POLKADOT: VISION FOR A HETEROGENEOUS MULTI-CHAIN FRAMEWORK DRAFT 1 21 fishermen. Development is predicated on an initial feasibility analysis giving a favourable result. Some additional functionality may need to be added to (or unlocked from) the Bitcoin protocol to support this functionality. Abstract/low-level decentralised applications: Trust-freetokenexchange,asset-trackinginfrastructure, crowd- sale infrastructure. Contract language: Certainly not an integral part of the project, but a nice stretch-goal nonetheless. Would include a safe contract language together with tutorials, guidelines and educational tools. It may include means of making formal proofs as per the original Solidity language vision or could be based around some other programmingparadigmwhichhelpsminimisecriticalprocesserrorssuchasfunctionalprogrammingorcondition- orientated programming. IDE: Based on the contract language, this would facilitate editing, collaboration, publication and debugging of contracts on the parachains. A far stretch goal. Appendix B. Frequently Asked Questions Is Polkadot designed to replace (insert blockchain here): No. The goal of Polkadot is to provide a frame- work under which new blockchains may be created and to which existing blockchains can, if their communities desire, be transitioned. Is Polkadot designed to replace (insert crypto-currency here): No. Polkadot tokens are neither intended nor designed to be used as a currency. They would make a bad currency: most will remain illiquid in the staking system and those that are liquid will face substantial fees for transfer of ownership. Rather, the purpose of Polkadot tokens is to be a direct representation of stake in the Polkadot network. What is the inflation rate for Polkadot staking tokens: The Polkadot staking token base expansion is un- limited. It rises and lowers according to market effects in order to target a particular proportion of tokens held under long-term bond in the validation process. Whydoes staking token ownership reflect stakeholding: Thisisamechanismrealisedbythefactthatthey underpin the network’s security. As such their value is tied to the overall economic value that Polkadot provides. Any actors who gain overall value from Polkadot operating correctly are incentivised to ensure it continues to do so. The best means of doing so is to take part in the validation process. This generally implies ownership of staking tokens.