friends! Hello and welcome from WagMedia. We are a group of Polkadot and Kusama (Dotsama) community members who search social media for significant updates in the DotSama ecosystem. Along the way, we have fostered growth of various content creators to produce video, articles, hot-to guides and more. Each of us have unique experiences on how we got to Polkadot and the lessons we learned along the way. This guide is intended to impart some of that knowledge to you. I hope you can find this helpful. This guide will continue to develop over time, and be tagged at the end of the WagMedia Weekly Newsletter each week with a few added updates. Questions, concerns, want a guide on something else? Leave a comment below and we'll get to work. If you understand Polkadot and Kusama already, scroll down to the guide heading to find what you're looking for.

Understand that most of what is described below also corresponds to Kusama, but there a few caviats. Essentially, Kusama is the research and development arm of Polkadot that has grown into a culture and completely unique blockchain in its own right. Most projects will launch on Kusama and release a fully developed vision on Polkadot where liquidity is higher and VC is focused.

An Overview of Polkadot

For those who enjoy videos for learning here are a few options. For a quick overview, watch this 5 minute video on understanding blockchain and specifically, Polkadot's approach. For a deep dive, watch this detailed hour long video to truly get a feel for Polkadot and Kusama. CoinBureau has an informative overview of Polkadot and its parachains. Whiteboard Crypto also does a nice job of laying out the details as well.

I'll break it down quickly and concisely; Polkadot is an energy efficient nominated Proof-of-Stake blockchain under development to be the bedrock of the new frontier of digital interaction - Web3. Proof-of-Stake (PoS) refers to a specific type of consensus mechanism which secures the network and lays the framework for how the blockchain continues to grow. Bitcoin utilizes Proof-of-Work which is a beast to understand in itself, but from an everyday person's perspective, the main thing to understand is with Polkadot you can stake your DOT with a validator and be rewarded for helping secure the system. Many blockchains are built with this type of consenus mechanisms, but what makes Polkadot Different?

Layer 0 Blockchain

TLDR Layer 0 is a term that describes an underlying framework for other Layer 1 blockchains to be interconnected and benefit from shared communication, security and speed

Polkadot is a Layer 0 blockchain. Yet another term! This one is very important to understand and something that appears to be lost on many who look at Polkadot. Solana, Ethereum, Bitcoin and most other blockchains on the market are Layer 1. They must focus on optimizing security, scalability and decentralization to accomplish the three pillars of blockchain technology. Vitalik, Buterin, founder of Ethereum, outlined an issue that he saw with developing blockchains and dubbed it the "blockchain trilemma". He noticed that almost every blockchain built to date had to sacrifice one of these three pillars in order to be successful. Bitcoin and Ethereum sacrificed scalability in the name of decentralization and security. Solana has sacrificed decentralization in the name of scalability and security, you get the idea. By being Layer 0, Polkadot focuses on providing a platform for other Layer 1s to connect to the Polkadot framework and benefit from shared security so that they can focus on scalability and decentralization. This solves the blockchain trilemma and allows for more focused growth from Layer 1 blockchains that choose to go with Polkadot. The projects that connect to the framework are called "parachains".

Still having a problem conceptualizing what exactly a Layer 0 is? To understand this concept, think of this like a cake. Each layer is stacked on top of the other and are able to communicate both up and down the "stack" to accomplish various goals. So let's start with what we know. Ethereum is a prototypical Layer 1 blockchain. Ethereum focuses on smart contracts and is able to facilitate NFTs, transactions, DeFi and more - this is the stack it operates on. There are now new technologies that focus on improving the scaling of Ethereum (we all have heard about the outrageous gas fees by now). Polygon is one such solution and is a layer on top of Ethereum, making it a Layer 2 blockchain. Polygon takes the transaction load off Ethereum and then returns the data back to Ethereum for final settlement.

Polkadot takes a step back and provides a more robust framework. It corresponds to the idea of a blockchain building on top of another chain - but expands further. Instead of a few blockchains, the current structure of Polkadot allows for 100 parachains to connect to the Polkadot network. These 100 parachains are all benefitting from the shared security.

Here is a great visual of parachains being interconnected by connecting to Polkadot

Parachains and Parathreads

TLDR Parachains and Parathreads are individual Layer 1 blockchains that can connect to Polkadot by 2 year leases (Parachains) or by paying as they go (Parathreads). They pay with $DOT and as an investor you can loan your DOT and recieve rewards aka free tokens from the projects you loan your $DOT to. I see the Parachain concept as an ingenious Kickstarter platform with much deeper underlying utility.

Each parachain is a unique Layer 1 blockchain with a focus as determined by the project. For Moonbeam, the focus is smart contracts. For Composable Finance and Acala, it's DeFi. For Efinitiy, it's gaming and the metaverse. The projects are independent teams that are working to accomplish their own specific goals. These parachains secure slots in Polkadot's framework by participating in Crowdloans or Public Loan Offerings. For a video explanation, check out CoinBureau's video to get an idea of how this works. In short, you can loan out your $DOT to these budding Layer 1 blockchains and receive free tokens for loaning out your $DOT for two years. The $DOT you loan out is locked for the entire term of the lease (again, two years), but you get these free tokens to use as you please (DeFi, NFT purchases, sell for profit, etc.). Some platforms will provide a liquid derivative of your locked loan; however this is a more advanced topic to learn about later.

Examples of Layer 1 Parachains:

  • Moonbeam
  • Acala
  • Parallel Finance
  • Composable Finance

Outstanding features that make Polkadot Unique

1. XCMP

In the simplest of terms, this technology allows for secure transfer of assets from chain to chain within the Polkadot ecosystem. A secure highway system between parachains. XCMP is secure and trustless meaning there is low risk of your assets being compromised when compared to more widespread bridges used today between chains like Ethereum and Solana (take any two chains). These bridges are susceptible to hacks and the assets are theoretically there for the taking; much like the recent Wormhole hack comporomising millions of dollars. Polkadot's XCMP fixes this problem. You can think of current bridges as wooden bridges and XCMP as a steel bridge or secure highway. This feature has not been fully rolled out, but is expected to go live this year.

2. Substrate

I'm no developer, but I do know that composability is the name of the game here. Substrate aims to be building blocks that you can compose in different ways to get your desired result. This streamlines coding and opens up the door for numerous use cases. Most importantly it frees up FORKLESS UPGRADES. No longer do you have to wait months or even years for an update. Substrate allows you to make upgrades fast and apply them widely without major forks and overhauls to the system. In fact, last year there were 540 upgrades to Polkadot's infrastructure. This allows Polkadot to be malleable and grow with technological advancements that are currently unforseeable.

3. A strong developer following

A common theme in crypto is to "follow the devs". This comprehensive review dubbed 2021 Electric Capital Developer Report has 1,300 likes on medium and highlights the astronomical growth of Polkadot's full time developer commitments. In fact, Polkadot has grown faster than any other ecosystem and is only second to Ethereum in active developers contributing code. If you're following the devs, welcome.

In all, Polkadot provides something unique for investors, developers and degens. This Layer 0 blockchain is still in its infancy and has not realized its full potential. As parachains become fully functional and the vision of Polkadot is realized, there will be unique use cases that comes to fruition all within the safety of the trustless framework that is Polkadot. Stake you DOT, contribute to a crowdloan and get rewarded, be apart of a vibrant community. Polkadot has a ton to offer.

How to Guides, Videos and Articles to Learn More

First and foremost, take a moment to subscribe to Jay Chrawnna on Youtube as he provides us all with extremely entertaining updates on everything DotSama

NFTs

DeFi -Decentralized Finance

Metaverse in Dotsama

Polkadot

  • A quick, concise view on what Polkadot is from the professor himself, Bill Laboon. Follow him on subsocial for weekday updates on governance
  • This article compares the two most popular interoperability-focused blockchains, Cosmos and Polkadot to give you an idea of how these two are different and how they are the same
  • Subscribe to a weekly Polkadot A to Z series from the Web3 Foundation which highlights a different aspect of Polkadot each week. This week is the multisig wallet
  • Here is a guide for nominators (those who stake their DOT) to see details on validators (those who directly secure the network and you give your DOT to) with registered accounts on polkadot ecosystem
  • A description in French of Polkadot's Proof-of-Stake mechanism

Moonbeam and Moonriver

Composable Finance and Picasso

Astar and Shiden

  • Seppy lays out an outstanding overview of what Astar is and what this blockchains aims to offer and the problems they solve
  • Here is a nice staking tutorital for Astar Network

Zeitgiest

  • Curious about Zeitgiest? Learn more here written by Great Teacher Kez

Interlay

  • An amazing article written by Crane on Interlay and it's proposed solution to BTC in Polkadot

Gear

Talisman

General Learning

InvArch

Quartz

There are many other parachains and many other topics to cover. If there is something you would like to learn about, leave a comment or send me an email and I'll find an answer for you! We at WagMedia are here to help and eager to bring newcomers into the ecosystem and learn more. This was created with the help of members of WagMedia, learn more about our mission below.

Tips appreciated

KSM

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Metamask

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Csaint02Post author

Polkadot Eco Enthusiast, follow for insights on connecting the DOTs, shitposts, and general shenanigans

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Dotsama

A streamlined beginner's guide for you to learn about everything Polkadot has to offer. From how-to guides, NFT learning, technical developments and more, we've got you covered. Want to post something educational you think will help newcomers, please feel free!

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to Dotsama
A streamlined beginner's guide for you to learn about everything Polkadot has to offer. From how-to guides, NFT... Show More