Decentralized Finance network, Acala, reported on Monday that over 53,000 participants had contributed 8.5 million DOT (valued $451.8 million at the time of writing).
Investment corporations such as Digital Finance Group (DFG), who invested approximately 500,000 DOT ($26.5 million), backed the DeFi platform established on the Polkadot blockchain network ahead of its campaign for a parachain spot.
Unlike traditional crowdfunding rounds, Acala’s funding strategy is a crowd loan, which means it will have to repay the “crypto debt” it has raised from investors at some point. As compensation for the crowd financing, supporters will receive ACA tokens.
The Polkadot team announced Shell as the first parachain on Twitter on Friday, announcing that DOT token holders had approved Referendum 41. Polkadot’s Shell parachain will ensure block production, inclusion, and completion.
Polkadot’s DeFi hub will be powered by Acala Network’s layer-1 smart contracts platform. Polkadot is a platform that enables many blockchains to send messages, including value, in a permissionless manner, while sharing their unique features and pooling their security.
In the meantime, demand for Polkadot’s parachains has driven DOT prices to new highs. DOT traded above $54 over the weekend before falling to $53 on Monday, giving it a market valuation of $55 billion and making it the world’s eighth-largest blockchain by value.