Polkadot Founder Gavin Wood Teases Funding Network Worth Over $750 Million

Wood’s announcement comes just days before Polkadot first para chain slot auctions.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 20 October 2021 15:21 IST

Polkadot Founder Gavin Wood Teases Funding Network Worth Over $750 Million

Polkadot is an open-source blockchain network

Highlights

Polkadot founder Gavin Wood to invest in network development
The total investment considered is around $774 million
Idle DOT tokens will be used for funding

Gavin Wood, the 41-year-old founder of Polkadot has revealed plans to invest around $774 million (roughly Rs. 5,800 crores) in developing the open-source crypto network. To fund the development, Wood plans on using the idle native tokens of Polkadot (DOT) — that have registered some growth in recent days. As per the Gadgets 360 crypto price tracker, Polkadot is currently trading at $1,009 (roughly Rs. 3,246) on October 20. In a tweet, Wood revealed that presently, 18,936,300 DOT tokens are lying idle in the Polkadot treasury.

These tokens could have been “burned” or pulled out of circulation, but instead, Wood plans to use them to further grow the Polkadot architecture. The founder has also hinted that the changes to the network will be based on the ideas suggested by Polkadot investors and supporters.

The @Polkadot treasury currently has 18,936,300 DOT (DOT, not USD - do the math) in it ready to spend on *your* ideas for building, improving, educating and indeed, anything else that the Polkadot governance believes valuable.
— Gavin Wood (@gavofyork) October 17, 2021

“The DOT in the treasury comes as a natural part of the network protocol. Fees, slashes and suboptimal staking configurations are all contributing factors. If it goes unused, it slowly gets burned,” Wood explained on his Twitter thread.

As per the founder, Polkadot usually burns 239,988 DOT tokens every month that amounts to over $10 million (roughly Rs. 75 crores).

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The public reaction to Wood's tweet seemingly supported his idea of using idle DOT tokens to grow the network.

Burning $DOT may be good for price appreciation, but it's better that they're used to fund ideas that further the ecosystem.

If you have ideas, share them, get funded and build.

Or you could just vote to throw me a couple I wouldn't be too mad at that either ????$Ksm #DotSama https://t.co/zQIf4OggJ2
— ManOnTheDOT (@ManOnTheDot) October 18, 2021

wow it's impressive that the DOT treasury is already sufficient and is in fact burning DOT currently. https://t.co/Vm1wKsegm3
— Jeremy H ⚫☯️ (@spazvt) October 18, 2021

if it aint blow your mind , idont know .... https://t.co/95hPajXURl
— gEm.HUNTER (@g_hunt7r) October 18, 2021

Wood's announcement comes just weeks before Polkadot's first para chain slot auctions that are slated to commence on November 11.

This auction will allow several blockchain projects to integrate with the Polkadot cryptocurrency's governance, security, and decentralised mechanisms, news portal Medium said in a report.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Polkadot, cryptocurrency, crypto network, Gavin Wood

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More