Polkadot

Polkadot (DOT) is a platform that lets separate blockchains pass messages and value between each other without depending on mutual trust. Each connected chain keeps its own distinctive features while all of them draw on one shared security arrangement. It is described as a scalable technology joining many chains of differing designs.

The design is called heterogeneous because it sets no requirement on how a member chain is built. Even systems that are not blockchains can take part as parachains, provided they satisfy certain criteria.

Polkadot can be likened to a group of independent chains, such as Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Namecoin and Bitcoin, with added pooled security and trust-free transactions across chains. Many of its native parachains are expected to rely on a development kit tied to the Polkadot runtime environment, for example Substrate from Parity Technologies.