Polkadot “Doesn’t Care About Users” Claims Founder from DOT Ecosystem

China’s Largest Polkadot Community Forced to Halt Operations

PolkaWorld, Polkadot’s largest community in China, according to Wu Blockchain, has halted operations.

PolkaWorld, which made the announcement on X (Twitter), points to OpenGov, Polkadot’s initiative aimed at furthering decentralized governance, as the driving factor behind the winding down of its operations.

According to PolkaWorld, the introduction of OpenGov has rendered treasury management a “most controversial aspect” and has resulted in “long-term contributors and organizations” being “rejected by the treasury” - Many of which are now “leaving the Polkadot ecosystem”.

In its announcement, PolkaWorld explained that the community is fearful of converting treasury funds into cash, presumably owing to supply pressure, and that it therefore tends to “vote against all proposals”.

PolkaWorld concluded its message with a positive note, however:

“We should take a more optimistic view of all these changes. OpenGov has its issues, but it's also an upgrade and optimization for Polkadot. We should adapt to ever-changing rules and guide the system onto the right path, rather than just walking away. Let's give it some time to see how it improves.”

Polkadot Slammed by Founder from DOT Ecosystem

Interestingly, PolkaWorld’s post was quoted above a 25-post thread posted by Markian Ivanichok - the founder of Polkadot ecosystem project, Brushfam.

In the thread, Ivanichok explained the startup’s journey, beginning at a time when Polkadot was a “promising technology”. However, the founder quickly went on to voice his frustration with the state of the Polkadot ecosystem today. 

“With time it started to become quite obvious that there is no users, nor business understanding in @Polkadot. And our vision and values started to diverge… Naively enough we thoughts that we could change that. Bring more users and businesses, start generating some real world traction. And we have tried, very hard”, wrote Ivanichok.

It was further detailed how a proposal made by 727 Ventures, of which Ivanichok is also the founder, for an offline business development event, was shut down by “valorous $DOT voters”.

From there, Ivanichok’s critique only grew harsher:

Takeaway - Is This the End for $DOT?

Polkadot was one of a handful of names to dominate the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and accompanying headlines, throughout the 2021 bull market, and its founder being a co-founder of Ethereum was impressive in and of itself. 

$DOT was a sweetheart of the blockchain ecosystem, boasting institutional adoption, and a market capitalization of nearly $53 billion. Since then, however, its market cap has shed more than 90% of its value, and problems in the ecosystem are beginning to emerge, demonstrated by comments detailed above.

But is it really the end for $DOT…?

Though the crypto-world is undeniably wrought with surprises (both good and bad), it certainly seems unlikely that $DOT, and the wider Polkadot ecosystem, will fade to inexistence any time soon. $DOT still commands a market capitalization of around $5 billion, and there exists dry powder in its arsenal even if, at present, it seems unwilling to distribute it.

Whilst matters are certainly looking bleaker for Polkadot in recent months, still the 13th largest cryptocurrency, it may still be a name worth watching.