Polkadot is a protocol working on scalability and other challenges by creating a network of interoperable blockchains. The protocol aims to break down the barriers between blockchain ecosystems and facilitate data transfers and communications.
A Brief History Of Polkadot
Polkadot was founded by Peter Czaban, Robert Habermeier, and Gavin Wood, who also coined the term “Web3” in 2014. Wood was behind the Polkadot white paper, published in 2016, and the Web3 Foundation launched in 2017. The protocol allows independent blockchains to communicate with one another, with the ultimate goal of enabling a completely decentralized web that gives users complete control.
Polkadot aims to connect private and consortium chains, public and permissionless networks, oracles, and even future technologies that have yet to be created. It aims to create an ecosystem that allows independent blockchains to exchange information and conduct transactions in a trustless manner through the Relay Chain. Polkadot’s unique architecture makes creating and connecting decentralized applications (dApps), services, and institutions easy.
Polkadot was rolled out in multiple phases. In 2017, the Web3 Foundation raised $145 million in Ethereum by selling DOT, Polkadot’s native token. However, the wallet in which the ETH tokens were stored was hacked, freezing $90 million of the total funds. The Web3 Foundation held a private token sale in 2019 to recoup the losses.
Who Are The Brains Behind Polkadot?
The Web3 Foundation is the main entity behind Polkadot and has made it the foundation’s flagship project. The Web3 Foundation is a Swiss blockchain-based organization dedicated to creating a user-friendly, fully functional decentralized web. The foundation has partnered with some of the best projects and protocols to create Polkadot and help develop services and applications that run on the Polkadot network.
Polkadot was founded by some of the most prominent individuals in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem: Gavin Wood, Peter Czaban, and Robert Habermeier.
Gavin Wood
Gavin Wood was initially associated with Ethereum, one of the biggest and most prominent blockchain protocols in the ecosystem, where he was the co-founder and CTO. After Ethereum, he founded Polkadot with Peter Czaban and Robert Habermeier and published its white paper in 2016. Wood is also credited with inventing several key components of the blockchain industry, such as Proof-of-Authority consensus, Whisper, and Solidity. He also came up with the term “Web3” in 2014 and is the current president of the Web3 Foundation. He also leads innovation on Polkadot and Substrate.
Peter Czaban
Peter Czaban is the Web3 Foundation’s Technology Director. His primary role is to support the development of the next generation of distributed technologies. Czaban has also worked in several industries, including defense, finance, and data analytics, where he has worked on distributed knowledge bases, meshed networks, machine learning, business development, and quantitative pricing models.
He has a Masters of Engineering Degree from the University of Oxford, where he focused on Bayesian Machine Learning.
Robert Habermeier
Robert Habermeier is a Thiel Fellow with a research and development background in blockchains, cryptography, and distributed systems. He has been a longtime member of the Rust community, focusing on leveraging the programming language’s features to create highly parallel and performant blockchain solutions.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
