Polkadot Asset Hub Explained
The Polkadot Asset Hub can be intimidating, especially for crypto newbies. But it doesn’t need to be. Read Polkadot Asset Hub Explained to learn everything you need to know about it!
What is Polkadot Asset Hub?
The Polkadot Asset Hub is a part of the Polkadot network that manages the creation and use of different assets, such as tokens and NFTs. It serves as a central store for these assets and uses the DOT token for operations, allowing easy transfer to the Relay Chain. However, the system doesn't have its own governance, relying on the Relay Chain instead. It also doesn't offer inflation or era-based rewards, except for part of transaction fees, nor does it support smart contracts.
Sufficient Assets
On the Asset Hub, you do not need to have deposited any DOT or sufficient asset for the account to exist. In fact, the purpose of the Asset Hub is to facilitate the deployment of assets with significantly lower fees. This makes it a great solution for creators. The Relay Chain can approve any asset from the Asset Hub to allow an account to exist without any DOT balance, also known as a sufficient asset. Assets that don't meet this criteria can only be held by accounts that already have the minimum deposit of a sufficient asset or more DOT than the minimum required. Such approved assets can form accounts on the Asset Hub and pay transaction fees, removing the need for DOT.
*Before transferring a non-sufficient asset, make sure the receiver account has enough funds to cover the minimum deposit and future transaction fees. This is to help ensure the asset transfer is successful.
Fungible Assets
The assets on Asset Hub are similar to ERC20 on the Ethereum network, where each unit is equally represented in the Assets Pallet, but it also encodes logic directly into the chain's runtime, eliminating gas-metered operations for a more efficient execution with stable transaction fees. The Hub centralizes token minting and burning processes, enabling asset teams to perform all transactions there and distribute minted tokens to other parachains.
Asset Hub provides a user-friendly platform that allows users to move asset balances to their existing blockchain accounts, given they have enough assets. When sending an asset, the Asset Hub gathers leftover 'dust' balances, so if the minimum amount of an asset is 10 but a user has 25 and tries to send 20, Asset Hub will automatically transfer the full 25.
Non-Fungible Assets
Non-fungible assets (NFTs) are special because each one is unique. The Asset Hub stores these NFTs and records them on the blockchain. The computing process is fine-tuned and verified before every project launch. This prevents varying runtime measurements, resulting in smooth running and regular transaction costs. Users can transfer NFTs to different accounts on the Asset Hub. You will need to pay a transaction fee in DOT when sending the NFT.