%{{tag.tag}} {{articledata.title}} {{moment(articledata.cdate)}} @{{articledata.company.replace(" ","")}} comment Cryptoprowl.com / Blockchain firm Polkadot (CRYPTO: $DOT ) is preparing to undergo an economic upgrade that will begin on March 12 of this year. The update will introduce a 2.1 billion DOT supply cap, a 53.6% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and add new staking mechanisms. The project also said that, going forward, its unbonding period will be reduced from 28 days to 24 to 48 hours.Founded by Ethereum co-founder Dr. Gavin Wood, Polkadot is an open-source protocol that connects and secures specialized, independent blockchains to enable data transfers.Polkadot aims to enable decentralized Web3 protocols by allowing blockchains to operate interoperably rather than in isolation. Polkadot's native token, called DOT, is used for staking, governance, and connecting various blockchains.Dr. Wood has said that Polkadot's focus is on security, scalability, and innovation. Polkadot's development team says the new economic upgrade is one of the biggest changes to be made to the protocol since its inception. DOT is used for "bonding," which is when new parachains are added to the ecosystem. DOT remains locked during the bonding period and is released after the parachain is removed. The new upgrade will dramatically speed-up the amount of time before DOT is released, say its developers. DOT is currently trading at $1.48 U.S., having fallen nearly 50% since its launch.