The "Silent Genius" in the Web3 World: Polkadot's Technological Innovations and Challenges

Polkadot has always played the role of a "silent genius" in the Web3 field. It is known for its advanced technology and innovative thinking, yet it has always maintained a certain distance from ordinary users. As the pioneer of modular blockchains, Polkadot has achieved innovative features such as cross-chain interoperability, secure sharing, and rapid chain initiation, rivaling Ethereum at one point. However, beyond the technology, it has also left behind a number of barriers.

Polkadot's parachain slots have fetched high prices, and the total locked value of Hydration in its ecosystem is currently around 40 million USD. Although Kaito briefly triggered hot searches related to Polkadot, users' understanding of its value remains vague.

As time goes by, people begin to question: do we really need so many blockchains?

PolkaVM responded directly to this skepticism by choosing to prioritize code over grand visions. PolkaVM did not delve into discussions about "modular paradigms" or "collaborative economies," nor did it attempt to persuade people to become advocates for the infrastructure. Instead, it leverages RISC-V technology to migrate Solidity contracts to Polkadot with minimal modifications, achieving a unique "back to basics."

PolkaVM: The Innovative Execution Environment

PolkaVM is a new type of execution environment developed by the Parity team, with its core not focused on compatibility, but on innovation in the underlying architecture. It is based on RISC-V, a modern register-based chip architecture, designed to replace the traditional EVM stack logic. This change brings higher speed, lower resource consumption, and performance that is closer to the hardware level.

The main features of PolkaVM include:

1. Adopting a register architecture and 64-bit design, closer to modern CPUs, improves execution efficiency.
2. Introduce a multi-dimensional Gas model to support measurements in various aspects such as execution time, memory usage, cross-contract calls, and zero-knowledge proof computations.
3. Compatible with the Solidity toolchain, developers can directly use tools like Remix, Hardhat, MetaMask, etc., without needing to learn new technologies or rewrite contract logic.
4. It has the potential for multi-language support and is expected to interface with the LLVM toolchain in the future, natively supporting programming languages such as Rust and C.
5. Optimize user experience by automatically handling complex logic such as existence deposits and simplifying the interaction process.

PolkaVM has been launched on the Westend testnet (AssetHub), allowing developers to connect directly for testing.

These features clearly indicate that PolkaVM is not just a compatibility layer, but a complete rewrite of the underlying execution environment. It uses familiar development tools to build the next-generation execution environment, laying the foundation for complex business and zero-knowledge applications.

Practical Applications of PolkaVM

While many "new virtual machines" are still in the theoretical and testing stages, PolkaVM has completed several key real-world deployments, demonstrating its viability as an execution environment.

1. Uniswap V2 successfully deployed to PolkaVM testnet: The PaperMoon team has successfully deployed Uniswap V2 in its entirety on PolkaVM, demonstrating PolkaVM's capability to handle complex AMM systems.

2. Safe multi-signature contracts run trustlessly on PolkaVM: The Mimir team from the Polkadot Asia Hackathon has deployed the institutional-grade multi-signature system Safe on the testnet, which is the first operational custody tool on PolkaVM, demonstrating its ability to handle the security of significant on-chain funds.

3. Toolchain preliminary completed: Despite adopting a brand new RISC-V architecture and register-based execution model, PolkaVM maintains compatibility with existing development practices. Currently, developers can fully interact with the PolkaVM testnet using tools like Remix, Hardhat, and MetaMask without needing to install dedicated plugins or modify the toolchain.

These developments indicate that PolkaVM is gradually approaching a "plug-and-play" development experience.

The Potential and Challenges of PolkaVM

Although PolkaVM has completed the critical leap from 0 to 1, it still faces some challenges in becoming the preferred platform for developers:

1. The ecosystem is still in its early stages: Although Uniswap V2 and Safe multi-signature have been successfully deployed, other mainstream contract forms such as stablecoins, NFT protocols, lending markets, and GameFi have not yet been fully developed on PolkaVM.

2. The toolchain needs improvement: Although the basic development tools are available, PolkaVM still lacks an officially packaged TypeScript SDK, CLI tools, and deployment templates. Common indexing tools like The Graph have also not yet been adapted for PolkaVM.

3. The incentive mechanism has not yet been clarified: PolkaVM is still in the testnet phase, with the mainnet expected to launch in the third quarter, and the official detailed incentive plan has not yet been announced.

However, these challenges also create opportunities for small teams. In the early stage of an ecologically sparse environment, innovative projects are more likely to gain attention and support. For teams willing to lay out their plans in advance, this could be a strategic opportunity before the next round of ecological explosion.

Future Prospects of PolkaVM

PolkaVM is not just an independent project; it represents the beginning of the reconstruction of the Polkadot execution layer. With the completion of the migration of the relay chain functionality to the Asset Hub, Polkadot is shifting from a "technical marvel" to a "practical platform".

PolkaVM is building a new execution environment based on RISC-V, with the potential to support more complex on-chain business logic, which may involve high-performance scenarios such as AI agents and on-chain reasoning in the future, addressing the shortcomings of WASM in certain areas.

Polkadot provides developers with a unique growth path: starting from smart contract testing and gradually transitioning to dedicated independent application chains. This "incremental scalability" model is relatively rare among other public chains.

The core of PolkaVM lies in its innovative underlying technology. It retains the coding methods familiar to developers while completely updating the execution model and system architecture. True innovation does not reside in grand narratives, but in the underlying technological advancements that can operate effectively, integrate seamlessly, and continue to evolve.