Polkadot has allocated $21 million ($29.5 million AUD) to develop its ecosystem.
Polkadot funding ecosystem development
Polkadot is looking to bring out the big guns after the successful conclusion of its first Polkadot auctions in late 2021. The network announced that it would allocate close to $30 million AUD in its native DOT token to stimulate the development of the Polkadot ecosystem, as it tries to close the gap to other front-running layer-one blockchains in 2022.
In a press release, Polkadot shared its bounty proposal called the Polkadot Pioneers Prize, which includes several ways for volunteers to develop the network. Almost one million DOT has been allocated for this, which will be split between the first challenges and later ones. The first two will be announced later this year and are said to focus on R&D on zk-proof technology and Polkadot’s infrastructure. Polkadot said the network’s treasury would fund the bounties, with token holders able to influence the process through on-chain governance. Polkadot’s treasury currently holds more than 20 million DOT.
Following criticism that its treasury is underused, the Pioneers Prize is a way of addressing this problem. If successful, the bounties would become a blueprint for future fund allocation and create an agency for the community to manage the treasury to help the network’s development. An elected curator consisting of representatives from the on-chain treasury council, the Web3 Foundation, Parity Technologies, and other partners will be chosen to oversee the project.
Low emissions and how they could shape Polkadot’s development
In other news, a research report by the Crypto Carbon Rankings Institute (CCRI) announced that Polkadot is the blockchain with the lowest electricity consumption and carbon emissions per year. Polkadot won over several of its direct proof-of-stake rivals in an analysis, such as Solana, Polkadot, Tezos, Avalanche, Cardano, and Algorand. Although this in itself is a rather minor victory for the blockchain, it may have more significant ramifications for the future narrative around blockchain technology.
As things stand, proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin and (still) Ethereum risk being labeled as environmentally unfriendly pollutants that, at best, add nothing valuable and, at worst, pollute the environment to help tax evasion and drug trading. Even though any seasoned crypto investor knows how simplistic (and wrong) this argument is, such FUD has been spread in the past and will likely be spread in the future. However, that may actually be music to the ears of Polkadot investors and developers.
Polkadot – and its Parachains like Kusama and Acala – face no such problem as proof-of-stake blockchains. Quite the opposite, reports like the CCRI one are a tremendous opportunity for these blockchains to shape the narrative around blockchains and how proof-of-stake is the future of blockchain development. A key milestone here will surely be Ethereum’s switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. If successful, it will boost the credibility of PoS chains and could lead to a price surge across the board.
Still, Polkadot would be well-advised to not wait for Ethereum, with its ecosystem looking ready for a massive surge in 2022.
