Manta Network Founder Questions Polkadot’s Value

Polkadot lacks genuine value in the Web3 space and is considered a “toxic” project, according to viktorji.eth, the founder of the Ethereum scaling L2 protocol Manta Network.

As the founder of the previous largest (non-DOT) TVL and market cap/FDV project in the Polkadot ecosystem, I have to say that we do not want to engage with the Polkadot ecosystem and team at all. It is a highly toxic ecosystem that lacks any real value for web3, and it does not… https://t.co/YxAPF1CYC9

— victorji.eth ✨ (@victorJi15) July 2, 2024

The developer highlighted discrimination within the ecosystem, favouring teams from Europe and the US over their Asian counterparts. As an example, viktorji.eth cited the Polkadot Academy event in Hong Kong in February, which cost over a million dollars. He lamented that at best, only one in four participants was Asian.

“As the founder of the previous non-DOT and largest by TVL protocol in Polkadot, we do not want to engage with this ecosystem and its team. It is very toxic. […] Developers should join Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin,” he commented.

Viktorji.eth also recounted a meeting with Gavin Wood [the blockchain’s founder], who, according to him, was unaware that Manta Network is one of the largest projects in the ecosystem he founded.

The developer believes the Polkadot team is not truly decentralised.

“If they had spent even a little meaningful effort supporting the builders using their stack, we would not be so disappointed. Many community members asked us about the roadmap for our Atlantic project (one of the parachains), and I would say there is no roadmap, as we are now fully focused on Manta Pacific, because the entire Polkadot ecosystem is essentially dead,” he lamented.

Viktorji.eth joined the criticism of the blockchain’s leadership after a former project developer known as Web3 Philosopher pointed out “insane” spending on “inappropriate” marketing. He compared the actions of Wood and his colleagues to FTX and Crypto.com.

“Blockchains like Optimism and Arbitrum give hundreds of millions of dollars to teams,” he wrote.

Living Large

Crypto influencer Ignas noted that Polkadot’s treasury spent $37 million on project promotion in the first half of 2024. Total expenses for this period amounted to $87 million. At the current pace, funds will be exhausted in two years, he added.

This is real:

Polkadot’s Treasury has about 2 years of runway left at the current burn rate of $87m USD per 6 months. https://t.co/rpXjFzVMw1 pic.twitter.com/Pejcajoz1C

— Ignas | DeFi (@DefiIgnas) July 1, 2024

This category includes advertising integrations, partnerships, shilling by opinion leaders, and other marketing campaigns.

Nevertheless, Polkadot still seems “invisible” on X and other platforms, Ignas noted.

The non-profit organisation pointed out inaccuracies in the forecasts regarding resource depletion in two years. They reminded of the inflation generated by staking rewards (~7% goes to the treasury).

In April, Polkadot’s parachains halted operations for about an hour following an update to the main network.