The financial landscape has significantly changed in the last couple of years worldwide, including North Carolina. The crypto sector has made one of the major contributions to that change. Cryptocurrencies have become a part of our everyday lives — they’re being used for trade and investment alike.
Naturally, certain cryptocurrencies are touted as better investment tools than others. One such crypto, Polkadot, is the topic of today’s article. Stay with us and learn more about Polkadot, its significance, features, and where and how you can purchase it.
What Is Polkadot?
Polkadot is a blockchain-based project whose mission is to change how the crypto world functions. It aims to create a multi-chain network that connects all independent blockchains and allows them to communicate with one another.
Now, if you’re new to the crypto sector, you might wonder why there’s a need for such a change. Everything seems to function well already. Let’s find an answer to that question.
Namely, all cryptocurrencies today have their own independent blockchains. Each of those blockchains had to be built from scratch, and developers had to invest a lot of time, money, and effort into every new one. In addition, these blockchains operate entirely on their own — they cannot interact with one another even though they’re a part of the same crypto world.
Polkadot’s multi-chain network aims to create a foundation for developers to engineer new blockchains upon. Besides providing them with a standard to build off of, Polkadot will let developers connect all their blockchains into one ecosystem.
That way, the project would straight out the now messy and costly crypto mining process, saving a ton of energy, money, and time along the way. It would also resolve scalability problems that many cryptos have and upgrade the blockchains’ existing security protocols.
Polkadot’s innovative mission quickly garnered the attention of investors around the globe and gained immense popularity. The project is already under development, and tons of people have already chosen to join it. While there’s no guarantee everything will go according to plan, things are certainly looking up for Polkadot.
Polkadot’s Ecosystem
Now that you’re familiar with the basics of the Polkadot project, we can discuss its main components and their functionality.
Polkadot’s multi-chain network is called the Relay Chain. It’s essentially a large blockchain structure to which smaller new blockchains can attach. The Relay Chain lets blockchains interact with one another, provides them with security, and allows faster and more scalable transactions.
These smaller blockchains are called parachains. The Polkadot ecosystem provides developers with a special framework, called the Substrate, making parachains easier to build and attach to the main chain.
The Substrate gives developers the necessary tools to engineer their blockchain but still leaves them enough freedom to customize their projects according to their own needs and preferences. It lets you join the crypto space even if you don’t have the expertise to create a blockchain from square one.
Polkadot’s parachains connect through links called bridges. Bridges facilitate communication between Polkadot’s parallel chains, and other unrelated networks and non-blockchain databases.
Investing in Polkadot
Polkadot has its own native currency called DOT that powers the system we mentioned above. DOT functions like any other cryptocurrency in that you can buy, exchange, and sell it. However, this crypto has additional value. It gives its owners a chance to participate in Polkadot’s governance and the ability to make passive income.
You can vote on the direction in which the protocol should develop in the future based on the number of tokens you hold and the importance of your overall role in the project. You can also support the project by staking tokens or nominating someone to stake tokens on your behalf and get rewards in return.
Parachain auctions are one of the latest innovations Polkadot’s system has introduced. These auctions allow you to bid on a slot to use a parachain for a certain amount of time. The first Polkadot parachain auction took place in November 2021 and was won by the Acala protocol.
North Carolina Crypto-Related Regulations
North Carolina has expanded its Money Transmitters Act to include all virtual currency-related activities in 2014. As a result, all entities and individuals planning to engage in virtual currency-related activities legally have to obtain a money transmitters license from North Carolina.
Besides this one, North Carolina currently doesn’t have any other laws that regulate its cryptocurrency scene. So, you’re free to buy and sell cryptos as you please as long as you have a valid MT license and follow this state’s applicable tax requirements.
Where to Buy Polkadot in North Carolina?
North Carolinians can purchase Polkadot using two distinct methods — from a centralized exchange platform or an individual interested in selling them the tokens. The following paragraphs will discuss both of these methods in more detail.
Centralized Crypto Exchanges
Crypto exchanges are platforms where you can buy, sell, and exchange various cryptocurrencies, including DOT. They can be centralized and decentralized depending on whether they accept fiat currencies.
If you don’t possess any cryptos at the moment, you’ll have to buy DOT using fiat currencies like USD. To do that, you will need to open an account on a centralized crypto exchange.
Choosing the specific platform you’d like to join is not easy — you’ll have to take a number of factors into account. For your convenience, these factors are listed and explained below:
- North Carolina license — Make sure the platform you’re looking into is available in North Carolina and has a valid NC money transmitters license. You cannot purchase DOT legally otherwise.
- Reputation — Research the crypto exchange you’re interested in and learn as much about it. It’s best you choose a platform with a long-standing experience in the industry and overall good reviews.
- Crypto availability — Check the platform’s cryptocurrency offer before joining. You should have the option to buy, sell, and exchange other popular cryptos using the same exchange, besides DOT.
- Liquidity — Don’t forget to check the crypto exchange’s popularity with traders. The more people trade on the platform, the faster you can buy or sell coins.
- Safety — Make sure your exchange uses security protocols sufficient to protect your funds and sensitive data. Look into the technology behind this platform’s security and read their privacy policy in detail.
- Payment options — Find out what payment companies this crypto exchange collaborates with. You should be able to use a payment method that’s safe, fast, and economical enough to fit your needs and preferences.
- Fees and limits — Learn about the fees and limits the crypto exchange you’re considering imposes on its members. Both the fees and minimum and maximum trading limits should be reasonable enough to fit your budget and investment plans.
Buying Polkadot Directly
As we’ve mentioned, you can also obtain your first DOT by finding a person ready to sell their tokens to you. However, you should know this option is not the safest, and you might get scammed.
If you’re sure you want to purchase DOT directly, make sure the person you’re buying from is trustworthy and has a valid MTL. Moreover, don’t forget you have to obtain one before engaging in any crypto-related activity.
How to Buy Polkadot Using a Crypto Exchange
There are only a couple of steps to the process of buying DOT through a crypto exchange platform in North Carolina. We’ve outlined them below:
- Choose a crypto exchange — Find an exchange with an NC money transmitters license that fits your needs. Don’t forget to consider the factors we’ve previously listed, too.
- Find a crypto wallet — Pick a reputable crypto wallet that supports Polkadot so that you can store your coins after buying them.
- Join these platforms — Create accounts on the crypto exchange and e-wallet platforms. The registration process tends to be straightforward as it generally consists of providing and verifying some personal information.
- Make a deposit — Select one of the available payment methods to deposit fiat funds into your crypto exchange account.
- Purchase Polkadot — Navigate the platform to find the option where you can purchase DOT, select it, enter the amount you want to buy, and confirm your purchase.
- Send the coins to your wallet — Transfer the DOT you’ve just acquired to your crypto wallet. We suggest you do this immediately after the coins appear on your exchange account balance to ensure their security.
Final Thoughts
Polkadot is an innovative and popular protocol you can invest in quickly and securely if you’re from North Carolina. All you have to do is obtain a money transmitters license and select a crypto exchange platform or find a person willing to sell you their DOT. If you choose the former, you can follow our step-by-step guide for help, and you’ll have DOT in your crypto wallet in a snap.
