Polkadot recently released its treasury report for the first half of 2024. While some of the figures have been widely discussed, there are a few interesting insights that might have slipped under the radar. Here are four takeaways that we think are among the most interesting…

Polkadot is Owed $3.7M by Ecosystem Projects

Polkadot has provided loans to various ecosystem projects, totaling ~584,000 DOT, which is equivalent to approximately $3.7 million. 

The vast majority of this figure is owed by two projects in particular:

• Bifrost - ~$3.42 million
• Pendulum - ~$320,000

These loans have a one-year maturity period, which means the Polkadot treasury is set to receive a significant influx of funds in the not-too-distant future.

Network fee income was only $250k

The Polkadot treasury's primary source of income takes the form of network fees and inflation of the DOT token. 

However, in the first half of 2024, the treasury only generated ~39,000 DOT (worth around $250,000) from network fees. This represents an 87% decrease from the second half of 2023, when the treasury made ~313,000 DOT. As Wu Blockchain puts it, these low figures are…

"reflecting the low activity on the Polkadot network"

Partnering with Low-Follower Influencers?

Polkadot spent $2.2 million on collaborations with marketing firm ‘EVOX’, which is not a web3 native company, according to Wu Blockchain. This decision has raised some eyebrows, especially considering that EVOX appears to prioritize YouTube marketing over Twitter, where many crypto investors are regularly active.

Wu Blockchain’s report further points to concerningly low follower figures among influencers that were seconded to assist with DOT’s marketing efforts.

$4.5M on side events?!

The Polkadot treasury allocated $4.46 million to ‘conference attendance and side events’. 

While this may seem excessive for a six-month period, the report also highlights some interesting spending patterns. For example, the treasury spent ~$420,000 on Token 2049, which is a significant amount, even given the high cost of booth prices at such events.

Special thanks to Wu Blockchain, and writer defioasis, for providing such a comprehensive analysis of Polkadot’s spending habits in the first half of 2024.