It is near the end of Q1 and I haven’t seen any JAM updates in the last few months.
Also, I am seeing on X that some teams are pausing development due to lack of payment for their M1 submissions from W3F.
What is happening behind the scenes? Why aren’t submissions being evaluated or teams being paid?
From what I’ve seen, things aren’t exactly “stalled,” but they’re definitely slower and messier than people expected. A big part of it is that payments aren’t tied to submission alone - they only happen after the protocol gets properly ratified and all checks are done.
There are actually teams submitting M1 (I’ve seen mentions of ~15), but evaluation, conformance testing, and changing specs seem to be creating bottlenecks. Also, the graypaper keeps evolving, so teams end up reworking stuff instead of moving forward cleanly.
So from the outside it looks quiet, but behind the scenes it feels more like uncertainty + coordination issues than inactivity.
I’m seeing signs that JAM development is stalled. Time and time again deadlines are being pushed back. Gavin Wood said at his presentation in Sub0 that JAM would be completed “within a year or so”. However, it is now May 2026 and we haven’t had any official updates since the M1 submissions in 2025.
I have been holding out hopes as an investor of the DOT token that JAM will have a significant impact long-term. JAM was officially announced OVER TWO YEARS ago and there isn’t even a testnest available yet.
What is happening behind the scenes?
Reading that W3F has no one in charge of the prize and teams are waiting for M1 payment to keep building. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in where this is heading.
JAM was announced over two years ago and is the central reason to hold DOT long-term. Meanwhile: MAU are down ~84% since January 2024, Asset Hub has seen no meaningful traction after 5 months, and several projects have left the ecosystem.
Parity, W3F and Polkadot as a whole should be providing holders with much clearer and more frequent updates. Also about what their plans are and what they are actually doing to attract users, protocols and builders. Especially right now
You should ask the question in Element maybe 
That’s where the JAM group is.
