My story with Polkadot is a bit long.

Back in 2021, during the ICO participation, the price was still over $50. I invested several tens of thousands of dollars in one go. Now, it's January 2026, and the price fluctuates around $5-6, with a market cap just breaking 10 billion. To this day, I haven't sold a single token, holding on tightly. I've gone through countless moments of doubt, but in the end, I still didn't sell.

Initially, I was attracted to this project because of its underlying architecture. Unlike single-chain models, Polkadot is building a multi-chain ecosystem—connecting a bunch of parachains via relay chains, each operating independently but sharing security. Want to do DeFi? Just launch a DeFi chain. Want to play games? Launch a gaming chain. No need to bootstrap a bunch of validators from scratch. This idea sounds very solid.

The actual experience has indeed lived up to expectations. I’ve run Ethereum-compatible liquidity mining on Moonbeam, participated in NFT projects on Astar, and experienced liquid staking on Hydration. Gas fees are ridiculously low, transactions confirm in seconds—these are real ecosystem highlights.

What’s most addictive, however, is the staking mechanism. The annual yield is now around 10% (it was higher before, but inflation has been reduced). I select a few reliable validators and watch the rewards come in daily. The 28-day unlock period is long, but it actually forces me not to sell recklessly. Later, the platform launched small staking pools, where just 1 DOT is enough to participate, lowering the barrier to entry. Plus, on-chain governance really gives a sense of participation—proposing ideas, voting, the longer the lock-up, the greater the voting power. It feels like I’m truly involved in ecosystem decisions, not just passively holding.

But honestly, there are also many frustrating parts. During the parachain auction period, I locked tokens to participate in crowdloan projects, but the airdrops from those projects were basically worthless. From 2022 to 2024, during the bear market, Polkadot remained stagnant, while Solana doubled tenfold. I kept sideways, and my mindset was really shaken. The pace of ecosystem development is also relatively slow; the number and popularity of projects don’t compare to competing chains. The total locked value hasn’t experienced explosive growth either, and online it’s sometimes called the "Myanmar chain."

For me, Polkadot isn’t a project to gamble on meme coins for overnight riches. It’s more like a project that requires patience—Parity’s team keeps pushing technological iterations without much flashy marketing hype. After the bear market passes and the bull market arrives, who knows? Maybe a lot of people will regret not having invested earlier.

This is just my personal experience sharing, for reference only. Invest rationally.