Guides

Polkadot

Overview

Polkadot (DOT) is the native asset of the Polkadot blockchain. It utilizes:

Nominated Proof-of-stake (NPoS) model
Schnorrkel/Ristretto x25519 ("sr25519") signature algorithm

Polkadot is a blockchain platform that facilitates interoperability between different blockchains through its native cryptocurrency, DOT. Designed by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, Polkadot enables cross-chain transfers of data and assets, allowing decentralized applications (DApps) to operate seamlessly. The Polkadot network has a primary blockchain named the "relay chain" and many user-created parallel chains called "parachains".

Explorer

https://polkadot.subscan.io/

Wallets Types

BitGo enables holding dot in the following wallet types:

	Multisig Cold	Multisig Hot	MPC Cold	MPC Hot
Custody	❌	N//A	✅	N/A
Self-Custody	✅	N//A	N/A	✅

Ticker Symbols

Mainnet	Testnet
DOT	TDOT

Faucet

You can use a faucet to obtain free testnet dot for development and testing purposes.

Faucet: https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/learn-DOT

Units

The smallest unit for the account balance on Substrate based blockchains (Polkadot, Kusama, and so on) is Planck

1 Planck = 0.0000000001 DOT
10^10 Planck = 1.0000000000 DOT

You can pass balances in string or integer format. However, BitGo recommends using string format to ensure values don't exceed the programmable number limit.

Native Token

DOT is the native token of the Polkadot network in a similar way that BTC is the native token of Bitcoin or Ether is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain.

Fees

Polkadot fees consists of three parts:

Base fee: a fixed fee that the runtime applies to every transaction.
Length fee: a fee that gets multiplied by the length of the transaction, in bytes.
Weight fee: a fee for each, varying runtime function. Runtime implementers need to implement a conversion mechanism which determines the corresponding amount for the calculated weight.

The final fee can be summarized as:

fee = base_fee + length_of_transaction_in_bytes * length_fee + weight_fee

Additionally, a minimum deposit of 1 DOT is required to initialize a wallet.

Fee Multiplier

Polkadot can add an additional fee to transactions if the network becomes too busy and starts to decelerate the system. This fee can create an incentive to avoid the production of low priority or insignificant transactions.

The network calculates the final fee as:

final_fee = fee * fee_multiplier

Create wallets

LABEL="My Test Wallet"
PASSPHRASE="secretpassphrase1a5df8380e0e30"

curl -X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
-d "{ \"label\": \"$LABEL\", \"passphrase\": \"$PASSPHRASE\", \"multisigType\": \"tss\" }" \
http://$BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST/api/v2/tdot/wallet/generate

bitgo
  .coin('tdot')
  .wallets()
  .generateWallet({
    label: 'My Test Wallet',
    passphrase: 'secretpassphrase1a5df8380e0e30',
    multisigType: 'tss'
  })
  .then(function (wallet) {
    // print the new wallet
    console.dir(wallet);
  });

Create Address

WALLET=585c51a5df8380e0e3082e46

curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
https://app.bitgo-test.com/api/v2/tdot/wallet/$WALLET/address

bitgo
  .coin('tdot')
  .wallets()
  .getWallet({ id: '585c51a5df8380e0e3082e46' })
  .then(function (wallet) {
    return wallet.createAddress();
  })
  .then(function (newAddress) {
    // print new address details
    console.dir(newAddress);
  });

Estimate Fee

export COIN="tdot"
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

curl -X GET \
 https://app.bitgo-test.com/api/v2/$COIN/tx/fee \
 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"

const BitGoJS = require('../../../src/index.js');
const bitgo = new BitGoJS.BitGo({ env: 'test' });
const Promise = require('bluebird');
const accessToken = '<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const coin = 'tdot';

Promise.coroutine(function *() {
  bitgo.authenticateWithAccessToken({ accessToken });
  bitgo.coin(coin).feeEstimate({ numBlocks: 2 }, function callback(err, res) {
     console.dir(res);
  });
})();

Transact

export BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST="<YOUR_LOCALHOST>"
export COIN="tdot"
export WALLET_ID="<YOUR_WALLET_ID>"
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
export ADDRESS="<DESTINATION_ADDRESS>"
export AMOUNT="<AMOUNT_IN_BASE_UNITS>"
export WALLET_PASSPHRASE="<YOUR_WALLET_PASSPHRASE>"

curl -X POST \
  http://$BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST/api/v2/$COIN/wallet/$WALLET_ID/sendcoins \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "address": "'"$ADDRESS"'",
    "amount": "'"$AMOUNT"'",
    "walletPassphrase": "'"$WALLET_PASSPHRASE"'"
}'

export BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST="<YOUR_LOCALHOST>"
export COIN="tdot"
export WALLET_ID="<YOUR_WALLET_ID>"
export ACCESS_TOKEN="<YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
export ADDRESS_1="<DESTINATION_ADDRESS_1>"
export ADDRESS_2="<DESTINATION_ADDRESS_2"
export AMOUNT_1="<AMOUNT_1_IN_BASE_UNITS>"
export AMOUNT_2="<AMOUNT_2_IN_BASE_UNITS>"
export WALLET_PASSPHRASE="<YOUR_WALLET_PASSPHRASE>"

curl -X POST \
  http://$BITGO_EXPRESS_HOST/api/v2/$COIN/wallet/$WALLET_ID/sendmany \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "recipients": [
    {
      "address": "'"$ADDRESS_1"'",
      "amount": "'"$AMOUNT_1"'"
    },
    {
      "address": "'"$ADDRESS_2"'",
      "amount": "'"$AMOUNT_2"'"
    }
  ],
    "walletPassphrase": "'"$WALLET_PASSPHRASE"'"
}'

const tx = await fundedWallet.send({
    address: `<DESTINATION_ADDRESS>`,
    amount: `<AMOUNT>`,
    walletPassphrase: process.env.PASSWORD as string,
  });

let params = {
  recipients: [
    {
      amount: "<AMOUNT_1>",
      address: "<DESTINATION_ADDRESS_1>",
    },
    {
      amount: "<AMOUNT_2>",
      address: "<DESTINATION_ADDRESS_2>",
    },
  ],
  walletPassphrase: "<YOUR_WALLET_PASSPHRASE>",
};
wallet.sendMany(params).then(function (transaction) {
  // Print transaction details
  console.dir(transaction);
});

Stake

Polkadot implements Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS), a relatively novel and sophisticated mechanism to select the validators who the protocol allows to participate in its consensus protocol. The NPoS encourages DOT holders to participate as nominators.