The legendary journey of Polkadot @Polkadot: From the pain of forking to the king of multi-chain
🎭 Prologue: The "rebellious" path of Ethereum's CTO
In 2017, when the entire crypto world was still debating the scalability issues of Bitcoin and Ethereum, a programmer named Gavin Wood made a bold decision—he would leave the Ethereum he had built himself to create a better blockchain world.
This former CTO of Ethereum did not leave out of anger, but out of ambition. He saw a fatal problem in the blockchain world: all blockchains are isolated islands, like ancient city-states, each governing itself and unable to communicate.
💡 Genesis: A Crazy Idea is Born
Gavin Wood sat in a café in London, sketching a peculiar pattern in his notebook:
In the center is a large circle (relay chain)
Surrounded by many small circles (parachains)
And some dashed lines connecting to the outside (bridging)
"What if we could make all blockchains speak the same language?" he mused. This seemingly simple idea later became known as @Polkadot.
🚀 Fundraising Legend: The Fastest ICO Miracle in History
On October 17, 2017, a shocking record was born:
The Polkadot ICO raised $144.6 million just hours after it started.
Investors rushed in, causing the servers to crash at one point.
Ultimately, the total amount raised reached $510.8 million, setting a record at the time.
But the story wasn't that smooth.
In November 2017, a smart contract vulnerability known as "the accidental kill" permanently froze 513,000 ETH in the Parity wallet. This unexpected event instead strengthened Gavin Wood's determination to improve blockchain security.
🎮 Technical Breakthrough: Letting "Doom" Run on the Blockchain
On May 20, 2025, the Polkadot team did something astonishing:
They successfully ran the classic game "Doom" (Quake) on the blockchain!
This is not a gimmick, but a perfect demonstration of JAM's upgrade capabilities. When Gavin Wood showcased this at the developer conference, the programmers in the audience erupted with excitement.
What does it mean for a blockchain to run real-time 3D games? It means that @Polkadot is evolving from a "data chain" into a "supercomputer."
🏦 Financial Revolution: From Crypto to Everyday Life
In June 2025, @NovaWalletApp released a seemingly ordinary card, but it changed everything:
This is the first Mastercard supported by $DOT tokens, compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, covering the entire European Economic Area.
Imagine this: you can buy coffee with $DOT at a café in Paris, shop with $DOT at a supermarket in Berlin, and all transactions are settled instantly on the @Polkadot network. The boundaries between Web3 and Web2 have quietly disappeared.
🎯 Governance Miracle: 2.13 Million People in Digital Democracy
By 2025, @Polkadot has created an unprecedented governance miracle:
2.13 million participants in OpenGov governance voting
600+ active projects building on the network
The community autonomously decides every penny spent and the direction of each upgrade
This is no longer the traditional "corporate board" model, but a true digital democratic republic.
🌈 Parallel Universes: Each chain has its own story
@Polkadot The most interesting part is that each parachain is like an independent universe:
Astar: A Web3 portal aimed at Japan, with a 6-second block time
Hydration: A DeFi paradise with a TVL exceeding $250 million
Moonbeam: A parallel world of Ethereum, fully EVM compatible
Frequency: A dedicated chain for social networks, with 2 million users already
And these "parallel universes" can communicate freely, and assets can be transferred instantly. It's like the multiverse in "The Avengers," where each universe has its own rules, but the superheroes can collaborate across boundaries.
💎 Future Prophecy: The Arrival of the JAM Era
In August 2025, with code freezing imminent, @Polkadot is about to undergo its most significant upgrade: JAM (Join-Accumulate Machine).
This upgrade will transform @Polkadot from a "blockchain network" into a "decentralized supercomputer."
The theoretical processing capacity will exceed 1 million TPS, and the successful operation of "Doom" is just the tip of the iceberg of this supercomputer's capabilities.
🎉 Epilogue: From Vision to Reality
From the sketch in a café in 2017 to the supercomputer running "Doom" in 2025, the story of Polkadot proves one thing:
The craziest ideas often lead to the greatest realities.
While people are still debating "which chain is the best," Polkadot is already saying: "Why not make all chains better and let them work together?"
This is the history of @Polkadot — a legendary tale about connection, inclusivity, and making the impossible possible. And this story is still being written...
Data updated as of August 9, 2025
Current $DOT price: $4.01
Market cap: $6.44 billion
A very worthwhile interview.
Parachains ≠ L2s
L2s extract value from Ethereum, whilst Parachains are the product of @Polkadot.
In Ethereum, L2s are add-ons that offload pressure, turning the L1 into a rollup host. But Polkadot’s whole proposition is parachains. They’re not bolted on - they’re core. Unlike Ethereum, Polkadot never used its L1 to host smart contracts directly. This isn’t a limitation - it's by design.
The DOT that goes into @AcalaNetwork is still immediately transferable into @MoonbeamNetwork - so the capital flows a lot easier between the L2
Different intent, different architecture.
@gavofyork explains 👇
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