In a recent tweet thread, Polkadot announced some of the latest projects to launch on the ecosystem. A wide variety of Polkadot projects – from digital identity to metaverses – have commenced on Polkadot’s blockchain. Subsequently, $DOT posted consistent gains throughout January. Here are five of the latest parachains in Polkadot’s ecosystem.

1. KILT Protocol

   KILT ($KILT) is a decentralized identity protocol that provides users with self-sovereign credentials and the KILT DID (decentralized identifier), similar to a fingerprint or face scan. The protocol brings self-identity into the digital world and secures it from theft or corruption on the blockchain. 

   The KILT team published a blog post on Medium in which they explained the service by saying, “you can anchor your DID on the blockchain. This means that unlike an identity card [...] no external body can cancel or delete the core of your identity.”

   The value add is most noticeable in market checkout services such as PayPal, now available to use on the KILT blockchain, and bulk orders of DIDs which companies can purchase to pay wages to employees through the blockchain. 

2. Efinity

   Efinity is an NFT infrastructure and cross-chain metaverse. Built as a PoW blockchain by Enjin, Efinity uses its $EFI token to reward miners; the token has NFT functionality and is compatible with Efinity’s metaverse games. The platform is also compatible with fungible and non-fungible tokens to bridge the gap between web2 functionality and web3 opportunity.

   By doing this, Efinity is able to build its community through active participation in the blockchain’s functionality and at a deeper level than just vote casting in governance as is the case with most blockchains.
   NFTs and GameFi have so far failed to convince the market of their substantive value. Efinity’s main objective is to reduce many of the obstacles that have hampered value in the NFT market, web3 gaming, and the metaverse, by emphasizing its own web3 platform as the base of token utilization which can amplify token value through innovative use cases.

3. OriginTrail

   OriginTrail ($TRAC) is a web3 supply chain solution that uses a decentralized knowledge graph (DKG) to store and organize data. The DKG spreads out data on an immutable blockchain, making shipping forms and transit updates much more accessible than they would be in traditional data silos that are unconnected. 

   OriginTrail calls some of its data “knowledge assets” because it can be shared and verified by the parties involved in shipping products. Its latest update uses the DKG to provide supply chain visibility specifically for medical products. 

   Obviously, medical products are crucial for people to receive so having wider visibility into the supply chain via the DKG is a massive value-add. For example, shipments that are stalled due to bad weather or other delays, a company can initiate a backup supply to be shipped.

4. MantaNetwork

   MantaNetwork is a multi-chain privacy architecture for web3. Using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) and the BYOT (bring your own token) model, Manta provides web3 users with on-chain privacy for a user’s multiple digital assets and wallets. 

   Using MantaPay and the $MANTA token, the parachain supports assets on Polkadot, Kusama, and other blockchains. Manta’s layer-1 network is able to communicate with Polkadot’s XCM protocol to pass data securely back and forth across the parachain. Providing security and anonymity to data and digital assets that move across different chains makes Manta a standout web3 product.

5. GameDAO

   GameDAO is a dApp that connects creators, game developers, investors, and other parties together to build eSports games. The project believes that by supporting and growing a community of fans from different professional backgrounds that better games can be created. 

   GameDAO is a marked step away from the failures of GameFi and Play-to-Earn games in 2022 when companies were either riding the coattails of web2 games and/or putting money as the central incentive for gameplay rather than what traditional gamers want most: community and creative gameplay experiences.

   DOT surges on Polkadot projects

   These Polkadot projects have convinced the market that Polkadot’s contributions to the blockchain infrastructure are valuable. $DOT surged 44.65% in January from $4.30 on Jan. 1 to $6.22 on Jan. 31. DOT sits at $6.69 at press time. 

   While it is still too early to tell if the crypto winter is over, multichains like Polkadot are proving that blockchain infrastructure is valuable; and with DOT’s January price surge, it would appear the market thinks so, too.

   While other multichains like Polygon are bringing web3 into the mainstream through well-known brand partnerships to prove use cases, Polkadot is providing value underneath web3 by supporting these blockchain infrastructure projects.