What Is Polkastarter (POLS)?

TL;DR

Polkastarter is a decentralized fundraising platform that allows blockchain teams and companies to fund and launch their projects. It empowers projects to create multi-chain token pools while raising funds and growing their communities.

POLS is the platform’s utility and governance token. To participate in an IDO on Polkastarter, users need to hold or stake POLS to boost their POLS Power.

Introduction

IDO (Initial DEX Offering) is a popular crowdfunding method in the blockchain space. Among the various IDO platforms, Polkastarter is gaining popularity for its scalability and interoperability. By choosing Polkastarter, blockchain projects can increase their exposure, grow their communities, and tap into a pool of advisers and partners.

What is Polkastarter?

Polkastarter is an IDO launchpad for decentralized and multi-chain token pools. It allows crypto startups to raise capital in a fixed-swap pool and distribute their new tokens to early investors. Polkastarter was founded in 2020 by Daniel Stockhaus, Tiago Martins, and Miguel Leite. 

As of Q1 2022, it has already assisted more than 100 projects to raise $45 million through public and private sales. Apart from IDOs, the platform also supports GameFi launchpads, metaverse land sales, and other NFT sales.

Key features of Polkastarter

Polkastarter is a multi-chain decentralized fundraising platform that offers low transaction fees. With Polkastarter, new projects can launch on different blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Celo, and Avalanche. They can also accept any tokens that are compatible with these networks during the IDO sales. Let’s take a closer look at the key features Polkastarter offers.

Fixed Swap Pools

Fixed Swap Pools are one of the core features of Polkastarter. Unlike the Automated Market Maker (AMM) model adopted by Uniswap and other decentralized exchanges (DEXs), Polkastarter’s liquidity pools execute swap orders at a fixed price.

Typically with the DeFi AMM pools, token prices will be adjusted dynamically based on supply and demand, often leading to volatile price swings. To stabilize prices, Polkastarter allows projects to list their new tokens at predetermined prices. The fixed price will be maintained for as long as there are tokens remaining in the original supply.

Projects can also set up pools with additional parameters to exercise more control over their fundraisings. For example, they can control the maximum investment per user or the number of investors allowed in the pool. The entire process is controlled by smart contracts, which ensure a fair and transparent token distribution.

IDO farming

Typically, IDO participants tend to withdraw their tokens immediately after the initial distribution to sell on the market, leading to volatile price swings. To address this, the Polkastarter V3 upgrade will introduce IDO farming, a feature that encourages IDO participants to stake their newly acquired tokens to earn additional rewards. 

IDO farming is designed to lower the selling pressure, and it works similarly to other staking farms. The longer they stake, the higher the rewards they can get. And with every user that withdraws their stake, the APY of the pool will go up, giving the remaining stakers an even higher yield.

KYC

Polkastarter also includes an allowlist model for added security benefits. It’s a KYC function that only allows verified users to participate in IDOs. Projects can design what KYC requirements users need to complete before they are eligible for the IDOs. They can also restrict participants from certain geographical locations, giving the team more flexibility and control over the allowlisting process.

Polkastarter gaming

Polkastarter launched the Polkastarter Gaming Guild to accommodate the rising popularity of play-to-earn (P2E) games. It aims to connect GameFi projects and gaming enthusiasts around the globe. Polkastarter Gaming has launched a $2 million fund to support up-and-coming metaverse projects. In addition, the Polkastarter Gaming Guild (PGG) was established to provide scholarships to help new play-to-earn users navigate the metaverse. Users can expect more gaming IDOs and the launch of an NFT marketplace in the future.

What is POLS?

POLS is the utility token of the Polkastarter ecosystem. It’s an ERC-20 token with a maximum supply of 100 million. POLS is running mainly on the Ethereum blockchain, but there is also a BEP-20 version available on the BNB Smart Chain.

POLS is used as a governance token that will give holders the right to vote and submit proposals related to Polkastarter development. These include proposals on new features, token utility, tokens listed on the platform, and more. Polkastarter plans to move to a fully automated DAO governance structure in the future.

What is POLS Power?

POLS Power determines your chance of participating in an IDO and NFT sale. It’s an aggregator that calculates the eligible POLS balance users have across the platform, including POLS in their wallet and the POLS that they’re staking. To gain access to an IDO, users need to get their wallet addresses on the “allowlist”. It’s a lottery system that rewards users 1 ticket for every 250 POLS. During an IDO, addresses are chosen at random. 

With more tickets their chances of being selected will be higher. With more POLS, the value of the tickets will also increase. There are 5 tiers of POLS Power, which can increase the value of each ticket by up to 25%. The top tier (30,000+ POLS) will also grant users the “No Cooldown” status, meaning they can participate in as many IDOs as they wish, provided they pass KYC.

How to gain POLS Power

1. Hold POLS in a wallet. This is the easiest way to obtain POLS Power. You can buy POLS from cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance or on a DEX like Uniswap and transfer them to a MetaMask. The POLS will turn into POLS Power after 7 days if the user doesn’t move or sell them.

2. Stake POLS. Instead of just holding POLS in a crypto wallet, you can stake them on Ethereum or BNB Chain to increase their POLS Power. Staking POLS will immediately grant access to all open and future IDOs, and the staked tokens will be locked on-chain for the next 7 days before they can be withdrawn.

How to participate in an IDO or NFT sale on Polkastarter?

1. Head to the [Projects] page on Polkastarter to check the upcoming NFT and token sales. Click on the project you want to participate in.

2. Click [Apply Now] and fill in some basic information to join the allowlist. 

3. The project team will process all applications, and the allowlist lottery will be generated based on all applicants’ POLS Power. It’s up to the projects to determine how many users they allowlist, so your chance of successfully participating in the sale will vary.

4. If you’re lucky and get allowlisted, you’ll need to complete KYC verification. Also, make sure you have sufficient funds in your respective chain wallet before the sale.

5. On the day of the launch, go to the project page and click [Join], enter the amount you want to contribute and click [Join Pool]. Once the transaction is confirmed, you’ll see a confirmation on the [Allocations] page. You can then claim your tokens after the IDO ends, according to the vesting schedule. 

Closing thoughts

Polkastarter is a great platform for new businesses and startups to raise capital and start their crypto projects. It can also provide investors easy access to the newest blockchain projects. In addition to Fixed Swap Pools, POLS staking, NFT sales, multi-chain support, and all the existing features, Polkastarter is also planning to upgrade its governance model, so users can get more involved in the decision-making process and overall development.