Polkadot’s founder, Gavin Wood, has proposed a major shift in how the blockchain network allocates resources.
This initiative, referred to as , reimagines the network’s architecture as a conglomerate of sovereign chains connected by treaty-like ‘accords.’
During the fourth Decoded conference, Wood illustrated his vision, likening of discovery to , another project he co-founded.
Rethinking Polkadot’s Infrastructure
After launching Polkadot in May 2020, Wood transitioned from his CEO role at to the network’s chief architect in October 2022. Polkadot’s core primitive, the parachain auctions, was not unveiled until November 2021, amidst the previous crypto bull market. The move caused a sharp price surge in Polkadot’s native token, DOT, but later faced issues due to the competitive and fluctuating environment of parachain auctions.
From Parachains to Cores
Wood sees Polkadot as a multicore computer, with reserved cores for the parachains. However, the core of Polkadot 2.0’s vision lies in a shift from a focus on chains to one on ‘space’ or resources that chains need. Wood highlighted the necessity of a more agile system, noting that the slot auction model, whcile appealing, presented both perceived and real barriers.
Under the proposed framework, ‘core time’ would be allocated via a marketplace. This marketplace would cater to both on-demand (instantaneous) and long-term (bulk) needs. Wood suggested that these monthly blocks of core time would be represented by NFTs, which can be fractionalized, letting owners of bulk time allocarte computation on a Polkadot core.
This means that all currently existing leases would continue under the new system, with the bulk pricing requiring initialization by governance.
Shifting to an Application-Centric Model
The Polkadot 2.0 proposal is all about application-centricity as opposed to chain-centricity. Wood pointed out that Polkadot is ultimately a platform for building applications for users, and these applications should ideally span across chains seamlessly, both from a user and developer perspective.
The robust nature of Polkadot’s allows deploying a pseudo network rather than just an application, which demands additional care regarding collators and network uptime. In some instances, it might be preferable to deploy smart contracts directly on cores, thus entirely bypassing the parachain concept.
The proposed Polkadot 2.0 initiative represents a significant evolution of the , focusing more on resources (space) over chains. By redesigning its resource allocation model, Polkadot hopes to make the system more agile, with a focus on applications and user experience.
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