Polkadot's Treasury Lifeline Extends Beyond Two Years Despite Increased Spending
Summary:
Despite concerns raised about Polkadot's funding life cycle, its treasury is not limited to two years, despite holding roughly $245 million in assets. This arises as direct spending and value allocation for future use increases. At current spending rates, the treasury won't run out after spending the existing assets, as about 7% of total token inflation is directed back into the treasury. Despite a big jump in expenditure in the first half of the year, Polkadot's treasury holds $188 million in liquid assets, primarily in its native token and stablecoins. Moreover, effective deployment could involve creating departments represented as bounties and collectives, mitigating selling pressure by lowering the DOT inflation rate.
As of 09:30 am UTC, this article has been updated to ensure the accuracy of details regarding Polkadot's financial future. Despite Polkadot's treasury currently housing roughly $245 million in assets, the funding life cycle isn't limited to two years, despite warnings from recent reviews. This worry emerged within the community after a Polkadot treasury statement insinuated that based on current expenditure, the project's finances would dry up in a span of two years.
Tommi Enenkel, Polkadot's chief ambassador, observed in a treasury statement from June 28, covering the first half of 2024, that the Treasury's operations were becoming increasingly intricate and complex. Polkadot's financial transactions include direct expenditure and the apportioning of value to bounties and collectives to be utilized in the future.
“At the prevailing spending pace, we estimate the Treasury has about two years of remaining funds,” Enenkel revealed, “However, forecasting exact timelines is challenging due to the dynamic nature of crypto-based treasuries." He further explained how such revelations have ignited debates ranging from stricter budget management to tweaking the system's inflation parameters.
However, exhaustion of the current balance of $245 million does not imply complete depletion of Polkadot's treasury, given that roughly 7% of the total token inflation is automatically channeled to the treasury. The blockchain possesses $188 million in liquid assets, primarily in the Polkadot (DOT) token form as well as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) stablecoins.
Polkadot experienced a significant surge in expenditure in the first half of the year. It expended a total of $87 million, over 40% of which, or $36.7 million, was allocated to marketing, social media influencers, conferences, and promotional events.
Despite the heavy spending, Enenkel stressed that the value for each spent DOT has improved on average. This improvement corresponds to the token's price reaching a 2024 peak of $11.46 in mid-March — a level unseen since May 2022. Although DOT prices have since dropped to $6.33, they have surged by almost 11% just within the week, as per CoinGecko. Polkadot is yet to comment on these updates.
Enenkel pointed to growing concerns within the ecosystem about the treasury's usage as its balances have been steadily decreasing since mid-2023. The treasury's income dropped by 58.5% in the second half of 2023, falling from 414,291 DOT to 171,696 DOT, mainly due to declining network fees.
The treasury amassed over 5.2 million DOT from inflation-based income in the first half of the year, reflecting a drop from the 7.8 million DOT garnered in the previous six months.
Enenkel emphasized that efficient utilization of the Treasury's resources would likely entail formation of departments aligning with bounties and collectives. He proposed giving these executive bodies increased responsibilities, highlighting that they are progressively taking up departmental functions within the ecosystem. He also suggested reducing DOT’s substantial 10% inflation rate to mitigate selling pressure, citing the crucial need for a stable DOT/USD exchange rate to maintain the DOT-denominated treasury's purchasing power.
Published At
7/2/2024 12:42:47 PM
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