What is Polkadot?

Polkadot is a heterogenous multi-chain with shared security. In other words, it allows a variety of different kinds of chains to interact while providing increased security to all of the chains, even if those chains are very different. It even includes the ability to "bridge out" to external and legacy chains.

The source of truth for information about how Polkadot works is the well-maintained Polkadot wiki. The Getting Started page includes everything you need to know to start using Polkadot.

If you are having technical issues using Polkadot, you can check for FAQs and contact support through the Polkadot Knowledge Base at support.polkadot.network.

On-Chain Information

Current chain information can be seen on Polkadot-JS. This is also the main method used to interact with chains, although there are other ways including directly through APIs.

Several block explorers are available here:

• Polkascan

• Subscan

Circulating supply (total issuance) and chain data is available at polkastats.io

DOT and KSM WALLETS:

See the Polkadot Wiki Wallets Page

Tutorial Videos

Check out these tutorial videos to get a feel for Polkadot:

• Polkadot for Beginners

• How to create a Polkadot account

• Why Nominate (Stake) on Polkadot and Kusama

• Nominating and staking with Polkadot

• A walkthrough of Polkadot's UI

• Understanding account and keys in Polkadot

Or watch the entire Polkadot Technical Explainers playlist.

The claims process only applies to DOT that were purchased in the form of frozen ERC20 tokens in 2017. If you bought your DOT tokens more recently or from another source, this process does not apply to you. You do not need to claim. If you have any questions about your DOT, please check for details or contact us at support.polkadot.network.

Rules

Please avoid: Harmful language, insulting others, outright FUD, false/misleading information, or shilling other projects. Links to outside forums will be accepted as long as they follow the rules above and are related to the discussion of the project or projects building on Substrate. No Price talk is allowed surrounding the DOT token or the price of other projects or tokens.

Community

See the Polkadot Wiki Community Page for official social media channels and other ways to interact and get involved.

Join the Polkadot Ambassador Program

Ecosystem Projects

• Teams Building on Substrate

• Dotspot.io

• PolkaProject

• [KusamaProject](kusamaproject.com)

Substrate

The modular blockchain framework for building custom blockchains.

• Start Building at Substrate.dev

• Try the Substrate Tutorials

Fund Your Project:

• Funding Your Project Crowdcast - Includes grants, treasury proposals, tips and other ways.

• Fund your Large Project with Web3 Grants

• Web3 Open Grants Program (for smaller projects)

Kusama

Kusama is a scalable network of specialized blockchains built using Substrate and nearly the same codebase as Polkadot. The network is a development environment for teams who want to move fast and innovate exclusively on Kusama, or prepare for deployment on Polkadot. Kusama was founded by Gavin Wood, the co-founder and former CTO of Ethereum and the creator of the Solidity programming language.

What are the similarities and differences between Kusama and Polkadot?

Official Kusama Social Media

• Kusama Website

• Kusama Telegram

• Kusama Newsletter

• Kusama chat

• Kusama Twitter