Dot Deep-Dive Part 3: DOT Batch 1 Projects

December 16, 2021 marked the end of the first round of Polkadot parachain auctions! Congratulations to the five winners:

• Acala
• Moonbeam
• Astar
• Parallel Finance
• Clover

However, the auctions are not over. If you were interested in contributing to a project but missed out on the first round, there is no need to worry, the second round of parachain auctions began on December 23, 2021 and will continue until March 10th. You can contribute through Parallel’s Auction Loan platform.

If you already contributed to a project that did not win, your DOT tokens will be returned to your digital wallet. You’ll have an opportunity to donate again when the auction begins.

If you first contributed through Parallel they will offer you a 25% bonus on PARA rewards to keep your DOT on the platform and “re-contribute” in the next batch of crowdloans.

That’s one less step for you and a free extra PARA bonus.

In our past article, we explained how the parachain auctions are a wonderful opportunity to contribute to a crowdloan and support a project that you believe in. That’s exactly what we saw in this last round of auctions. These projects were able to raise millions of dollars to secure their parachain, which would have been impossible for many without the support of their community.

To understand why these projects are important and resonating with people, we are taking a dive into each of the winning projects, what they are building, and the rewards they are giving contributors.

Projects that have won so far:

Acala

Acala describes itself as “The DeFi Hub of Polkadot.” It is an EVM-compatible application DeFi platform that enables users to swap, lend, borrow, and stake their tokens. The fact that it is EVM compatible means that Ethereum programs can be easily integrated into the Acala network.

Its goal is to integrate every DeFi application that users enjoy on Ethereum, on Polkadot. It has also created a stable coin for Polkadot, Acala USD (aUSD), and offers a liquidity token for those who have locked their DOT tokens in a parachain auction, LDOT, that can be used on the Acala network.

Project features:

• DeFi Platform: Enables users to swap, borrow, lend, and stake. Includes a DEX and automated money market
• aUSD: Acala’s stablecoin that matches the value of a United States Dollar
• EVM compatibility makes it easy to move Ethereum programs onto Polkadot

Tokenomics: ACA

Parachain Auctions Rewards

Moonbeam

Moonbeam is creating a “fully Ethereum-compatible environment on Polkadot.” This will allow developers on Ethereum to easily migrate their offerings to Polkadot while still being connected to the Ethereum blockchain. It has also created a partnership with Etherscan, an analytics platform for Ethereum, and will together create Moonscan. This will serve as a Polkadot chain explorer.

Project features

• Supports Ethereum smart contracts (Solidity and Vyper)
• Compatible with Ethereum-based tools such as MetaMask, Remix, and Hardhat
• Requires minimal configuration to move smart contracts from Ethereum to Polkadot
• Moonscan: Polkadot analytics platform that will have data such as block explore, transactions, and much more

Tokenomics: GLMR

Parachain Auctions Rewards

Astar

Astar is an interoperable dApps hub on Polkadot that offers dApp staking and Layer2 scaling solutions. It also allows users to build smart contracts that are compatible with Ethereum and WebAssembly, which is important as the Polkadot relay chain does not offer smart contracts. It is currently focused on promoting its dApp development by rewarding both validators and developers.

Project features:

• A multi-chain smart contract hub that supports DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs
• Enables dApps staking allowing users to earn their native token by creating smart contracts
• Supports EVM and WebAssembly
• Supports Layer2 roll-ups

Tokenomics: ASTR

Parachain Auctions Rewards

Parallel Finance

Parallel Finance is a Decentralized Money Market Protocol that offers lending, staking, and borrowing in the Polkadot ecosystem. Its goal is to accelerate liquidity and adoption on the Polkadot network. Parallel offers a unique feature, “leverage staking,” which allows users to lend and stake simultaneously, earning them double yield.

It also has a crowdloan platform that raises capital for projects participating in the parachain auction. When a user’s DOT is staked through Parallel’s auction loan platform, they receive liquid DOT tokens that can be used on Parallel’s solutions. This allows users to stay liquid while their DOTs are locked in the parachain lease.

Project features:

• A Decentralized Money Market Protocol that offers lending and borrowing
• Staking Derivative Protocol that tokenizes native DOT tokens
• A crowdloan platform that supports projects raising capital for parachain auctions

Tokenomics: PARA

Parachain Auctions Rewards

Clover

Clover is building an easy-to-access blockchain infrastructure for developers that allows them to migrate DeFi applications from Ethereum to Polkadot seamlessly. This means that DeFi projects that currently exist on Ethereum, can easily be built on Polkadot. Its goal is to reduce the level of development needed to build DeFi applications on Polkadot, as well as enable gas-less transactions, and simplify the user experience for new users.

It is also developing products that will support these projects on Polkadot such as Clover Wallet, its multi-chain connected wallet that supports the most popular blockchains such as Ethereum, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and more.

Project features:

• Multi-chain wallet that supports multiple blockchains
• Products have cross-chain compatibility that can connect to popular blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain
• EVM assets can be sent cross chain to clover, allowing for lower gas fees and faster transaction times
• A centralized store of all of the dApps built on Clover

Tokenomics: CLV

Parachain Auctions Rewards

Once again, a tremendous congratulations to all of these incredible projects, their teams, and their communities!

Now the fun part starts. These projects will start building on the Polkadot network for the length of their lease and turn their vision into a reality.

We wish the best of luck to each of the companies as they begin the next phase in their journey, and look forward to seeing who will join us on Polkadot after the second round of parachain auctions.