Technical Infrastructure

Polimec builds on the Polkadot ecosystem infrastructure due to its crucial differentiation from other decentralized protocols. A key pillar is that Polkadot enables true interoperability and cross-chain transfers of any type of data or asset. The ability to interoperate with various blockchains is critical for a thriving fundraising ecosystem and leveraging network effects. Furthermore, on Polkadot every parachain derives its security from the Polkadot Relay Chain and its validators. This ensures that each transaction on Polimec is secure and trustless. Low transaction fees allow the protocol to scale and runtime upgrades enable Polimec to improve consistently and swiftly without requiring time-consuming forks.

High-level technical infrastructure of Polimec:

Polimec executes token transfers between the network participants and the on-chain treasury in an automated manner. This includes mechanisms for the issuance and distribution of contribution tokens and their conversion to the project’s mainnet token at launch. Polimec uses trusted third-party providers to credential and verify network participants to support them in complying with relevant regulations. The pseudonymous credentials can be validated on-chain using the KILT protocol.

Polimec can integrate with other parachains and parathreads built on Polkadot’s technology and any layer 1 or 2 blockchains built on top of the existing layer 0 of Polkadot.

However, Polimec is expected to be available to other ecosystems (e.g. EVM-based) in the future.

Polkadot is an advanced blockchain that utilizes a heterogeneous multichain architecture, which enables a network of specialized, independent blockchains, known as parachains, to operate in concert under a unified security umbrella. This multichain model allows for diverse, independent blockchains specialized for various purposes to work together, creating a free alliance of sovereign chains. Polkadot, as the layer 0 protocol, underpins and supports this network of layer 1 parachains, enabling cross-chain interoperability and facilitating the transmission of any type of data or asset between parachains, thereby creating a new paradigm of interchain services, communities, and economies. This multichain architecture serves as the foundation for a new, decentralized internet, commonly referred to as Web3, a term coined by Polkadot’s founder Gavin Wood.

The parachain model brings scalability to blockchain technology in a more decentralized and trustless manner. Transactions are distributed across the network, taking place in-parallel or simultaneously on several blockchains, all of which are secured by decentralized validators.

The parachain model unlocks a multitude of possibilities for blockchain technology and the future of Web3. Parachains bring a plethora of benefits, a few of which include specialization, flexibility, and interoperability.

The Polkadot blockchain has implemented a consensus mechanism known as nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) to facilitate the selection of validators who are granted the privilege of participating in the network’s governance protocol. A cohort of individuals referred to as validators are elected to perform vital functions such as block production and the validation of transactions. These individuals are held to a high standard of reliability, and are required to demonstrate their commitment through the act of staking their DOT, the blockchain’s native token, which serves as a collateral for their adherence to protocol.

While any node may publicly offer itself as a candidate for the role of validator, only a limited number are ultimately elected, due to operational constraints. Additionally, the ecosystem encourages the participation of DOT holders as nominators, who publicly endorse a list of validator candidates they trust and place a corresponding stake of DOT to support their endorsement. This arrangement provides robust security guarantees by enabling the selection of validators with substantial aggregate stake, while simultaneously eliminating candidates with low stake. Furthermore, the election process is informed by a blend of election theory, game theory and mathematical optimization to ensure fairness and security in the selection of validators.

In parachain networks, collators play a critical role in maintaining the parachain’s functionality by aggregating transactions from users on the parachain and generating state transition proofs for Relay Chain validators. To accomplish this, they maintain a complete node for the Relay Chain and another for their corresponding parachain, enabling them to retain all necessary information to author new blocks and execute transactions, akin to the role of miners on proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains. In the normal course of operations, they collate and execute transactions to produce an unsealed block, which they then furnish, along with a proof-of-validity (PoV), to one or multiple validators responsible for proposing a parachain block.

It is worth noting that collators are not required to provide security guarantees, as Polkadot’s protocol provides them. The validators are responsible for assessing the validity of submitted candidates and issuing statements about their validity to other validators. Once a candidate meets the criteria for inclusion, it is included in the Relay Chain block. Furthermore, collators are a vital component of the cross-consensus message format (XCM) by facilitating message passing between different parachains.