Polkadot 2022 Review and 2023 Outlook

Amidst the winter of the crypto industry, the Polkadot community has been dedicated to building and launching the largest and most diverse Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem in the world, introducing multiple core technologies to lay the foundation for development in 2023.

In 2022, the Polkadot ecosystem witnessed many significant events. Let's review the important developments and milestones of Polkadot over the past year.

The Rise of the Web3 Pioneer Ecosystem

In just over a year, Polkadot has become the largest and most diverse dedicated Layer 1 blockchain and application ecosystem. Currently, there are 74 parachains launched on Polkadot or Kusama, supporting over 300 applications. Approximately 550 projects have been launched or are being developed for Polkadot, and the first year of parachain launches has achieved remarkable results.

Over 200 teams have built dedicated blockchains on the Polkadot technology stack. The Polkadot community has contributed over 130 million DOT and nearly 300,000 KSM through a crowdloan model to support parachain auctions, demonstrating confidence in the future of the ecosystem.

The Polkadot ecosystem encompasses a wide range of applications of blockchain technology, from social media to supply chains, identity, gaming, asset tokenization, carbon credits, privacy, robotics, and the Internet of Things.

This year, several groundbreaking application cases have emerged in the ecosystem:

• The smart contract parallel chain Astar has partnered with Japan's largest mobile operator NTT Docomo to invest $4 billion to promote Web3 applications.
• The NFT parachain Efinity collaborates with gaming giant Square Enix to develop NFTs for the "Final Fantasy" series.
• Real asset parallel chain Centrifuge secures $220 million investment to promote the on-chain of physical assets.
• The privacy platform Manta Network has completed the largest trusted setup in the history of zero-knowledge technology.
• Project Liberty announces that it will first deploy the decentralized social network protocol DSNP on Polkadot.
• The identity parallel chain KILT collaborates with the German Ministry of Energy and other institutions to be applied in the fields of energy and healthcare.

Polkadot is proving to be an ideal platform for the rapid development of Web3 with its flexible, scalable, upgradeable, and secure tech stack.

Leading the True Path of Decentralization

In 2022, Polkadot made significant progress in becoming the most decentralized, trustless, and unstoppable Web3 ecosystem.

Polkadot has launched the next-generation governance system OpenGov, first deployed on Kusama. This is the most advanced blockchain governance system to date, fully decentralizing network decision-making power to the community.

The Polkadot Fellowship was also launched this year as an important part of OpenGov. It is a decentralized on-chain group of technical experts that provides technical support to the community.

After three years of collaboration with the U.S. SEC, the Web3 Foundation announced that DOT has transitioned from a security to software, marking a milestone in the development of Web3.

Polkadot is still promoting light client technology, allowing users to interact with on-chain functions without relying on third-party nodes. The staking system has also been upgraded, lowering the minimum staking threshold to 1 DOT, further achieving decentralization.

Continuous Innovation

In 2022, Polkadot completed 15 seamless upgrades, far surpassing other blockchains. To date, nearly 1,000 blockchains based on Polkadot technology have achieved forkless upgrades.

On May 4th, Polkadot upgraded to version v0.9.19, unlocking the XCM secure cross-chain data transmission feature. In just the first month, over 100 channels were opened and 10,000 messages were sent. So far, more than 160,000 XCM messages have been sent on Polkadot.

The v0.9.19 upgrade also marks the official launch of the Statemint system parachain, providing foundational functionality for the ecosystem. The Collectives system parachain was also launched this year, supporting group collaboration.

Active Developer Community

Polkadot reached a peak of nearly 2,500 active developers per month in 2022, making it one of the most active developer communities outside of Ethereum.

The Substrate Builders Program welcomed 32 new teams this year. The Web3 Foundation's grant program surpassed 400 project milestones, distributing 150 new grants in 2022.

Polkadot's on-chain treasury has paid a record amount of DOT this year, with over 4 million DOT disbursed to the ecosystem so far.

The Polkadot Blockchain Academy ( PBA ) was established this year, with the first session held at the University of Cambridge, where 55 students were selected from 560 applicants. The second session will start in January 2023 at the University of Buenos Aires.

Outlook for 2023

In 2023, Polkadot will launch a series of important upgrades:

• Launch OpenGov governance system on Polkadot
• Asynchronous support optimization is expected to enhance processing capacity to 1 million transactions per second.
• XCMv3 upgrade, supporting trustless bridging with other ecosystems.
• Launch new blockchain deployment options such as parallel threads
• The continuous maturation of the Wasm smart contract ecosystem

Many projects will launch custom parachains in 2023, bringing new users to Polkadot. Existing projects will also mature further. The Polkadot ecosystem is just getting started, and 2023 is sure to be an exciting year!