Polkadot Q3 2023 Development Overview

In the third quarter of 2023, the Polkadot ecosystem showed significant growth momentum. Key metrics such as staking, on-chain activities, and the number of independent accounts have all seen noticeable increases. At the same time, development activity remains active.

Five new parallel chain teams have successfully secured slots, covering diversified Web3 application scenarios such as DAO, metaverse, Internet of Things, and sustainable energy. In addition, some important technical upgrades, such as agile core time and asynchronous support, are also gradually approaching maturity.

Data Growth Situation

In terms of staking, the total staking amount has increased from 578 million DOT to 663 million DOT, accounting for nearly 49% of the total supply. Since the nomination pool was launched in November 2022, it has developed rapidly, attracting 15,281 members by the end of the third quarter, with over 7 million DOT staked.

The number of on-chain events has shown a continuous growth trend, reaching 190 million in September, more than doubling compared to December 2022. The number of independent accounts has also reached a new high, nearing 4.3 million, an increase of 16% since the beginning of the year.

Development activity remains strong, with GitHub commits exceeding 49,000 for two consecutive quarters, ranking among the top in Web3 projects. In terms of cross-chain communication, the volume of XCM messages sent increased by 20% month-on-month, reflecting an increase in cross-chain activities within the ecosystem.

Ecosystem Expansion

The newly added parallel chain projects include:

1. peaq: Committed to building a decentralized physical infrastructure network.
2. Bit.Country: A metaverse platform created by users
3. InvArch: Multi-chain DAO infrastructure project
4. Energy Web: Using Web3 technology to help large enterprises accelerate carbon reduction.
5. Nodle: IoT Connectivity Provider

At the same time, Astar Network has renewed its parachain slot, ensuring long-term development.

Technical Upgrade Progress

The decentralized technology consulting agency Fellowship has approved the development of a dedicated system chain for purchasing and trading future block space on Polkadot. This is an important step in the "Agile Core Time" upgrade proposal.

Asynchronous support technology is expected to bring an eightfold scalability improvement to Polkadot, with a launch anticipated first on the Rococo testnet. In the long run, these upgrades are expected to enable Polkadot to support over 1,000 parallel chains and over 1 million transactions per second.

Important Developments in the Third Quarter

• Native USDC is about to land on the Polkadot ecosystem
• Zodia Custody announces the provision of institutional custody and staking services on Polkadot.
• Banxa is committed to fully integrating with the Polkadot ecosystem.
• Snowbridge (the bridge connecting to Ethereum) is planned to launch on Kusama within the year.
• Zondax has launched a new version of the Polkadot Ledger app, supporting all parachains.
• OpenZeppelin has completed the first batch of work, simplifying ink! smart contract development.

In addition, the third session of the Polkadot Blockchain Academy successfully concluded in Berkeley, California, with new courses aimed at entrepreneurs. The fourth and fifth sessions will be held in Hong Kong and Singapore in January and May 2024, respectively.