Polkadot

Chapter 52: Polkadot/Substrate Nodes

Overview

Polkadot is a multi-chain platform enabling interoperability between different blockchains. It uses a unique relay chain and parachain architecture.

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52.1 Polkadot Basics

Feature	Value
Consensus	GRANDPA + BABE
Block Time	6-12 seconds
Architecture	Relay Chain + Parachains
Token	DOT

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52.2 Node Types

Type	Description
Relay Chain	Core blockchain
Parachain	Connected blockchains
Validator	Secures relay chain
Collator	Collects parachain transactions

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52.3 Installing Polkadot

Install

# Install Rust
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env

# Build Polkadot
git clone https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot.git
cd polkadot
cargo build --release

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52.4 Running a Node

Basic Commands

# Start full node
polkadot --name "my-node"

# Start validator
polkadot \
  --validator \
  --name "my-validator" \
  --chain polkadot

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52.5 Substrate

Substrate is the framework for building Polkadot parachains.

# Install substrate
cargo install substrate-contract-node

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Summary

• Polkadot uses relay chain + parachain architecture
• DOT token for staking and governance
• Substrate for building custom chains

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Next Chapter

In Chapter 53: Bitcoin Nodes, we’ll explore Bitcoin nodes.

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Last Updated: 2026-02-20