Decentralized Futures Programs: Magport Labs, Advancing Technology Development and Promotion within the Polkadot Ecosystem

Ecosystem
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Background

In line with the forthcoming appchain market, as the “coretime” solution is proposed, Polkadot will effectively reduce the cost of deploying an application and enhance its flexibility as a core service. It is foreseeable that more small and medium-sized innovations will join.

Polkadot is currently in the process of decentralization. We see the opportunity of joint developments within its community with Parity will bring in collective wisdom, real global influence, and the best utilization of cost benefit across the globe. DOT based alignment will be built on community vision and its co-development efforts, it will also help identify and fit gaps in crypto-degen ecosystem to enable Polkadot to gain a sustainable advantage in long-term competition.

The efficient operation of appchains not only requires Polkadot to act as the relay chain providing high-quality coretime services, but it also depends on the availability of adequate third-party services support within the ecosystem. The excellent development toolings and public infrastructure services provided by third parties will efficiently reduce the Appchain’s development cycle and costs, facilitating the deployment of their applications.

We are committed to becoming such a community infrastructure builder as a supplement for Parity core dev team with the aim of expanding DOT based use-case scenarios with the technological function we provide.

Education plays a crucial role in promoting technology. In addition to technical delivery, we will also focus on supporting post PBA graduation in the Asian market through building, events and hackathons around substrate. We want to keep end users informed about the latest developments of Substrate technology, enhancing the influence of the Polkadot ecosystem in the Asian market, launching the first “Substrate Summit” in Dubai May, 2024 as the sub-event during Token2049.

About Magport

Magport Labs, A port that ships magical-like creative technologies to reality. Magport will promote the growth and development of the Substrate ecosystem by building and education in Asia

Founder Introduction

Qinwen
Web3 Foundation China lead 2019-2023. Former Polkadot Network Council member. Run 2 batches of Web3 Bootcamp. Forbes 30U30.
X: https://twitter.com/Qinwen_Wang

Acai
With a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a Master’s in Management, I have cultivated a strong foundation in both technical and leadership skills. My professional journey commenced at ASUS, followed by a significant career shift in 2017 when I entered the blockchain industry. Throughout my career, I have accumulated extensive experience in project development and management. Notably, I have contributed to the development of firmware for Bitmain’s XMC and X3 mining machines, participated in the development of the Substrate project, and been involved in the creation of the Tozes NFT platform. Currently, I am engaged in the development of Magnet, a smart contract platform based on coretime, using DOT as the gas fees.
X: https://twitter.com/lec28351083

What will we build?

We aim to enhance the Polkadot ecosystem as a third-party technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of products designed for developers, end-users, and new entrants. To achieve this, we’ve strategically divided our focus into four key areas, and specific details will be presented in subsequent proposals:

Common Good Toolings building

We propose to expedite the development of Appchains within the Polkadot ecosystem, aiming to significantly enhance the speed at which innovative applications are launched. By providing dedicated tooling and support, we aim to streamline the development process, reduce technical barriers, and foster a more vibrant and diverse application landscape. This approach not only accelerates growth but also nurtures a rich ecosystem of cutting-edge applications.

Common Good Appchain building

Our initiative includes the establishment of Common Good Appchains, which are designed to offer essential infrastructure services for other Appchains. This foundational support will boost the usability and accessibility of the DOT token, creating a more dynamic and interconnected ecosystem. By enhancing infrastructure capabilities, we aim to elevate the overall value and utility of the Polkadot network, driving increased adoption and demand for DOT.

Promote Cross-Ecosystem Collaboration

We advocate for the establishment of technical partnerships between Polkadot and other blockchain ecosystems. Our goal is to create synergies that lead to integrated efficiency and mutual benefits. Through collaboration, we can leverage strengths, share knowledge, and co-create solutions that benefit all parties involved. This initiative will not only enrich the Polkadot ecosystem but also strengthen its position as a leader in the broader blockchain community.

Education and Acceleration

A key focus of our proposal is to promote the application of Substrate technology in the Asian market. We aim to identify, support, and incubate potential innovative applications specific to this region. Through targeted educational programs, workshops, and acceleration initiatives, we plan to engage and empower local developers, entrepreneurs, and businesses. This regional focus will help tailor Polkadot’s capabilities to meet local needs and preferences, driving adoption and innovation in one of the world’s most dynamic markets.

Conclusion

Leveraging our local expertise and deep understanding of blockchain technology, we are committed to being at the forefront of building the Polkadot ecosystem and promoting Substrate technology. Our comprehensive suite of tools and services is designed to diversify and enrich the Polkadot innovation landscape, while also expanding the practical applications of the DOT token.

Moreover, our collaborative efforts with other ecosystems will not only foster the development of unique and innovative applications, which are unfeasible within isolated ecosystems, but will also bolster Polkadot and Substrate’s influence in the blockchain industry.

Lastly, we recognize that education and market engagement are key to the long-term prosperity of any ecosystem. We believe that our market initiatives will contribute significantly to the sustained growth and success of both Polkadot and Substrate.

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I met Qinwen at the Polkadot Asia Conference in 2019. She has been working hard to connect various resources for the Polkadot parachain ecosystem. Her unique insights into coordinating resources and building an ecosystem are impressive. I am delighted to see that she initiated this proposal and is working on it. To promote the growth of Polkadot from both technical and market perspectives, the Polkadot ecosystem needs more common good tool builders. This will help lower the threshold for developers and allow more applications to be implemented.

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Thank you very much for your recognition. We are also very happy to communicate with different ecosystem teams to explore more potential needs for the common good. At the same time, we greatly appreciate the high-quality products that Bifrost offers to ecosystem users. We hope to have the opportunity in the future to discuss and exchange ideas more deeply, and to jointly build the Polkadot ecosystem. :laughing:

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Polkadot is at a critical stage in its development, and there is a real need for more organizations to provide the bulk of the technical build and market education efforts to enhance the Polkadot ecosystem.
In terms of the current state of the Polkadot ecosystem, there are two big priorities: one is to focus on the development of Polkadot 2.0-related services, such as Agile Coretime, to provide some of the functionality that’s currently missing; The other is to provide a lot of development tools to make the system easier to use.Polkadot already has cool underlying technology, but there is also a high barrier to use, so there needs to be a team to do that paving work.

I’d like to know if there is a general plan for what direction of technology or products Magport Labs will provide in the future? For example, will there be a focus on developing bridges, or a more user-friendly Polkadot wallet, or will there be any infrastructure services for a smooth transition from Polkadot 1.0 to Polkadot 2.0 ?

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As a brief off-topic aside, in case you’re not aware, there are several very user-friendly wallets for the ecosystem now, including Nova, Talisman, and Subwallet.

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I quite agree with Carol. I don’t think current wallet experience is good enough.

Think about polkadot.js pool UI interface, and you still need a lot of extra time and operations to connect and switch between different parachains.

We still need a more friendly wallet with AA function, an EVM and substrate unified account across all parachains, and the Polkadot plug-in wallet is not friendly enough, a lot of work needs to be done.

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See the post directly above yours. Polkadot has had user-friendly wallets for ages now, and Polkadot.js isn’t really even a wallet. But this is not the topic of this thread, so let’s move on.

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Strictly, it is not, you can say UI components or extensions. But the wallet word is any there on the official page.
When you connect your web wallet, most of the time you will see polkadot.js on the top of your pop-up window. FYI.

Anyway. It’s off-topic and let’s move on.

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Hi @Acai ，

I know you from the Manget project, which I think is an amazing project that utilizes the PAYG model to quickly and flexibly order blockspace, and I am pretty sure you have some thoughts on how to apply coretime architecture to Magport to benefit the whole ecosystem. But I still have some doubts and hope I can hear some good points from you.

1、Common good appchains are a quite good idea that will drive the dapp adoption. But I guess Parity may still have some legacy common good parachain development work in progress. Is there a clear assignment of work or partnership between you and the Parity development team to prevent potential conflicts of interest and friction?

2、Since the assets on Polkadot are illiquid compared to L1 chains such as Cosmos and Solana, I think one issue is that Polkadot’s liquidity is all scattered on different parallel chains. Is it possible to centralize the TVL through your project, similar to Osmosis DEX on Cosmos? Or do you have some ideas to improve asset liquidity with the current Asset Hub or some new common good asset chain?

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For system parachains, Parity is mostly focused on deploying Agile Coretime, implementing RFC-32, deploying Polkadot<>{Kusama, Ethereum} bridges, and some upgrades to Asset Hub (namely, what was detailed in the roadmap I shared last year). W/r/t this work, I do think “common good parachains” was a terrible term, we should have used “system parachains” from the beginning. Trying to undo that :).

Coretime, as @Acai has correctly identified, completely changes the economics/access model to Polkadot resources. Anyone can make a parachain with DOT as the native token on that chain, and only buy Coretime when they want to execute a block (likely either (a) when they have enough DOT fees to buy the Coretime, or (b) using some DOT subsidy they have raised, perhaps from the Treasury). The added benefit is that they need not be a system parachain, and can just use reserve-backed DOT. I think the Magnet work is on the right track.

Perhaps projects like this are the correct application of the “common good” term. They can use transaction fees or Treasury funding to get DOT with which to buy Coretime, but they have complete design flexibility by being outside the formal system (and thus not having to use Polkadot Root origin for governance (although of course, they could)).

I don’t really understand what you mean here. Can you explain more? We live in a multi-chain world, applications have to deal with that. Asset Hub can definitely help, especially when it comes to routing and use as a reserve location.

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You’re absolutely right. In fact, I too am keen to see more public utility applications based on a reserve-backed DOT economic model. We need to fully leverage our creativity and use this model to create valuable services and applications for the Polkadot ecosystem, benefiting both project teams and end-users.

These applications will become an integral and organic part of our ecosystem, enriching its diversity and enabling continuous innovation and change. Such an ecosystem and innovation will further enhance the utility value of DOT, fostering long-term sustainable development for Polkadot.

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Hi, @hangfo
Thank you for your interest. As @joepetrowski mentioned, Parity is currently focusing on more important tasks. In essence, our ecosystem is still in its early stages, presenting numerous opportunities for foundational infrastructure development. Our task is to observe and discern what our ecosystem lacks, and what others possess, and even seek inspiration from real-world societies. This approach often leads us to innovations that Parity may not prioritize.

Moreover, we utilize our coretime to develop applications from a grassroots perspective, which could result in applications that serve both common good and profitability. I believe this is where the true value of our core time lies, as well as our role in the ecosystem.

Since the assets on Polkadot are illiquid compared to L1 chains such as Cosmos and Solana, I think one issue is that Polkadot’s liquidity is all scattered on different parallel chains. Is it possible to centralize the TVL through your project, similar to Osmosis DEX on Cosmos? Or do you have some ideas to improve asset liquidity with the current Asset Hub or some new common good asset chain?

That’s a nice idea, and it’s something I’ve been contemplating as well. The concept of a public liquidity dashboard, offering a one-stop view of all ecosystem asset prices, is intriguing. Utilizing XCM’s cross-chain aggregation feature could significantly enhance user experience.

Additionally, this involves developing a universal component, a Pallet, potentially incorporating functionalities based on XCM. Combined with on-demand use of coretime, the platform could still directly use DOT for fees, making it a highly efficient and interesting proposition.

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@joepetrowski Thank you for the clarification of system parachain and common goods parachain, quite straightforward. Since “common good chain” is an outdated term for system parachain here, I am afraid that not every Polkadot developer or community member is able to tell the difference between the system parchain and common good ones, especially when it comes to some protocols and utility apps. I think a clearer delineation and guidance would be helpful for projects to develop appchains or something common good based on Parity’s technology; maybe @Acai can also help.
I know there have been some discussions about polkadot protocol and common good parachains before, but I would also like to get an update on your views.

For the second question, I think @Acai has given some clues above, such as liquidity dashboards and tools on the front end or asset aggregation on the back end. If you check out other chains, Polygon has Quickswap and Cosmos has Osmosis, although there are dozens of IBC chains like parachains. All of these alternative chains have at least one native asset dapp to aggregate and exchange their native chain assets. But we can’t find a dominant dapp in the Polkadot system because there are too many dapps in each parachain with overdispersed TVLs.

Back to my question, multiple chains are bound to exist, but economic utility is also something we should consider. Over-diversification of assets leads to potential liquidity and security issues and a poor user experience. What’s your opinion on this? Do you prefer Parity to upgrade the existing Asset Hub to further enhance liquidity, or is it something like a new common good aggregator app from the Magnet or other teams?

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Hi team,
Thanks for posting your proposal here.
Please see below my feedback,

Common Good Toolings building

You don’t mention a single product, service, or enhancement you are planning to deliver here. Please be more specific.

Common Good Appchain building

This is a whole product or company - I would be skeptical about a team that said they could deliver this as PART of a larger proposal.

Promote Cross-Ecosystem Collaboration

Excellent we need more of this - it would be great if you can detail the teams / projects you already have relationships and how each party (Polkadot and the other team) could benefit / leverage the relationship.

Education and Acceleration

Good in theory, I’d like to see a more detailed plan re: this item if it’s the crux of your proposal.

Overall, we should be using, “Polkadot SDK”, not “Substrate”.
I believe the fact that you have used Substrate here makes your proposal feel out of touch. Apologies but, this proposal feels weak and mostly written by Chat GPT - I’d like to see specifics and something tangible that you are planning to deliver.

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Hi, @Birdo
Thank you very much for your feedback.

You don’t mention a single product, service, or enhancement you are planning to deliver here. Please be more specific.

This is a whole product or company - I would be skeptical about a team that said they could deliver this as PART of a larger proposal.

We are only presenting the outline of our original proposal here, as the original document is very long and requires confirmation of details with some individuals, so we haven’t displayed it extensively. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused you!

Once the details are finalized, updated regarding Common Good Tools and Common Good Appchain will be provided. Additionally, we do not intend to complete all the development work(Common Good Tools and Common Good Appchains ) ourselves. We plan to undertake what we can in the form of a few applications, and hope to set an example for the community, encouraging everyone to join us in this endeavor.

Apologies but, this proposal feels weak and mostly written by Chat GPT - I’d like to see specifics and something tangible that you are planning to deliver.

By the way, I should mention that my native language is not English, my way of thinking might be different from that in English due to my Chinese logic. Therefore, I use Grammarly to help enhance my writing and grammar in formal situations, and I am also learning to express myself more formally in English. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

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Thanks for the feedback, looking forward to reading the full proposal.

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It’s mostly summed up in the last paragraph of the post that you linked. Basically:

  • If governance allocates coretime to a chain AND its upgrades/root origin are deferred only to system governance, then it is a system parachain;
  • Everything else is not a system parachain.

Within the category “not a system parachain”, people can call things whatever they want, and perhaps it does get subdivided into multiple classifications of chains (or more generally, coretime consumers). If people want to adopt “common good” as a term with specific meaning, then go for it :slight_smile:. However, if you do want it to have specific meaning, someone should express that more precisely.

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This is the part I’m very interested in. The definition of system and non-system parachains is very pragmatic, and the same is true of my thoughts. However, RFC-32 is still a work in progress, and many developers may not even know what should be categorized as system parachain; they just follow other projects to apply for treasury or funding. Asset Hub and Bridge Hub are currently included in the system parachain, and if more opinionated systems are introduced in the future, the actual guidelines will become more complicated for projects.

One of the more obvious examples I’ve observed is Lastic, who has recently been working on Coretime Marketplace development. They’ve been awarded a grant from the Web3 Foundation, and I think it’s possible to accelerate some of their dev work in the future in collaboration with the Magnet team as well. But one of the questions is, I think Polkadot or Parity will also release a Coretime trading, auction, or subleasing system in the future; does this part belong to the system parachain or non-system parachain? This will have a great impact on the positioning and development of Lastic.

If the definition is not clear enough, I think it might be difficult for Lastic to scale the project with just the Coretime tool, especially if they want to monetize it, since many of the features are similar to the official Polkadot tool, and it doesn’t make much sense to duplicate the development. In the case of Polkadot staking, it’s hard to imagine that a program could be successful just by developing a DOT staking tool since it’s a relatively small sub-feature and the tools provided by Polkadot or some wallets are already good enough.

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Always supportive of more teams working on common goods and toolings, esp. by a team led by Qinwen. However, as pointed out by other members, we’ll be better to assess your objectives when more details are shared. Looking forward!

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hi @51bagger thank you for your kind reply and recognition. This has been my almost 5th year’s in Polkadot ecosystem. Asia is the market that i know inside out and i have put heart and sweat in growing. We also grow with the ecosystem over the years which to a point that the only way is to truly become an entrepreneur along with df. The vision of me for Magport is scouting talented devs in Asia and to build a strong product team around Substrate (PolkadotSDK) we aim to not only facilitate Polkadot’s connection with other ecosystems but also to create new application scenarios for DOT, ultimately amplifying its influence by these toolings. We are now in discussion with Decentralization Futures committee for the initial toolings ideas and will work with them for the necessities. As @Acai i mentioned we will publish the super long writings after finalize.

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