The sleeping giant in the cryptosphere has completed its most productive quarter yet. While the industry was focused on the destruction of its venture capital and lending sector, Polkadot developers silently shipped hundreds of upgrades without the use of any forks across its Substrate-based chains while the Web3 Foundation distributed dozens of grants.
As Q3 begins, the multi-chain network’s health is in good shape. New parachains are joining its main relay network and sister network Kusama. If the blockchain of blockchains founded by Dr Gavin Wood can maintain this momentum, Polkadot will be a force to be reckoned with when the markets rally and the “up only” era returns.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
To mangle an aphorism, only when the tide goes out can you tell who’s been actively building. Numerous crypto projects have been left in the dust by recent market turmoil. There is not enough runway for them to survive and they don’t have any milestones to show their merit. Polkadot, and the Web3 Foundation(W3F), are lucky to have well-managed large treasuries. However, money is not enough to make a blockchain thriving. It must be tangible and indicate signs of life. On that front, judging by its Q2 report, Polkadot can’t be accused of slacking.
Polkadot’s Q2 Report highlights a number of remarkable achievements, including:
- The Web3 Foundation has approved 400 grants to tech startups in order to create new blockchains.
- 1400 active developers per month, representing 75% more year-on-year
- More than 500 contributors to Polkadot as well as Substrate Code repositories
- 621 upgrades without a fork across all Substrate based blockchains including Polkadot parachains and Kusama parachains
- Average monthly DOT transfer volume of 293,000,000, up from 288,000,000 in Q1
All of these numbers are positive signs for the future direction of Polkadot. One of Polkadot’s most encouraging indicators is its number of parachains.
Parachains Proliferate
Parachains.info gives a great overview of the development of the Polkadot ecosystem. There are 175 listed projects, 120 are on Polkadot and the rest on Kusama. The dashboard is well-designed and allows you to filter these projects so that you can see which have been granted W3F grants. They also have tokens, parachains, and are currently on the mainnet. A staggering 11% of the total supply is currently locked in crowdloans or parachains. 22% is KSM. Polkadot Treasury now funds proposals totaling more than 1.4 Million DOT.
Polkadot’s progress hasn’t been lost on those tasked with collating blockchain data. Messari’s Q2 report into Polkadot notes: “Despite a brutal macro-environment, Polkadot’s on-chain activity was a consistent quarter over quarter. During Q2 2022, Polkadot had roughly 435,000 users.”
These numbers may be impressive, but the true test for whether Polkadot is able to live up to its potential lies in the coming months. Major improvements and innovations are in the works, including changes to Polkadot’s governance process and deeper integration of its XCM (cross-chain messaging) protocol. Coupled with the launch of a Substrate marketplace that makes it easier to deploy Polkadot and Kusama blockchains, and there’s a lot to look forward to. Polkadot is making great progress with attracting developers to its platform. Now it’s time for the users to follow suit.