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2025 September Polkadot OpenGov Report

Stables​

Polkadot’s native stablecoin development has officially begun. At the same time, Hydration’s long-awaited Hollar stablecoin is launched. Interesting sequence of events with both happening within the same week.

Hollar allows minting against a basket of collateral, including DOT, wrapped ETH, and BTC. By contrast, the native stablecoin is planned to rely only on DOT as collateral. It is currently titled pUSD, with other alternatives under discussion. The new token is expected to serve treasury payouts, staking rewards, and validator compensation.

The reason for developing a native stablecoin instead of using third-party stables such as Hollar, USDT, or USDC is explained by the need for a decentralized stablecoin that is completely under Polkadot governance control.

The native stablecoin is planned to be built using the Honzon protocol. This immediately sparked debate because Honzon also powered aUSD in the past. aUSD was Acala’s stablecoin, and it lost its peg due to configuration mistakes. Supporters note that the incident was an operational error, not a flaw in Honzon’s design. Critics counter that aUSD is so tainted that even mentioning it alongside the new effort carries reputational risk. A Wish for Change referendum is live, questioning whether the native stablecoin should be built on the Honzon protocol.

Directors​

Another interesting sequence of events emerged around the referenda on the Polkadot Community Foundation (PCF) director election process. After a decision deposit was placed on the earlier referendum submitted by White Rabbit, Autonomous, which currently handles communication between PCF directors and the DAO, submitted an alternative proposal to define the process. The Autonomous’ draft is more comprehensive. It lays out risks and liabilities for PCF directors and clarifies role descriptions.

However, both proposals are currently failing while the core issue remains: if the network will continue using the PCF, it needs a defined way to appoint directors and keep communication open, since today the process depends entirely on Autonomous, and most voters do not even know who the current directors are.

This should not be read as a call to support either proposal, but the network needs a decentralized path to nominate, vet, appoint, and replace directors with basic disclosures. Otherwise, the network remains with the current inefficient setup.

Departmental Updates​

DeFi Bounty in Confirmation​

DeFi Bounty’s proposal to extend its budget for one to one and a half years is about to pass. The ask is 1 million DOT, roughly 4 million USD. We know the team is working hard from direct interactions and ongoing checks. Yet much of the work is not visible to a wider audience. Our compliance audit flagged several gaps. We hoped to see these addressed during the vote, but there were no clear attempts, and even basic points like who the current curators are remain confusing for many. We hope to see these issues addressed quickly in the second term.

Ink Alliance Bounty Failing​

A new proposal for Ink Alliance Bounty is currently failing with around 90% rejection, requesting 260k DOT, approximately $1.1 million. The issue is that the network already funds an Ink smart contracts bounty, formerly WASM Smart Contracts and now called Inkubator, which remains active, and the overlap is creating confusion. If the intent is to offer an alternative or shift stewardship of the existing bounty, that should be discussed and decided within the existing framework rather than creating duplicate, parallel operations. There are about three weeks left in the decision period, but support is minimal.

Events Bounty Budget Extended​

Events Bounty’s proposal to extend operations for six more months has been approved. The allocation is 500k DOT, approximately $2 million, securing runway for the next half year of the department.

Public RPCs for System Chains​

The budget request for public RPC services for the system chains is passing with unanimous support, with two weeks remaining in the decision period. It seeks 110k DOT, about $450k, to cover the next six months of operations for the bounty.

Notable Mentions​

  • Utilizing Sub-treasuries: The funding request for the collectives section on the Subsquare platform was withdrawn. The Technical Fellowship has decided to handle it with an RFP from its own subtreasury, since the Fellowship is currently the only active collective.
  • The Party is Over: The $2m proposal for the game development of Pudgy Party was rejected with a 95% disapproval rate, a clear signal against proposals with no clear value to the network.