Despite criticism, @Polkadot remains one of the best-performing blockchains when evaluated across global metrics.

Polkadot achieves transaction finality in just ~30 seconds, far faster than Bitcoin (~10 min), Ethereum (~6–12 min), Cardano (~2 min), or Polygon (~30 min).
Faster finality means transactions are confirmed and irreversible almost instantly, which is essential for DeFi, gaming, and real-time applications.

When it comes to decentralization, Polkadot is also the best. The Nakamoto Coefficient is ~149, it far surpasses Bitcoin (~3), Ethereum (~2), Solana (~21), and Cardano (~25–58).

A higher coefficient makes it significantly harder for any small group to attack or censor the network, making Polkadot one of the most decentralized blockchains.

In terms of governance, Polkadot also leads. It uses full on-chain governance (OpenGov), where DOT holders vote directly on upgrades, treasury allocations, and proposals.

By contrast, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Solana still rely on off-chain governance, while Cardano has only partial on-chain mechanisms.

On fees, Polkadot is highly cost-efficient. Transaction costs range from $0.0001 to $0.0005, much lower than Ethereum ($5–$50+ during congestion) and competitive with BSC (~$0.20) and Bitcoin ($1–$5).

Solana may be cheaper (<$0.05), but it comes with far greater centralization.

Polkadot also maintains an extremely low slashing rate (<0.002% of blocks), highlighting robust validator discipline and strong network security.

By comparison, Ethereum’s rate is ~0.004%, Cosmos is similarly low, while Bitcoin and Cardano use models where slashing is minimal or not applied.

Summary:
Polkadot consistently outperforms or rivals other top blockchains across the most critical metrics:

+ Ultra-fast finality (~30s)
+ Highest decentralization (Nakamoto coeff. ~149)
+ On-chain democratic governance
+ Ultra-low fees with strong security
+ Native interoperability & shared security
+ Stable operations with almost no slashing events