The blockchain project Polkadot has achieved profitability for the first time since 2023, earning $4.1 million in the fourth quarter.
The financial report indicates that expenses for the period amounted to $7.4 million, while total assets increased to $11.5 million.
Tommy Enenkel, a developer within the ecosystem, attributed the result to the “Gavin Effect,” linking it to the return of Polkadot’s creator, Gavin Wood, as CEO of Parity Technologies, the project’s commercial developer, in August 2025.
The Gavin Effect
The Polkadot Treasury had its first positive quarter since the start of OpenGov: 1.6m DOT profit
The new Polkadot Treasury report just dropped. It shows the positive effect a voice of reason with the support of big bags has.
Thread with ALL THE CHARTS 👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/nuFrD2zeCm
— Alice und Bob (@alice_und_bob) January 27, 2026
“The Polkadot Treasury has become more conservative, focusing on core operations and development,” added Enenkel.
This contrasts with the first half of 2024, when the project spent a record $87 million on a large-scale marketing campaign. Approximately $37 million was allocated to advertising, and another $5 million went to influencer payments. About $180,000 was spent on placing the logo on “an entire fleet of private jets in Europe” for six months.
The community criticized Polkadot’s actions at the time. Some experts noted that at such a spending rate, the project’s funds would soon be depleted. However, the ecosystem’s non-profit organization deemed such forecasts inaccurate.
New Financial Discipline
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the majority of expenses ($2.5 million) were dedicated to development. An additional $1.7 million was allocated to outreach, including $870,000 for direct advertising.
The remaining funds were distributed among operational activities, business development, research, and education.
The treasury has also begun to actively diversify its reserves, reducing dependence on the native DOT token. The share of stablecoins in Polkadot’s reserves increased from $1.7 million in the first half of 2024 to $10.5 million (18%) by the end of December 2025.
Cost reductions have helped stabilize the project, but the blockchain’s balance has significantly decreased due to a nearly 40% drop in the DOT price over the past three months. Polkadot holds about 32 million of its coins, accounting for 77% of total reserves.
Back in September, the decentralized autonomous organization of Polkadot approved a strict cap on the project’s token issuance at 2.1 billion DOT.