Polkadot↗ and Kusama↗ Gifts are a new way to send DOT or KSM to anyone, even if they don’t already have an account or wallet.

Onboarding new users is one of the biggest challenges for any blockchain network. For members of the Polkadot community, until now the only way to get friends and family who are new to blockchain onboard with Polkadot has been to teach them how to set up their own wallet or send them to a centralized custodial service.

Now, using Polkadot or Kusama Gifts, community members can send DOT or KSM to friends and family in a trustless, non-custodial way, and they’ll be guided through the process of setting up an account and wallet. Gift recipients don’t need to have any previous experience with blockchain technology.

Polkadot Gifts provide an easy way to:

• Onboard friends or family who are curious about blockchain but haven’t made the leap yet
• Share your love of Polkadot and send any amount of DOT or KSM
• Say ‘thank you’ or send someone tokens when you don’t know their address
• Get friends and family set up to participate in crowdloans

Creating a Gift

Polkadot Gifts let you generate a unique ‘gift secret’, a 16-digit number that works as a voucher for your recipient to claim the gift.

To get started, visit the website for Polkadot Gifts↗ (for DOT gifts) or Kusama Gifts↗ (for KSM gifts). The process is the same on both networks:

1. Connect your account via the Polkadot-JS browser extension, your Ledger device, or Parity Signer.

2. Enter the recipient’s name and the amount you want to send. Confirm the details and click ‘confirm’. This will generate a transaction for you to sign, as you would for any transaction.

3. Once the gift is generated you’re ready to go! Just send the message* with the unique gift secret to the recipient via your favorite secure messaging app, or print the message out and give it to them in person.

*Note that anyone with access to the gift secret can claim your gift, so it should not be shared with anyone other than the intended recipient, and should be kept safe until the gift is claimed. Once the gift is claimed by the recipient, the gift secret no longer holds any value.

Receiving a Gift

Gift recipients just need to visit the Polkadot Gifts↗ or Kusama Gifts↗ page, and they are guided through the process of claiming the gift and setting up an account and wallet using the Polkadot-JS browser extension if they don’t already have one. If they already have an account, they can simply claim the gift to their existing address.

Explaining Polkadot

After you’ve sent your gift, how do you explain blockchain and Polkadot in simple terms to friends and family?

To start you off, blockchain could be described as a new type of computer technology being used to create a new, fairer version of the internet that doesn’t rely on intermediaries, where users, not big corporations, own their own data and have control over what they do online.

Polkadot is a blockchain that connects other blockchains together into a single network, providing them with security and the ability to communicate with each other. Polkadot was designed to set the foundation for this new, fairer internet, also known as Web 3.0, by bringing diverse blockchain networks together into a single collaborative system.

For more beginner-friendly Polkadot explainers, see “What is Polkadot” Part 1 & Part 2, the Polkadot Lightpaper↗, and check out this animated explainer video↗.

Get Started

Ready to try it out and send your first gifts? Visit Polkadot Gifts↗ to send DOT or Kusama Gifts↗ to send KSM.

Polkadot is a scalable sharded chain and the first protocol that provides a secure environment for cross-chain composability across multiple shards. Polkadot also introduces a highly advanced, open governance system that will allow the network to innovate and grow at a much more rapid pace than legacy networks. Keep up to date with developments in the ecosystem by following Polkadot on Twitter↗ or joining in the conversation on Reddit↗.