I’ve been a big fan of DOT and dove into the network in 2021/22, I even participated in 3 crowd-loans. I decided Polkadot and any coins I received from the crowdloans would be long term investments. So there was no rush to claim the tokens I earned by plugging my DOT tokens into these projects. And to be fair it wasn’t much DOT! Just enough to get my toes wet and see how this layer zero blockchain operates.
First off, what is Polkadot and what are crowdloans?
Polkadot is a next-gen blockchain platform that allows for the creation of multiple independent blockchains, known as parachains, that can interact and communicate with each other. Parachains on Polkadot are designed to provide specialized services and applications to users of the Polkadot ecosystem.
One of the key features of Polkadot's parachain infrastructure is the ability to conduct crowdloans, which are a unique way for projects to secure a parachain slot on the Polkadot network. A crowdloan is a decentralized fundraising mechanism where community members can contribute their cryptocurrency to support a project's bid for a parachain slot.
In a Polkadot crowdloan, a project sets a fundraising goal and a deadline for the community to contribute their cryptocurrency. Once the fundraising goal is reached, the project will be granted a parachain slot for a set period of time. If the fundraising goal is not met by the deadline, the contributed cryptocurrency is returned to the contributors.
The community members who contribute their cryptocurrency to a Polkadot crowdloan are typically rewarded with project tokens or other incentives, depending on the specific terms of the crowdloan. These tokens can be used to access the services provided by the project, to participate in the governance of the project or dumped on the market for profit 😂.
Polkadot's crowdloans provide a unique way for new projects to secure a parachain slot on the network without needing to raise funds through traditional means such as venture capital or initial coin offerings (ICOs). Additionally, because the fundraising is conducted on the blockchain, it is transparent and secure, with no intermediaries needed to facilitate the transaction.
Let’s take a look of what I claimed from giving up my 21 DOT tokens until 2024.
Parallel Finance ( PARA )
Parallel Finance Para is a parachain project on the Polkadot network that aims to provide a next-generation decentralized financial infrastructure that is fast, efficient, and scalable. As a parachain project, Parallel Finance Para will have its own unique features and characteristics that make it well-suited for certain use cases within the Polkadot ecosystem.
claim
I claimed my Para tokens off their website. The cool thing with this crowdloan is that you can claim CDot ( a Dot backed/wrapped token ) earlier than your initial locked DOT tokens. But of course it has less value than actual DOT. Not quite pleased with this project but hey, let’s keep the free coins and see what happens.
- claimed 432.3416 PARA and more to come in the followings months.
Efinity ( by Enjin )
Next up I claimed some Efinity (EFI) which was created by the same team as Enjin. It solves the scalability issue with Ethereum with a focus on NFT, gaming and the metaverse. All buzzwords that will have their time in the sun again at some block. This is the project I’m most excited about (regarding these crowdloans) and will probably be scooping up a few as the price is 90% off from the high of $3.367 and now sitting around $.10.
source:CoinMarketCap
Claimed : 82.8287
To be claimed :99.0854
Note: EFI was just given clearance by financial regulators to be listed on Japanese exchanges in late January, early February and is currently listed on OKCoin Japan. They also have an interesting partnership with the upcoming Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary figure collection that will also come with an authentification NFT on Efinity. Not sure what that will do for the price but in the mid to long term, this coin has a very high chance of going back to all time highs and beyond. ( Not financial advice).
Centerfuge ( CFG )
I had a hard time collecting this one as I needed to have some of the CFG tokens in the wallet. After a little digging I realized the team was sending people tiny bits of CFG so they could claim. So I dug into their discord and found a team member to beam me up.
What is Cenerfuge?
This one needs a little explaining. Centrifuge is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform built on the Polkadot network that aims to make it easier for businesses to access liquidity by using their existing assets as collateral. The platform leverages the unique features of the Polkadot network, such as its interoperability and scalability, to create a more efficient and accessible DeFi ecosystem.
Using Centrifuge, businesses can create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that represent real-world assets, such as invoices or purchase orders. These NFTs can then be used as collateral to access liquidity from decentralized lending pools, without the need for traditional intermediaries such as banks. Sounds complicated but hey, banks work in the same way. This is just smarter and digital.
- Claimed 84.6 CFG ( but seems it’s not in my wallet? Oh crypto )
These coins may all go to nothing or may even become something significant. Nothing is certain in this space. But I do like the crowdloan feature of polkadot though it can’t compare to what we have on HIVE with DPOS and the ability to delegate to projects and earn their token and or Hive tokens. With the click of a bottom we can un-delegate and have the resources back in our wallet within 3 days. I’ll be waiting on my DOT tokens till 2024.
