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Polkadot is on the brink of a significant event that will reshape its ecosystem. The upcoming Polkadot Crowdloan is set to unlock a staggering amount of over 100 million DOT tokens from the first batch of parachain auctions. This monumental release is not just a testament to the platform's growth and adoption but also a pivotal moment for its stakeholders. As these tokens become available, the dynamics of liquidity, trading, and staking within the Polkadot network are expected to witness a transformative shift.

However, it's essential to consider the longer-term prospects before making any hasty decisions on how to proceed with unlocked DOT.

If you are part of the Astar Network community and interested in leveraging that ecosystem, here's how you could make the most of your unlocked DOT:

1. Check your crowdloan contributions & claim your DOT.

Please note that if you initially made a native contribution on Polkadot, your DOT might be instantly unlocked and sent to your wallet. However, it depends on the decision of the specific parachain team.

Astar DOT were released automatically, please check your wallet.

How do you check your crowdloan contributions and claim your DOT?

Depending on how you contributed to the crowdloan, the first thing to do is to follow the specific procedures of that platform.

Typically, parachain teams will notify users when the DOT are available to be claimed and how to initiate the claim process.

If you contributed via a CEX, ensure you consult these platforms for guidance on retrieving your DOT, follow their official social media announcement, etc.

If you chose a non-custodial wallet to contribute to the crowdloan like Polkadot JS, Talisman Wallet, Nova Wallet or other, you can easily see your balance that is locked in crowdloans:

via SubWallet's crowdloan checking portal;
via Nova Wallet in the "Crowdloans" tab;
via the Talisman portal.

Claiming your DOT:

One of the possibilities to claim unlocked DOT is via Talisman Portal. Talisman Portal is a simple web application that allows you to see your entire Polkadot Portfolio (including prior crowdloan contributions), and also conveniently claim your DOT by connecting any wallet.

2. Bridge your DOT from the Native account to EVM.

The easiest way to transfer tokens to Astar EVM from Astar Native is via the Astar Portal.

Visit the Astar Portal and copy your Astar EVM address, or open up your MetaMask extension and copy your address.
Connect to Astar Native account and press the transfer button next to the token.

Add the information required and confirm.

Please find a more detailed guide in our Astar Documentation.

3. Using your ASTR

Disclaimer: This information is provided for general knowledge and informational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Always conduct your own research (DYOR) before making any investment decisions.

Provide liquidity One way to use ASTR is to deploy your capital on a DEX as a liquidity provider. Decentralized platforms offer rewards to individuals who supply liquidity, either with the platform's own token or its native token.

Several DeFi dApps on the Astar Network enable you to maintain liquidity while staking your ASTR, for instance:

On Arth Swap— a one-stop DeFi protocol that aspires to be the main DEX on the Astar Network, you can also engage in yield farming, enabling users to earn passive income on their crypto. Thanks to their user-friendly interface, anyone can quickly get started. Learn more here.

Another venue to earn on your holdings is Algem — a native liquid staking DeFi dApp on top of Astar Network, offering new ways for ASTR users and holders to earn more. It empowers users to increase their earnings potential by staking while yield farming. Learn more here.

2. Engage in dApp staking On the Astar/Shiden Network, dApp staking is a program that supports developers, providing them with a steady income to enhance their applications, as well as users for supporting their favorite projects. Essentially, dApp staking mirrors validator staking, but here, dApp stakers or nominators allocate their Astar/Shiden tokens to dApps they endorse. With each block, a segment of the rewards is allocated to dApp staking, split between developers and nominators. More information on dApp staking and how to get involved can be found here.

Explore the first vDOT pool paired with ASTR initiated by Bifrost vDot — a tradable and interchangeable asset — is a liquid staking token issued and maintained by Bifrost, which allows you to re-stake your DOT. As the staking rewards accumulate, the value of vDOT rises without altering the number of tokens. Moreover, it allows for fast unstaking, stable trading, automatic validator selection, and voting across different chains.

About Astar Network

Astar Network is the gateway for projects across enterprises, entertainment & gaming in Japan and beyond, driving global adoption and delivering web3 to billions. It leverages a cross-virtual machine powered by Polygon and Polkadot to offer customizable blockchain solutions that accelerate web3 adoption. With zk-powered Ethereum L2 Scaling (zkEVM), EVM, Wasm, and a cutting-edge ecosystem, Astar delivers robust, secure, and interoperable web3 technology. Astar zkEVM is the new Layer-2 solution to scale a web3 experience on Ethereum with zero knowledge (ZK) technology. Astar Network adds an EVM equivalent environment that is seamlessly compatible with existing smart contracts, developer tools, and wallets on Ethereum.