# Becoming a DOT Holder

All contributions to the Acala Crowdloan must be made in DOT. As such, it’s important that users wishing to participate in the crowdloans become DOT holders so they can make their contribution.

## What is DOT?

DOT serves three key functions within the Polkadot ecosystem. The first function is as a way to govern the network. DOT holders are able to vote on things such as determining fees for the Polkadot network, auction dynamics, exceptional events such as upgrades, etc. The second function is that DOT helps operate and secure the network. Participants wishing to validate transactions on Polkadot must put their DOT at risk (referred to as “staking”). The third function is for creating parachains by bonding DOT. DOT is the only accepted contribution token for projects to secure a parachain lease on Polkadot.

## Where Can I Get DOT?

You can find a list of exchanges that trade DOT [here](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polkadot-new/markets/).

## How Can I View My DOT Balance?

If you've downloaded the [polkadot.js extension](https://polkadot.js.org/extension/) and [created a DOT account](/crowdloans/acala-crowdloan/dot-address/creating-a-new-dot-account.md), connect to the [polkadot.js user interface](https://polkadot.js.org/apps/) to view your balance. Click on `Accounts` and you'll see all of the accounts that you've created in your polkadot.js browser extension. If an account is not showing up, go to the browser extension and make sure all of your addresses are set to `Allow use on any chain`. Also, make sure that you are connected to the Polkadot network by looking in the upper left corner. If it doesn't say Polkadot in the upper right, click on the dropdown and select `Polkadot`.

![](/files/Yv7NAkEvzwpkN1aQVMMe)


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