Polkadot
Polkadot launched a new website this week! Although it is just a website, it expresses a very deliberate change!
No longer placing the white paper, founder background, or partner logos in the most prominent positions, and technical jargon is noticeably reduced.
Compared to the old site, which gave a sense of 'complexity, cutting-edge, you need to understand everything before you can understand us', the first impression of the new official website is more direct - when you open the page, you feel that Polkadot emphasizes 'products', as well as some products that you will actually use after entering the ecosystem.
This also aligns well with the product era emphasized in Polkadot's second era!
Another significant change is: the pink has disappeared, replaced by black, white, and gray as the main color scheme, making the overall temperament closer to the narrative of the JAM era. The psychological feeling brought is not excitement, but calmness, rationality, and stability.
If the past pink represented experimentation, rapid change, and diversity, then black, white, and gray convey more: rules, order, structure, and trusted system boundaries. The subtext is clear: Polkadot hopes this is a foundational system that will be used by a large number of users, products, and roles for a long time.
In particular, we found a login button on the Polkadot official website! Fellowship member Basti also mentioned that the new official website is more like an entry reserved for the 'Polkadot Portal' being built for the future.
The future Polkadot Portal will be built on Hub, People Chain, and proof of individual identity. It will no longer just introduce technology, but allow ordinary people to truly 'enter and use' Polkadot's unified entry. Looking forward to further developments! Let's see what we can do when we log into the Polkadot official website! https://x.com/polkaworld_org/status/2001323250383544457
However, a community team Lunolab noticed this login button and has added a wallet connection feature demonstration to the new Polkadot site using their LunoKit! https://x.com/lunolab_xyz/status/2001302795497123974
Additionally, Parity also released a tweet to share what new changes are on Polkadot.com? https://x.com/paritytech/status/2001607121066987681
1. What has the new website done?
The new Polkadot official website is the first step towards a clearer, more human-centered mode of expression. It is not meant to showcase the entire Polkadot platform at once, but to provide new users with a simpler, coherent entry point.
Rather than listing all components, the new website focuses on what Polkadot is becoming and provides a clear, actionable starting point to help users truly begin to engage with the ecosystem.
2. What will happen next?
As the platform gradually matures, the website will continue to expand. Various new products and tools are being built in the ecosystem, some nearing public release, and some still in early stages.
This content will only appear on the official website when it is truly ready and can be used in a production environment.
Related documents and more in-depth explanations will be gradually supplemented as functionality stabilizes.
In other words, the pace of expansion of the official website will align with the maturity pace of the Polkadot product experience.
3. How can I provide feedback?
The official welcomes community feedback very much. You can submit your opinions and suggestions about the new official website through community channels, ecological forums, or any Polkadot official communication channels.
4. Where to find technical materials?
Due to the new official website focusing on providing a simplified onboarding experience, most in-depth technical content has not been placed on the site.
Developers, researchers, and builders can still access complete technical materials, protocol details, and engineering resources through the existing Polkadot technical portal, code repositories, and documentation sites.
The new official website also retains links to developer documentation.
5. Where are the governance pages and network data?
Governance, network metrics, and other advanced tools are still provided through the original interface. The current V0 official website is not meant to replace these resources but exists as a simpler entry point. You can still continue to use the various websites and tools you are already familiar with.
🔗: https://polkadot.com
Latest! Polkadot's smart contract platform Revive will launch on January 20, 2026! This week, a runtime upgrade proposal will be submitted through a public vote on Kusama, expected to officially take effect on Kusama by the end of December! https://x.com/polkaworld_pro/status/2001864971786039324
Learn what Revive is here(How far has Polkadot's EVM compatibility come?)
This week, Polkadot core developers revealed the following key progress in the OpenDev Developer Call:
▸ Newly launched: paving the way for the 'second era' product entry
The new Polkadot official website is live, no longer centered on protocol introduction, but reserving an entry for the future Polkadot Portal, focusing on Hub, People Chain, and Proof of Personhood (PoP), clearly shifting to 'a directly usable product-level entry.'
▸ 500ms Block (Basti Blocks) entered the audit phase.
The core PR for 500ms block production has been submitted, and audits and reviews are ongoing, aiming to land in early 2026, which will significantly reduce on-chain interaction delays and lay the foundation for product-level application experiences.
▸ The issuance cap for Hard Pressure has entered the final phase before the merger.
Hard Pressure code has been completed and passed the audit, undergoing final checks, aiming for runtime 2.04 / 2.05, preparing for formal effectiveness on March 14, 2026.
▸ OpenGov experience upgrade
RFC-150 (voting + delegated parallel) code has been completed and is awaiting review.
Decision Deposit crowdfunding mechanism has been completed, realizing shared proposal deposits among multiple parties, currently entering the migration and testing phase.
▸ Social Recovery is in progress
The back-end pallet has been completed and deployed on a private test chain, with front-end integration ongoing, supporting account recovery through social relationships.
▸ Snowbridge v2 key upgrade
v2 on-chain logic has been deployed, front-end switching awaits runtime fixes to be completed.
Cross-chain costs will significantly decrease, approaching multi-signature bridge levels.
The new path (Fiat-Shamir + BEEFY) will shorten confirmation times from ~30 minutes to 1–2 minutes (expected to be launched in 1–2 months).
Ethereum L2 ↔ Polkadot bridge has a testnet demo, aiming for Q1 2026.
▸ The main line of the execution layer is clear: EVM has not been abandoned, Revive is the unified base
EVM (Solidity) is still progressing; Revive is not replacing EVM, but is a unified framework for scheduling the execution layer of multiple VMs, supporting EVM, PolkaVM (RISC-V), and potentially more execution environments working in harmony.
Check all information here(Important progress! New official website, 500ms block, DOT issuance, Snowbridge v2, the second era is landing!)
W3F Vice President Bill Laboon provided an in-depth interpretation of Polkadot Hub in the latest live broadcast! He believes the Hub provides developers with a 'middle option'—first verifying products with smart contracts and truly scaling when needed. However, the Hub is not the endpoint; it is the entry point that lowers the threshold, with the real highlight being the network effects brought by more composable applications.
Bill stated that if you want to truly create a product on Polkadot, Polkadot Hub is becoming the entry point for the 'simple mode'! PolkaWorld will release the Chinese version of this live broadcast next week! https://x.com/polkaworld_pro/status/2000960862652338604
Important announcement: Coinbase has supported USDC native deposits and withdrawals on the Polkadot network!
This may not seem like a striking announcement, but it is critically significant in practical terms. Especially at this moment when Polkadot Hub is about to launch, opening up larger channels will benefit the liquidity improvement of Polkadot Hub! https://x.com/polkaworld_pro/status/2000764698065776674
Latest! Fidelity's European entity Fidelity Exchange Traded Products GmbH (part of Fidelity International, alongside the US Fidelity, managing over $15 trillion in assets) recently released a compliance-level Base Prospectus—(a bond issuance plan collateralized by cryptocurrencies).
In this document, Polkadot ($DOT) is explicitly listed as a cryptocurrency that can be used to issue related financial products, alongside mainstream assets like BTC and ETH. https://x.com/polkaworld_pro/status/2001113254970663161
Note: Fidelity is a top global asset management and financial services group established in 1946, managing over $15 trillion in assets, and is one of the most influential and authoritative institutions in the traditional financial system.
Web3 Summit announced that it will hold a conference in Berlin on June 18–19, 2026. This year's Summit will adopt a new conference format, emphasizing deeper connections and more focused interactions among builders. The official stated that this will be a new attempt around 'how to really build Web3.' Learn more here: https://x.com/Web3summit/status/2000945546681573876
In a recent interview with Alice_und_bob, founder of ChaosDAO and initiator of OpenGov.Watch, he gave several frank judgments about Polkadot's current governance dilemmas and directions for the next stage:
Complaining does not help build reputation; only continuous delivery and real contributions are truly recognized.
ChaosDAO is not an 'insider circle,' but a discussion space deliberately set up for high-quality collaboration.
The treasury should prioritize 'survival expenditures' before discussing growth investments, and clearly define boundaries.
Hard Pressure will bring real fiscal constraints; treasury income may be halved, and expenditures must be more restrained.
OpenGov needs to shift from passive voting to a goal-driven execution model.
We should draw on the governance transformation experience from MakerDAO to Sky, organizing delivery with clear goals + RFP/bounty.
Communication and activities must first define the conversion targets before discussing budgets.
Focus for Q1 2026: concentrate firepower around the upcoming products (Polkadot App, Asset Hub, stablecoins) and realign the true demands of token holders.
PolkaWorld will release a complete Chinese version of this interview next week, please stay tuned. https://x.com/polkaworld_pro/status/2000751105328996579
This week, Polkadot and Cardano held an online live broadcast, initiating a rare dialogue of 'mutual review': how should the decentralized treasury spend, manage, and survive in the long term?
PolkaWorld has compiled several key points for everyone:
The decentralized treasury is not a multi-signature, but rather an 'agreement that acknowledges it does not know the future,' handing over resource allocation rights to the community for the continuous repair and evolution of the system.
'The treasury's money should be spent' is correct, but the premise is to have a common goal; otherwise, it is easy to have herd spending, accelerated expenditures, and scattered funds, leaving nothing in the end.
Sustainability is not only about the balance: W3F mentioned three types of 'leakage' that are more fatal—economic leakage (wasteful spending/misaligned incentives), legitimacy leakage (being perceived as unfair), and attention leakage (people no longer participating).
The biggest challenge is actually 'people': under public voting, many find it hard to say No; governance will degrade into emotional voting without a goal.
Directional consensus: governance should shift from 'voting yes/no on proposals' to first defining direction and budget (legislative level) → then using bounty/RFP to compete for delivery (execution level).
On the tools front: Polkadot shared practices such as milestone/abortable funding, stablecoin payments; Cardano is also advancing KPI and roadmaps to reduce 'unanchored spending.'
Overall conclusion: people are generally optimistic in the long term, but also acknowledge this is a 'high-cost institutional experiment'—money is not the biggest risk, trust and consensus are.
If anyone is interested in this type of content, feel free to leave a comment, and we will compile a Chinese version to share in future article releases! https://x.com/Polkadot/status/2000898718544097712
As of now, there are a total of 5 Bounties (Marketing Bounty, Polkadot Pioneers Prize Bounty, UX Bounty, Legal Bounty, Games Bounty) in the OpenGov proposals that are being closed! Among them, 3 were proposed by the governance team of the Web3 Foundation, and all 5 proposals received support from W3F's votes! https://polkadot.subsquare.io/referenda?page=1
This week PolkaWorld published an article(Conversation with VC: How do investors assess Polkadot's long-term value?)
At the recently concluded sub0 conference, several Polkadot ecosystem investors and builders attempted to re-evaluate Polkadot's investment logic from a 10-year perspective: when the narrative of parallel chains fades, what changes occur with Coretime and JAM taking over? From founder returns, technical route consistency, to treasury structure, capital entry paths, and DAT model, this is a systematic discussion on how long-term capital understands Polkadot's next stage position. Welcome to read!
Ecosystem projects
Bifrost launches vETH 3.0, becoming the first Liquid Staking Token (LST) to support multi-chain native staking of ETH. Users can mint vETH directly on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polkadot, and Bifrost without complex bridging.
Using ERC-4626 standards to enhance DeFi composability and integrate SSV Network's DVT technology, providing higher decentralized security guarantees.
To celebrate the launch, Bifrost has initiated a one-month Farming Campaign: bridging vETH to the Bifrost-Polkadot chain will yield additional vDOT incentives, with an APY significantly higher than standard ETH staking (base 3.5% + additional rewards).
This upgrade breaks the liquidity islands, achieving true omnichain staking, and promotes Bifrost's leading position in the multi-chain staking field! https://x.com/Bifrost/status/2001623723850506429
Hydration officially supports PAXG as DeFi collateral and trading asset. Users can directly purchase PAXG with 100+ assets, integrating gold assets into the on-chain DeFi ecosystem. https://x.com/hydration_net/status/2000560738797326353
In addition, Hydration revisited the future roadmap mentioned in the sub0 event:
Savings and payment App + Card
More yield-generating strategies
Cross-chain settlement and intents
On-chain perpetual contracts
These plans will further consolidate Hydration's leading position in the Polkadot DeFi space, focusing on user experience optimization and ecological expansion. https://x.com/hydration_net/status/1999822831576662249
In October this year, HIC led a new round of financing for the Web3 gaming growth platform N3MUS, which is addressing the most core yet long-ignored issues in Web3 gaming: the scaling acquisition and retention of real players! Learn more in PolkaWorld's latest video!
Polkadot ecological music project Mubert announced that its App is officially launched, also synchronously launching a Leaderboard system. Users can earn XP by generating, remixing, and rating music content, participating in daily rewards / weekly tasks, forming an incentive loop centered around creative behavior. This update shows that the content-oriented applications and product explorations aimed at ordinary users in the Polkadot ecosystem are continuously advancing. https://x.com/mubertapp/status/2001939954868601158
Acurast launched a community dissemination incentive activity 'Cloud Rebellion Leaderboard,' which is a community dissemination incentive activity based on X (Twitter) content engagement. Users can earn mindshare points by publishing and interacting with Acurast-related content, and weekly leaderboard settlements will reward outstanding participants.
PolkaWorld Telegram group: https://t.me/+z7BUktDraU1mNWE1
PolkaWorld Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/PolkaWorld
PolkaWorld Twitter:
@polkaworld_org
