The information contained in this Crypto Asset Statement was last updated on November 6, 2025.
No securities regulatory authority in Canada has expressed an opinion about Polkadot or any of the other Crypto Contracts or Crypto Assets made available through Newton Crypto Ltd. (Newton) on the Newton Platform, including an opinion that Polkadot itself is not a security and/or derivative. Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.
Newton is offering Crypto Contracts in reliance on a prospectus exemption contained in the exemptive relief decision Re Newton Crypto Ltd. dated March 12, 2025. The statutory rights of action for damages and the right of rescission in section 130.1 of the Securities Act (Ontario) and similar legislation in the other provinces and territories of Canada would not apply in respect of a misrepresentation in this Crypto Asset Statement or the Newton Platform Risk Statement.
This overview provides a summary of certain risks associated with DOT and is not an exhaustive description or summary of these risks and, in addition, does not take into account an individual’s particular situation or risk tolerance. Investors are encouraged to conduct their own research prior to trading any crypto asset.
Newton users should read the Newton Platform Risk Statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with crypto assets made available through the Newton Platform. A copy of the Newton Platform Risk Statement acknowledged by you is available in your account in the “Statements & Reports” section.
Token Description & Project Background
Polkadot is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that launched in May 2020. It was created by Robert Habermeier, Dr. Gavin Wood (co-founder of Ethereum), and Peter Czaban. The Polkadot platform was developed to enable a more connected and interoperable blockchain ecosystem.
Polkadot connects different blockchains with one another and supports cross-blockchain transfers of any type of data or asset, not just tokens. It is designed to be highly scalable, with no fixed limit on the number of chains or transactions it can support.
DOT is the native token of the Polkadot network and serves three main purposes: governance over the network, staking, and bonding. Because DOT functions as a governance token, holders can stake their tokens to gain voting rights and earn participation rewards. Staking gives token-holders the ability to influence and participate in the governance of the network.
DOT holders can also choose to participate as validators, nominators, collators, or fishermen within the network’s Nominated Proof-of-Stake system. Polkadot encourages holders to act as nominators, who may vouch for up to 16 validators as trusted candidates. Both validators and nominators have the option to lock their tokens as collateral to earn staking rewards.
Risks of DOT
Like an investment in other crypto assets, an investment in DOT includes the following general risks: (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk.
For additional information of general risks associated with crypto assets, you may refer to the Newton Platform Risk Statement. In terms of specific risks, as DOT is one of the longest-standing crypto assets and its community base is widely decentralized, there is no central working group or authority which is obligated to disclose material information to the public regarding DOT.
Please note that these risks and the associated summaries or overviews provided for each herein are not intended to be an exhaustive discussion pertaining to all such risks and, in addition, there may be other risks that come with exposure to DOT. We encourage all Newton users to perform their own due diligence to assess the risks associated with DOT and to determine whether this level of risk is acceptable to them. Neither DOT nor Newton guarantees the value of DOT, and holders of DOT will not have any recourse to DOT or Newton if the value of DOT declines for any reason whatsoever.
Newton’s Evaluation Process
Newton has reviewed and assessed DOT prior to making it available on the Newton Platform and has concluded that DOT is not a security or derivative under Canadian securities legislation; however, there is a risk that this conclusion could change in the future and that, in such event, Newton will be required to halt, suspend, and then remove DOT from its Platform as described in the Newton Platform Risk Statement.
Further, as indicated above, no Canadian securities regulatory authority has expressed an opinion about DOT, including an opinion that DOT is not itself a security and/or derivative.
Based on publicly available information Newton has reviewed DOT, including, but not limited to, a review of the following:
- The creation, governance, usage, and design of DOT, including the source code, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community and, if applicable, the background of the developer(s) that created DOT.
- The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of DOT.
- Material technical risks associated with DOT, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning DOT and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
- Legal and regulatory risks associated with DOT, including (i) any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of DOT, and (ii) statements made by any securities regulatory authorities in Canada, other regulators in IOSCO-member jurisdictions, or the regulator with the most significant connection to DOT about whether DOT, or generally about whether the type of crypto asset, is a security and/or derivative.
A link to the Polkadot White Paper is available at the following link.
Addendum to Crypto Asset Statement (DOT)
How Does DOT staking work?
The Polkadot network uses a Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism, which allows any DOT holder to stake their DOT to support validators on the Polkadot network. Validators play a critical role in securing the blockchain by verifying transactions, maintaining on-chain records, and producing new blocks. To join the active validator set, validators must meet specific technical and bonding requirements. Regular token holders can delegate (nominate) their DOT to trusted validators, enabling them to participate in staking and earn rewards without the need to run their own node.
Staking rewards on the Polkadot network are distributed to validators and nominators at the end of each era (approximately 24 hours), based on the total amount staked and the validator’s performance. Validators may take a commission fee from the rewards earned by their nominators. Staked DOT remains bonded for the duration of the staking period and does not automatically unlock. To withdraw staked tokens, nominators or validators must initiate unbonding, which is subject to a 28-day unbonding period. Nominators can adjust their validator nominations without unbonding their tokens.
Supported Validators
The infrastructure providers of the validator nodes that Newton arranges to stake DOT with and the total fees for staking DOT are set out below under the heading Staking Asset Supplementary Disclosure: Polkadot (DOT).
Approved validators will receive a fee (a Validator Commission) based on a percentage of staking rewards earned from the delegated DOT. The Validator Commission is determined by the validator directly. The estimated annual percent yield (APY) presented in-app is inclusive of this fee.
Eras
Activity on Polkadot is partitioned in time, into eras, with each era being of approximately 24 hours.
Staking Rewards
Staking rewards on Polkadot are computed once per era. Rewards accrued in a given era must be triggered by somebody on a per-validator basis. Typically validators will take care of this, but anyone can permissionlessly trigger rewards payout for all the nominators whose stake has backed a specific validator in the active set of that era. Rewards payouts for DOT staked on the Newton Platform will be triggered by Newton’s infrastructure provider, listed at the bottom of this document. When rewards are received, Newton will calculate and distribute your share of DOT staking rewards to your respective account on a weekly basis, following an initial warm-up period of one era. For each rewards distribution period, your share of DOT staking rewards is proportional to the amount of DOT that you had staked when the reward period began. When you unstake your DOT, you may be ineligible to receive any staking rewards for that period.
Staking Fees
Newton charges you a fee equal to a percentage of staking rewards to be received by or attributed to your staked DOT through Newton’s Platform. The amount of the fee for staking DOT is set out below under the heading Staking Asset Supplementary Disclosure: Polkadot (DOT) next to “Reward Fee”. This fee includes the Validator Commission described above along with Newton’s staking fee, and is deducted prior to any staking rewards being distributed to your account.
Custody of Staked DOT
DOT staked through Newton’s Platform are staked from dedicated wallets with Newton’s custodian (Coinbase Custody Trust Company) with approved validators. Newton’s custodian will continue to hold the private keys or other cryptographic key material required to control staked DOT for so long as these assets are staked. Your staked DOT will not leave Newton’s omnibus accounts with the cold wallet custodian and your DOT will continue to be attributed to your account.
Staking Asset Supplementary Disclosure: Polkadot (DOT)
Prior to staking any DOT, please review Newton’s Platform Risk Statement and the Crypto Asset Statement for DOT.
DOT can be staked on the Newton Platform. The following is a summary of the key fees, bonding periods, and other relevant factors to staking DOT on Newton’s Platform. This disclosure is in addition to and should be read with the risk information provided in Newton’s Platform Risk Statement and the other elements of this Crypto Asset Statement for DOT.
| Crypto Asset | DOT |
| Currency in which Staking rewards are paid out | DOT |
| Bonding Period | Up to 24 Hours, or 1 era |
| Slashing Protection | None, slashing possible. |
| Validator Commission | 8% |
| Newton Fee | 5% |
| Reward Yield (inclusive of fees) | Up to 12.1% |
| Are Rewards automatically staked? | Yes |
| Unbonding Period | Up to 29 days |
| Reward payout interval | Weekly, in arrears, after initial warm-up period |
| Minimum amount of crypto required to stake | $10 CAD equivalent |
Newton arranges to stake DOT with validator nodes operated by the following infrastructure providers:
| Infrastructure Provider | Description |
| Coinbase Crypto Services, LLC | Coinbase Crypto Services, LLC, is a subsidiary of Coinbase Global Inc., and an affiliate of Coinbase Custody Trust Company LLC (CCTC). CCTC is the cold wallet custodian for 80% or more of Newton’s Client Assets. |
* Rewards are expressed as a percentage of units of the crypto asset staked and not the Canadian dollar value of crypto assets staked.
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