$DOT What is Polkadot? (dot)

Polkadot is a platform that enables different blockchains to transmit messages, including value, without the need for trust, sharing their unique features and combining their security. In summary, Polkadot is a scalable heterogeneous multichain technology.

Polkadot is heterogeneous because it is completely flexible and makes no assumptions about the nature or structure of the network circuits. Even systems or data structures that are not blockchains can become parachains if they meet a series of criteria.

Polkadot can be considered the equivalent of a set of independent chains (for example, a set containing Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Namecoin, and Bitcoin), with the exception of significant innovations: pooled security and trustless cross-chain transactions.

Many of Polkadot's native parachains will be written using the Polkadot runtime environment SDK (for example, Parity Technologies' Substrate).