Should You Buy Polkadot While It's Under $5?
Polkadot is aiming to power the next generation of Web3 applications.
The JAM upgrade will make Polkadot more flexible and developer-friendly, paving the way toward full-fledged Web3 apps and services.
Web3 could disrupt giants like Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Netflix in the future.
10 stocks we like better than Polkadot ›
The Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT) cryptocurrency is going through some pretty exciting changes these days. The Web3 Foundation's official crypto coin is becoming a distributed supercomputer, ready to provide a wide variety of apps and services. Yet, the coin price keeps falling.
Should you pick up a few Polkadot coins while they're available for less than $5 apiece? I think that's a good idea, and here's why.
First things first. Polkadot was designed to support a Web3 future. The social networks and paywalls of the Web2 world were unstoppable over the last 20 years. These days, a lot of web users are getting tired of this aging structure, looking around for new ideas. The Web3 idea is one alternative, bringing more personal freedom and giving content creators more control over their creations. In this system, gigantic hubs of advertising and social media connections are replaced by decentralized services. And Polkadot's app-building ecosystem provides a handy platform to get all the Web3 ideas done in the real world.
It's still a futuristic ideology with just a handful of early success stories. But in the long run, Web3 apps could take over your online community connections, your day-to-day financial management processes, and your favorite channels for text, video, and audio infotainment. The tools won't even run in the centrally managed cloud you know and love today, but in a new global network of blockchain-based systems. When tweaked just right, the crypto world's smart contracts can run any kind of program and perform all sorts of services. And that's what Polkadot is doing, with the help of many other cryptocurrency systems.
So far, Polkadot is mostly known for its ability to interact with other blockchain networks. This coin's smart contracts can tap into Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) monetary value storage, Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) sophisticated contracts, and Chainlink's (CRYPTO: LINK) real-world data reports, just to name a few.
It's also known as a complicated and cumbersome system, but that's changing in 2025. Polkadot's central blockchain will soon be replaced by a more flexible and standards-based system known as JAM (the Joint-Accumulate Machine, if you're curious). This is actually a virtual machine in the blockchain universe. It can compile and run any code for bog-standard central processors, because it's a software-driven and full-featured RISC-V processor.
For example, Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood has made it a habit to show off old-school computer games running on a test version of JAM. His personal laptop is good enough to make that work, but the full JAM upgrade will run on hundreds of server-class computers around the world. Imagine what this on-demand supercomputer can do for the Web3 vision.
JAM is coming up, probably in the second half of 2025. It won't cause an immediate frenzy in the Polkadot community, because it takes time for people to use new tools. Then the tools must create useful apps, which in turn need to find a target audience of actual users. So it's not a magic wand that will make Polkadot's developer community's dreams come true in a heartbeat, and it won't lift Polkadot's usage-based coin price right away.
But this is a much-needed step toward a true Web3 version of the online world. In the long run, I expect Web3 alternatives to disrupt the online experience as you know it today. Web2 leaders such as Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), and TikTok will either join the Web3 revolution or put up roadblocks instead. I can't wait to see how true innovators like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) will find their place in the Web3 era.
I could be wrong, of course. Web2 may stick around for another decade or two, as the current leaders focus on protecting the old social media world. Other cryptocurrencies can also support Web3-worthy apps, though they'll need to overcome Polkadot's built-in advantages first.
So I'm not betting the proverbial farm on Polkadot coins. I simply recommend any investor who agrees with the Web3 project's ideas to pick up a few Polkadot coins while they're cheap.
This cryptocurrency is only worth $6.6 billion today, which is a far cry from the trillion-dollar titans you see ruling today's Web2 structure. The coin price could multiply by 10 or 100 and still look small next to Meta and Alphabet. In short, Polkadot can be a big long-term winner even if it never matches the Magnificent 7 group's trillion-dollar market caps. I think that's worth a modest position in your long-term crypto portfolio.
Before you buy stock in Polkadot, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Polkadot wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $875,479!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 998% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join .
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, Netflix, and Polkadot. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, Meta Platforms, Netflix, and Spotify Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Should You Buy Polkadot While It's Under $5? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
27 minutes ago
- CNBC
Robinhood grows its global crypto footprint with U.S. stock tokens for the EU
CANNES — Fifteen years after flipping burgers at a McDonald's and teaching himself to code at night in a cramped apartment near the French Riviera, Robinhood crypto chief Johann Kerbrat is back. The last time he lived around Cannes, he was 21 — with no connections, no funding, and no formal business training. But he had a knack for programming and a drive to solve real-world problems. Kerbrat quit his job just before starting university in nearby Nice, and soon after launched his first fintech startup: a no-code payments company built from scratch to help small merchants create e-commerce sites without hiring developers. "It was in my little studio — probably smaller than your bathroom," he said. "Initially, we didn't have any employees, but it was right at the beginning of e-commerce. Back then, if you were a merchant you didn't really have an option, you had to hire an agency and spend tens of thousands of euros. The idea was to let people build their own thing without any technical knowledge — kind of what Shopify is doing now." But the timing was right. The early 2010s brought a boom in online commerce, and Kerbrat's tool gave small merchants a chance to compete. It also opened his eyes to how fragile and expensive the global financial system really was. A classmate from Greece told him how his family's bank accounts had been frozen during the eurozone crisis. Around the same time, merchants using his platform were struggling with high fees, chargebacks, and fraud. And then the Bitcoin white paper landed. "I was like, 'Okay, that's a solution for everything,' " he said Now, from Château de la Croix des Gardes, a Belle Époque mansion perched along the same coastline where he once lived and worked the night shift in fast food, he's part of the most ambitious crypto product suite in Robinhood's history. On Monday the company announced an expanded offering of tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs across Europe, crypto staking in the U.S., perpetual futures for eligible EU traders, and a new Layer 2 blockchain optimized for real-world asset settlement and 24/7 trading. "It's absolutely surreal," he said, seated inside the iconic Carlton Hotel — a five-star landmark that once felt impossibly out of reach. "When I was younger, I used to walk past this place — and I could have never, never stayed here." The announcement coincides with the Ethereum Community Conference, hosted in Cannes for the first time, and Robinhood's latest regulatory approvals across Europe. Robinhood's latest move is its most serious push yet to blend traditional finance with blockchain-based infrastructure. Kerbrat said the goal isn't to dazzle with features. It's to make crypto disappear into the background. He likened it to plumbing. "You don't think about how water gets to your tap," he said. "You just expect it to be there." But there is still plumbing to build out. At the heart of Monday's launch are tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs, now available to customers in 30 EU and European Economic Area countries. The tokens — built first on Arbitrum — offer 24/5 access, dividend support, and zero commission or spread from Robinhood. Eventually, they'll migrate to a custom Layer 2 blockchain built to support tokenized assets, seamless bridging, and self-custody. In the U.S., Robinhood is debuting staking for Ethereum and Solana, allowing users to earn rewards by supporting network operations. In Europe, crypto perpetual futures will offer eligible users up to 3x leverage, routed through Bitstamp. Other upgrades include smart exchange routing, tax lot management, and advanced charting tools — all designed to make crypto feel as seamless and intuitive as trading stocks. Shares of Robinhood are up over 100% this year. "When we talk about mass adoption," Kerbrat said, "This is what it looks like. A product people use — without needing to know how it works." For Kerbrat, who spent his adolescence between Cannes and Nice, the return isn't just symbolic. It's a measure of how far he's come — and how much still feels the same. His father worked in IT. His mother stayed home with him and his sister. One day, his dad brought home a clunky old Apple computer with a black-and-white screen and that was the spark. By 7, he was experimenting. By 11, he was programming regularly. And by 17, he was already trying to fix the broken parts of the internet economy he saw around him. His parents, now living further inland, drove in just in time to watch the launch. They remember the early days, he said — the tiny apartment, the first lines of code, the endless conversations with merchants who didn't quite believe his pitch — that anyone could build an e-commerce site without knowing how to code. "We chose Cannes because of licensing, and because the conference was here," he said. "But I'm not going to pretend it doesn't feel good." He paused, letting the moment settle. "I never thought I'd be back here like this."
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Saylor's Strategy Resumes Using Common Shares to Buy Bitcoin
Michael Saylor's Strategy is using common shares again to help finance the crypto treasury firm's purchases of Bitcoin following criticism of the practice by renowned short-seller Jim Chanos. The company formerly known as MicroStrategy Inc. said Monday it acquired $531.9 million of Bitcoin in the seven days ended June 29. It was the first now-almost-weekly purchase announcement since May that noted that the company sold common shares through an at-the-market sales program to fund the buying. It also sold two classes of preferred stock, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based Strategy said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filling. It owns about $64 billion in Bitcoin.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Quantum Threat: Bitcoin's Fight To Secure Our Digital Future
Will Bitcoin lead the fight against quantum computing to secure our digital future? Leeor Shimron Crypto thrives on cutting-edge technology, but quantum computing could challenge the cryptographic foundations that keep Bitcoin secure. As quantum advancements accelerate, concerns about risks to Bitcoin's blockchain are growing, but the threat extends far beyond crypto. Banking, payments, communications, and other critical industries face similar vulnerabilities, making quantum resilience a global imperative. Could Bitcoin developers, incentivized by a $2 trillion honey pot, lead the charge in pioneering quantum-resistant protections? Let's explore the quantum landscape, assess its impact on Bitcoin and society, and examine the proactive steps being taken to safeguard our digital future. The Quantum Leap: Where We Stand Today Quantum computing is no longer science fiction. Unlike classical computers, which process bits as 0s or 1s, quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously due to superposition and entanglement. This enables quantum machines to tackle complex problems, like cracking cryptographic codes, at unprecedented speeds. As of mid-2025, quantum computing is still in its adolescence. Google's Willow chip, a 105-qubit processor, made waves in 2024 by reducing error rates, a critical step toward scalable quantum systems. IBM is pushing for a 1,000-qubit chip by 2026 and aims for a million-qubit system by the early 2030s. Other players, like PsiQuantum, Intel, and QuEra Computing, are advancing, with PsiQuantum targeting a million-qubit photonic chip within a similar timeframe. These companies, alongside academic and government initiatives, are driving progress, but we're far from the millions of fault-tolerant qubits needed to break robust cryptographic systems like Bitcoin's. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) estimates that quantum computers capable of threatening current cryptographic standards won't emerge until the 2030s at the earliest. Significant hurdles in error correction and hardware stability remain, keeping practical, large-scale quantum computers a decade or more away. The Risk to Bitcoin: Cracking the Cryptographic Code Bitcoin's security rests on two cryptographic pillars: the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) for securing wallets and SHA-256 for mining and transaction integrity. These are rock-solid against classical computers, but quantum algorithms like Shor's and Grover's pose theoretical threats. Shor's algorithm could exponentially speed up factoring large numbers and discrete logarithm problems, potentially allowing a quantum computer to derive private keys from public keys. This would compromise Bitcoin wallets, particularly older Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) and reused Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) addresses that expose public keys. A 2022 Deloitte study estimated that 25% of Bitcoin's supply (roughly 4 million BTC, worth over $500 billion at current prices) could be vulnerable. Dormant wallets, like those attributed to Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, are especially at risk due to exposed public keys. Grover's algorithm, while less severe, could halve SHA-256's security strength, potentially giving quantum-equipped miners an edge in solving proof-of-work puzzles. This could centralize mining power, threatening Bitcoin's decentralized ethos, though the network's difficulty adjustment would likely mitigate short-term disruptions. A worst-case 'Q-Day' scenario, where a quantum computer cracks ECDSA en masse, could flood the market with stolen Bitcoin, eroding trust and potentially crashing its price. Experts like Jameson Lopp, CTO of Casa, warn that such an event could be catastrophic, though it remains a remote possibility. Timeframe: A Decade of Breathing Room? Bitcoin has time to prepare. Current quantum computers, like Google's Willow, are nowhere near the estimated 13–300 million qubits needed to crack ECDSA in a practical timeframe. IBM's roadmap suggests a few thousand qubits by 2033, still orders of magnitude short. Most experts peg the quantum threat to Bitcoin as at least a decade away, likely into the 2030s or beyond, given the engineering challenges of building fault-tolerant systems. However, some optimistic projections suggest Bitcoin could face risks within five years if quantum advancements dramatically outpace expectations. This view, driven by claims like Google's Craig Gidney's estimate of breaking RSA with fewer qubits, is a minority opinion and considered unlikely for Bitcoin's stronger ECDSA cryptography. More immediate is the 'harvest now, decrypt later' threat, where adversaries collect encrypted data today, like transaction data from dormant wallets, for future decryption, adding urgency to securing vulnerable addresses. Mitigation Strategies: Building a Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin The Bitcoin community is proactively addressing these risks. Here are the key strategies: Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): NIST has been standardizing quantum-resistant algorithms since 2016, with lattice-based cryptography (e.g., Dilithium, Falcon) and hash-based signatures (e.g., SPHINCS+, Lamport) as frontrunners. These rely on mathematical problems quantum computers struggle to solve. NIST has been standardizing quantum-resistant algorithms since 2016, with lattice-based cryptography (e.g., Dilithium, Falcon) and hash-based signatures (e.g., SPHINCS+, Lamport) as frontrunners. These rely on mathematical problems quantum computers struggle to solve. Soft Forks and Hybrid Models: Transitioning Bitcoin to PQC will likely involve a soft fork to introduce quantum-resistant signatures, such as Schnorr-based schemes with enhanced security. Proposals like QuBit, introduced by Bitcoin developer Hunter Beast, aim to integrate post-quantum public keys. Hybrid approaches, combining classical and quantum-resistant cryptography, could ensure backward compatibility during the transition. Transitioning Bitcoin to PQC will likely involve a soft fork to introduce quantum-resistant signatures, such as Schnorr-based schemes with enhanced security. Proposals like QuBit, introduced by Bitcoin developer Hunter Beast, aim to integrate post-quantum public keys. Hybrid approaches, combining classical and quantum-resistant cryptography, could ensure backward compatibility during the transition. Quantum-Resistant Address Migration Protocol (QRAMP): Conceptual proposals like QRAMP encourage users to move funds from vulnerable P2PK and P2PKH addresses to quantum-safe formats. While still in early discussion and lacking formal implementation, such protocols could protect existing funds, though they may increase transaction sizes and require community consensus. Conceptual proposals like QRAMP encourage users to move funds from vulnerable P2PK and P2PKH addresses to quantum-safe formats. While still in early discussion and lacking formal implementation, such protocols could protect existing funds, though they may increase transaction sizes and require community consensus. Best Practices for Users: Bitcoin holders can reduce risks by avoiding address reuse, using multisignature wallets, and storing assets in cold storage. These practices minimize public key exposure, making wallets harder to exploit even if quantum capabilities emerge. Bitcoin holders can reduce risks by avoiding address reuse, using multisignature wallets, and storing assets in cold storage. These practices minimize public key exposure, making wallets harder to exploit even if quantum capabilities emerge. Community Vigilance: Bitcoin's open-source community is its strength. Initiatives like Project Eleven's Q-Day Prize, offering 1 BTC to anyone who can crack an ECC key using Shor's algorithm, are stress-testing vulnerabilities and accelerating PQC adoption. The Bigger Picture: A Threat to Society's Digital Backbone Quantum computing's impact extends far beyond Bitcoin, threatening the cryptographic systems that underpin modern life. Banking relies on RSA and ECC for secure transactions, from wire transfers to credit card payments. A quantum breakthrough could expose bank accounts and financial systems to fraud, potentially disrupting global markets. Payment networks like Visa and Swift, which process trillions annually, depend on similar cryptography, and a 'Q-Day' breach could halt transactions or erode consumer trust. Communications platforms, such as TLS/SSL for secure browsing, VPNs, and encrypted messaging apps like Signal, face vulnerabilities, risking data breaches or surveillance on an unprecedented scale. Critical infrastructure, including healthcare systems storing sensitive patient data and government networks securing classified information, is equally at risk. The scale of the threat is staggering. The 2023 EY Quantum Approach to Cybersecurity report, citing a Forrester study, estimates a 50%-70% chance that quantum computers could break current cryptographic systems within 5 to 30 years, implying that a majority of global digital transactions relying on asymmetric cryptography (e.g., RSA, ECC) are vulnerable. National Security Memorandum 10 mandates U.S. federal systems transition to PQC by 2035, a timeline Bitcoin developers are likely to align with. Unlike centralized systems, which face bureaucratic delays, Bitcoin's decentralized governance and $2 trillion market cap create unique incentives. This massive 'honey pot' motivates developers to pioneer quantum-resistant solutions, potentially setting a standard for other industries. Projects like QuBit and QRL demonstrate that crypto can lead the way, leveraging open-source collaboration to deploy PQC faster than banks or governments. For investors, quantum risks are on the radar. BlackRock's 2025 filing for its Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) flagged quantum computing as a long-term concern, signaling institutional awareness. Bitcoin's adaptability gives it an edge, but transitioning to PQC could spark debates over block size, transaction throughput, and network upgrades—issues that have historically divided the community. The Path Forward: Preparedness, Not Panic Bitcoin's resilience lies in its ability to evolve. The Y2K crisis showed that tech systems can adapt to existential threats with coordinated effort, and Bitcoin's quantum challenge is no different. The community has a window, likely 10–15 years or even longer, to implement quantum-resistant solutions. Developers are laying the groundwork, and users can take immediate steps to secure assets. The real risk isn't quantum computing but complacency. Bitcoin developers, spurred by a $2 trillion incentive, are uniquely positioned to lead the charge in quantum-resistant cryptography, potentially creating best-in-class protections that banks, payment processors, and governments could emulate. As David Carvalho of Naoris Protocol noted, 'Satoshi gave the world a new monetary system but never said it couldn't evolve.' By embracing PQC, fostering consensus, and staying vigilant, Bitcoin can weather the quantum storm and set a precedent for a quantum-safe digital world.
