Polkadot parachains have been dubbed the next-generation blockchains due to their advanced capabilities. The network had introduced an auction as a way to pick the parachains that would begin producing the first blocks. In the first round of the auction, five parachains had emerged as winners and the on boarding process had been successfully carried out.
These parachains got a lease period of 96 weeks as a result of their win which began on December 17th. Now, these winning parachains have now started producing blocks on the Polkadot network, marking the beginning of a new era.
Related Reading | Unpacking The Effects Of China’s Bitcoin Ban On Investors
Polkadot Parachains Begin Producing Blocks
Acala, Clover, Moonbeam, Astar, and Parallel Finance emerged as the first batch of winners in the Polkadot parachains auction. These five projects had raised a total of $2,354,936,040 (100 million DOT) locked, each one winning slots for different niches on the blockchain ranging from decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, smart contracting, and loans and investments.
All five of these projects have now begun successfully creating blocks on the Polkadot blockchain. There are currently only five parachain slots that are occupied by the projects that won the first auction, but Polkadot intends to grow slots to 100, which is the maximum capacity for the Polkadot Relay Chain.
Over $2 billion locked in Polkadot parachains | Source: Arcane Research
These projects each occupy a niche in Gavin Wood’s vision for an interconnected blockchain future, made possible by allowing for different niches to operate in the same space instead of competing against one another.
Related Reading | Crypto Sector Needs Regulation, Says IMF Chief Economist
Polkadot is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap despite only being operational for about five years. The cryptocurrency is currently 11th on the list with a total market cap of $28 billion.
The next round of auctions began on Thursday, December 23rd, and will run for seven days, at the end of which the winning parachains will be announced. Six parachains will be selected in this round and their on boarding will happen around March 11th, 2022. Voting is already underway and users can vote by locking their DOT tokens in the projects.
DOT price trading above $29 | Source: DOTUSD on TradingView.com
Featured image from CryptoSlate, charts from Arcane Research and TradingView.com