# What are crowdloans

Parachains connect to Polkadot by leasing a slot on the Relay Chain for up to 96 weeks at a time, with the option to renew. Parachain slots are assigned by an on-chain auction, with auction winners locking up a bond in DOT for the duration of the lease. Auctions and crowdloans raise the bar for blockchain projects, incentivizing them to demonstrate their technology and gain community support prior to launch. Read more [here](https://polkadot.network/auctions/).

* [Acala Crowdloan](/crowdloans/acala-crowdloan.md)
* [Karura Crowdloan](/crowdloans/crowdloan.md)


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