Buy Polkadot with Credit Card. Is DOT a good investment?

Polkadot Review and Analysis

Polkadot (DOT) statistics & facts

Overview

Polkadot was founded by the Web3 Foundation and the underlying aim behind its creation was to achieve the disruption of internet monopolies. This could come about through the empowerment of individual users and the parallel focus on building infrastructure for Web 3.0. The guide below aims to help interested crypto enthusiasts to learn about Polkadot and enable them to decide whether investing in Polkadot suits their own needs and preferences.

What is the Polkadot network?

Understanding what the Polkadot network is, is very important before dealing with DOT tokens in particular and deciding if they are worth investing in. Briefly put, the Polkadot network is a blockchain platform that was designed in order to run dApps, i.e. decentralized applications, at very high speeds. Polkadot is similar to Ethereum, with the main difference being that Polkadot is not a single blockchain, but instead an entire network, a dedicated, single ecosystem where diverse blockchains unite and communicate with each other, despite their customized and different characteristics. Through this communication, the Polkadot network is formed.

How does the Polkadot network work?

The concept of interoperability is at the heart of the Polkadot network, as this allows an infinite number of different blockchains, both private and public to communicate and interact. Unlike other networks, on Polkadot this is not achieved through running applications via smart contracts, but instead through the use of parallel blockchains, known as parachains. Thus, whereas on Ethereum the programming of a dApp by a developer would be done via several smart contracts, on Polkadot this is done through the use of parachains. This being said, Polkadot does support smart contracts as well, provided they exist within a parachain. However, the hosting of dApps on individual blockchains rather than via smart contracts, allows developers greater control in terms of design and key features, such as speed and fees and keeping the data public or private. This is because smart contracts are bound by and to the rules of their parent blockchain and thus the leeway for dApps developers is more limited.

In the case of Polkadot, the network is very efficient and fast, to the benefit of both its users and operators. This is achieved through the management of the entire parachains networks via a central relay chain, the central Polkadot blockchain, which ties all the parachains together in a smooth and frictionless manner.

DOT token supply and distribution

Currently, there is a circulating supply of about 933,350,778 DOT from a total supply of 1,068,874,893 DOT. From the original DOT token supply, around 58% was allocated and sold to investors, while 30% was granted to the Web 3 Foundation to be used for development purposes and other related activities. The remaining 12% was kept to be used for future fundraising efforts.

The distinguishing features of Polkadot

The increased popularity of the Polkadot is mainly attributed to its numerous distinguishing features, which inter alia, include:

• Interoperability: Interoperability is greatly promoted by Polkadot since through its network it is possible to connect different blockchains in a fast and smooth manner, reaching thus unprecedented levels of interaction and interoperation between a wide range of blockchain ecosystems.
• Scalability: Polkadot is highly scalable, while its scalability potential is expected to increase even further, thanks to the standard set of validators it employs, which allows the operation of the wide range of blockchains that are inter-connected through the Polkadot network.
• Improved Security: By enabling the meaningful, smooth and frictionless interaction between different chains, the Polkadot network ensures exceptionally high levels of security, while at the same time, the different chains are granted enough independence to be able to simultaneously run their own unique governance models.
• Facilitation of Innovation: The great ease with which a custom blockchain may be created thanks to the Polkadot network gives added impetus to innovation and encourages developers to actively seek their participation.
• Removing the need for Forks: Forks are usual in the crypto world, with both Ethereum and Bitcoin, as well as other coins, having been through them. Forks usually come about when a crypto network needs to fix bugs or make upgrades or develop and include new features. In the Polkadot network these aspects are covered and thus the split ups and havoc often cause following a fork can be completely avoided.

By the end of the guide, you should know the following:

• A brief history of Polkadot.
• What Polkadot can be used for.
• If Polkadot is a good or a bad investment.
• How to buy Polkadot.
• Where to buy Polkadot.

Usability

What is the Polkadot’s DOT token used for?

The native currency of the Polkadot network is the DOT token and it was launched to primarily serve three distinct functions and purposes:

• Network Governance
• Staking mechanism
• Addition of new chains

Let's examine those three distinct functions and purposes in more detail.

Network Governance

The Polkadot platform’s governance, i.e. the decisions on network fees, the addition of new parachains and issues pertaining to network upgrades, is exercised through granting the right to DOT holders to vote on such issues and thus shape how the network is governed and moves forward.

Staking mechanism

The security of the Polkadot network is ensured using a staking mechanism, through which the network is upheld by users staking DOT tokens. To safeguard that the transactions processed by users are valid, users are rewarded or punished by being awarded DOT tokens or penalized in DOT tokens.

Addition of new chains

DOT tokens are also used when a new parachain is to be added to the network, as for each new addition a certain amount of DOT tokens needs to be locked up in a process known as “bonding”.

Pros and Cons of Buying Polkadot

The Benefits of Polkadot

The Polkadot network stands out and compares favourably to its competitors mainly because it has had the time to build its network from scratch and the ground up, enabling it to include all the necessary functionalities from the beginning and not try to figure out and improvise while on a flight, such as many other crypto networks have had to do. Contrary to its competitors, the Polkadot network has not had to struggle to deliver on vague promises made before its launch.

What is more, following its launch, the Polkadot network and its DOT token, have not only served their initial purposes but also managed to enable an array of new uses, such as interoperability and sharding. While Ethereum has failed to achieve this, Polkadot opens up possibilities for horizontal database sharding with win-win outcomes.

The last two prominent advantages of Polkadot is that it can process millions of transactions per second, which is vastly more than the 30 transactions per second than Ethereum can handle for example. This also means that Polkadot can better handle the numerous smart contracts that had slowed down Ethereum considerably, while Polkadot is also not in the need of high gas fees that have also tended to slow down other networks.

Things we didn't like in Polkadot

The obvious disadvantage of Polkadot pertains to the hard time and stiff competition it is facing, especially when it comes to gaining a considerable market share in the smart contract community. This is because it has to compete with numerous other, already established, smart contracts platforms that have already established a stronghold in the crypto world, such as Cardano and Ethereum. Thus, if Polkadot is to thrive as much as the anticipation was at the time of its launch, it must prove that it holds the best prospects for smart contracts. If that doesn’t happen it will be just another token that rose due to the general crypto hype but failed to deliver and fulfil its potential. Against the highly volatile and unpredictable backdrop of the crypto scene, safely determining what the future of DOT will be, is an almost impossible task.

Historical performance

DOT Price Performance from 2020 to Date On 21st August 2020, the DOT token price opened at $2.90 and closed at $2.88 with a trading volume of $49 million. Its historical performance ever since can be said to be extremely good, benefiting from the renewed and intense interest in cryptocurrencies by institutional investors, as well as individual traders, both seasoned as well as novices. DOT’s good performance was evident, when it reached a price of $4.35 by the end of September 2020, while by the end of the same year it had more than doubled its price and was traded at $9.29, recording a remarkable increase of 220.345%.

This year, DOT opened at $9.29 on 1st January 2021 and closed at $16.12 by the end of the month, while in February it rallied past several price milestones, even reaching the $40 milestone, before settling at $33.61 by the close of 28th February 2021. In March 2021, the DOT price opened on 1st March at $33.64 and closed at $37.03 on 31 March. In April 2021 the opening price stood at $37.09 on 1st April 2021, while DOT closed at 35,81 at the end of that month. Following the recent downturn in crypto prices, currently, DOT is priced at $23.87, while it has a volume of $1.6 billion and market capitalization of $22.77 billion on a fully diluted market capitalization of $25.86 billion.

Polkadot (DOT) Future Price Forecast Predictions

* The prediction figures outline some of the Potential high and low of Polkadot (DOT) price prediction forecasts for the years 2021, 2022, and 2025 based on the data collected from various sources meant strictly for educational purposes only and not taken as investment advice.

Polkadot (DOT) Price Prediction for the year 2021

By the end of the year 2021, using forecast and algorithmic analysis, our price prediction forecasts suggest that one Polkadot will reach an average price of $48.675, which will be an impressive 1168% growth from it's current market price.

Polkadot (DOT) Price Prediction for the year 2022

By the end of the year 2022, our price prediction forecasts suggest that one Polkadot will reach an average price of $92.85, which will be an impressive 2229% growth from it's current market price.

Polkadot (DOT) Price Prediction for the year 2025

By the end of the year 2025, our price prediction forecast suggests that one Polkadot will reach an average price of $190.55, which will be an impressive 4576% growth from it's current market price.

Where Can You Buy Polkadot

There are several online sites and platforms where people from across the globe can buy Polkadot at good exchange rates and with low or no transaction fees. To aid your quest we have comprised a list of some of the most popular methods and platforms to buy Polkadot from and your strongly advised to consult this list before making your first purchase of or investment in Polkadot.

How Can You Buy Polkadot

It only takes a few easy steps to buy Polkadot with credit card instantly. Speed matters - get instant confirmation, minimal registration & KYC verification!

By the end of the guide, you should know the following:

• Click the Buy Now button.
  Buying Polkadot with debit card is easy, fast and risk-free. All you need to do is click the “Buy Now” button and then be safely directed to the check-out page.
• Fill in the fields.
• Proceed to checkout.
• Receive your Polkadot.

To help you pick the right choice, we combed through the leading exchange offerings, and reams of data, to determine the best crypto exchanges as well as the top cryptocurrency brokers when it comes to trading and investing in Polkadot and other cryptocurrencies.

Polkadot investment analysis

Does Polkadot Have a Future?

Though precisely predicting the future of Polkadot is impossible, there are several metrics and indicators that will give you an accurate account and help you draw valid conclusions, such as, its trade volume, its market capitalization and its overall performance, especially that during the preceding year.

In 2021 so far, DOT has performed far better than in 2020 since most of its integrations and partnerships launched and became operational in 2021, thus allowing to reap the benefits of those successful endeavours.

The current market capitalization of DOT comfortably ranks it in the large-cap crypto-asset category, since it is well over $10 billion.

Additionally, since there is a current circulating supply of 921,072,660 DOT with the maximum supply capped at 1,057,000,181, deciding to keep the supply finite will mean that as demand will increase to a point where it cannot be met, then DOT will behave as all scarce products, i.e. sold at much higher prices. Thus, a price increase for DOT is not unlikely in the not-so-distant future, especially if the new parachains which are planned to come to life shortly, do allow Polkadot to unlock its full potential and full functionality. This in turn may well lead to much more widespread adoption of the protocol, further pushing its price up. If your own investment goals allow you to buy and hold Polkadot until such prospects materialize, then perhaps DOT deserves a place in your investment portfolio.

Risks of Investing in Polkadot

What to watch out for

When deciding whether to invest in DOT, it is wise to be aware of the inherent risks of such as a decision, chief amongst which are the fact that the Polkadot blockchain technology is new and thus not as tried and tested as those of other competitors, which have already managed to establish themselves. Another risk is that Polkadot might not manage to capture the market share it envisages, since the niche it operates in, is highly saturated already and fiercely competitive.

Tips on How to Invest in Polkadot and Make a Profit

There is no guarantee that you will make a profit when you invest in Polkadot. However, to give yourself the best chance possible we have hand-picked the three most valuable such strategies, which you can find below:

• Tip 1: Set your own specific Financial Goals
• Tip 2: Dollar-Cost Average Your Polkadot Investments
• Tip 3: Diversify Your Polkadot Investment

Overall Conclusion – Final Thoughts

In theory and on paper, Polkadot has many merits that make it very attractive to developers, since it enables the deployment of several, custom-made blockchains, which may easily be tailored to suit specific needs for businesses of all sizes, while also allowing their upgrade in a hassle-free manner, novelties which can greatly benefit the entire crypto space and ecosystem.

Being a young ecosystem, however, many Polkadot projects are either very new or still in the pipeline. Thus, more time is needed to properly evaluate its true potential, impressive as it might seem at first glance.

In this guide, the aim wasn’t only to answer simple questions like “how to buy Polkadot?” or “where to buy Polkadot?”. Instead, the goal was to equip you with the relevant knowledge and insight to be able to see and understand the bigger picture as well as make your Polkadot investment journey as successful and as profitable as possible!