DOT

Launched in 2020, Polkadot is sometimes described as a ‘layer-0’ blockchain as it hosts an ecosystem of blockchains. It’s a ‘parachain’ protocol — which, put simply, means it allows for ease of communication between separate cryptocurrencies. Founder Dr. Gavin Wood (formerly the CTO of Ethereum) sees Polkadot as synonymous with the web3 and its decentralized makeup, which is pretty unsurprising given he literally coined the term in 2014. Its native token DOT is used for staking, governance, and ‘bonding’ — the act of bonding DOT tokens with new chains on the network.