DOT’s Happy CNY! - Newsletter Edition 84
In this week’s edition:
Editorial: Celebration vibes, Polkadot’s Chinese Community, and Chinese Community Content.
Top Story - Celebrating DOT Chinese Community: how the Chinese Community is shaping the Polkadot ecosystem.
Featured Report - Recognising DOT Chinese Content: Show appreciation for our Chinese community of creators.
Wag Roundup: News from our Finders Program between January 23rd and January 29th.
Extras: Credits and anything else.
The full newsletter can be enjoyed via this link.
Editorial
What is up, my friends!
Happy Chinese New Year (CNY) to all those who celebrate it around the world! While last week we shared some Presidot takes on what happened in and around the inauguration, there was certainly more that followed, worth celebrating. In some cases, it might even be worth yapping about.
The pro-crypto presidential actions that followed included a compelling executive order, a favourable appointment, a positive rescindment, and more. However, heading into the weekend and starting the week, markets have turned deep into the red, and some now seek salvation.
Perhaps it’s a good reminder to Web3 natives of the global inclusivity and profound impact that comes with open-source disruptive technology. Polkadot has long been at the forefront of embracing an inclusive ethos around the world. As such, it has established a strong contingent of developers in the China region.
In fitting with the Lunar New Year festivities, our top story this week celebrates the endeavors of the Chinese community within the Polkadot ecosystem. We will also showcase Chinese content in our featured report to raise awareness of those working to tell Polkadot’s story in one of the most prominent languages.
On that note Gong Hei Fat Choi, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Chuc Mung Nam Moi, Selamat Tahun Baru Imlek, Saehae Bok Mani Badeuseyo, Sawasdee Pee Mai, Manigong Bagong Taon, Selamat Tahun Baru Cina, and Xin Nian Kuai Le. Wishing you all prosperity, good health, and joy in the year ahead.
Dodow, Chief Editor
Top Story of the Week - Celebrating DOT Chinese Community
Written by yay.oi
What’s crackin’, cobras? As the final Moonbeam of the lunar year puts the dragon to rest, the new moon awakens the year of the WUD Snake. It’s a year characterized by the themes of deepening connections, transformation, and strategic growth.
Recent developments have resulted in a push for deeper connections in the US. However, let’s not forget our special relationship with the Sinosphere and the communities that have helped Polkadot to maintain a foothold in mainland China and beyond.
Gavin Wood recognized the potential of China from the early days of Polkadot, maintaining a home in Shanghai, and touring the region often. His efforts contributed to “fairly substantial” support from Chinese funds in the 2019 private token sale along with a growing community of supporters and developers in the region.
At the time, Chinese developers such as Phala’s Marvin Tong told Decrypt that the combination of Gavin Wood, Web3 Foundation, and Parity was able to offer unrivalled strategic funding and marketing support compared to other blockchains. By 2021, projects with Chinese teams made up the largest group of Web3 Foundation grant recipients, totalling 18.2%.
As recently as 2024, Polkadot retained the third-largest share of crypto developers in China. Initiatives such as OneBlock+, the oldest and largest blockchain developer community in China, play a role in growing and retaining this developer base through educational support, content, and regular Polkadot hackathons.
With such a significant level of developer support in the region it should come as no surprise that many of Polkadot’s earliest projects were initiated by Chinese founders. These projects played a crucial role in shaping the Polkadot ecosystem in its formative years. So let’s take a moment to look at a few, but this is by no means an exhaustive list of protocols............…….
Check out our full newsletter for the full story
Featured Report - Recognising DOT Chinese Content
Written by Dodow in collaboration with AIWeb3
Chinese is one of the world’s most prominent languages, spoken by over a billion people. While many within the Chinese community can understand English, true connection goes beyond translation. Cultural nuances and social impact can sometimes only be unlocked by conveying the language of the Middle Kingdom.
When it comes to Web3, one community literally stands out for its love/爱 (ài) for it: AIWeb3, with its mission to connect the DOTs with Chinese-language audiences. Evolving from WagMedia’s Chinese-language unit, AIWeb3 takes on the role of cultivating awareness of the Polkadot ecosystem through content created by the Chinese community.
The approach taken enables regular community members of AIWeb3’s Discord to donate points to content they like, somewhat similar to OpenGov. This engaging points system helps shape the content that appeals to the audience. It has shown that the Chinese community tends to prefer videos over articles, particularly content on DeFi opportunities and education about protocols.
In terms of platforms for content distribution, Bilibili, Douyin, WeChat, and, more recently, Xiaohongshu (RedNote) have been attracting the most traffic. However, they pose challenges for Crypto and Web3 related content, with AIWeb3 experiencing repeated WeChat group shutdowns and frequent video takedowns on Bilibili. This reinforces the need for censorship resistance and decentralization.
Until Web3 media platforms reach wider adoption, a hybrid approach can be considered the best option. As such AIWeb3 has prioritized X, YouTube, Discord and Telegram to appeal to Chinese communities beyond China, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and major diaspora hubs like the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, serves as a supplementary channel, while Xiaohongshu is omitted due to its similarity. In particular, live sessions on X with ecosystem teams have attracted strong interest. This has helped AIWeb3 build one of the largest Chinese social media followings within the ecosystem, which has led to community members stepping up to create content.
We will now showcase a selection of content from creator channels who have remained active despite the current absence of funding. Please be mindful that the creators have evolved from a grassroots community effort, and are not KOLs. One can only imagine the satisfaction if a KOL-like creator were to emerge......……...
Wag Roundup
Written by yay.oi
Inter Miami CF has unveiled its brand new Polkadot pink training jersey. Fans will soon be able to get their hands on one in Inter Miami CF Official Stores at Chase Stadium and Miami International Airport.
Tuttle Capital has filed an application with the SEC for a 2x leveraged Polkadot ETF.
Jamixir, a team implementing JAM with Elixir, has become the first to get a JAM node running and producing blocks.
Polkadot Asset Hub USDC and USDT are now available for swapping, Paycek payments, and on/off ramping to EUR with Electrocoin.
LAOS Network has launched the first season of Goal Revolution, a multiplayer football manager game enhanced by LAOS Bridgeless Minting. Get your free NFT players now and compete for a prize pool of 250 USDT.
Blink and you’ll miss it. The Hydration money market increased the lending cap of vDOT by 111,111 this week. However, some very enthusiastic lenders managed to fill it in under seven minutes.
After a successful $150K OTC purchase, Solana’s SOL token is now tradable on the Hydration Omnipool.
Acala has announced its plans to integrate Snowbridge, the trustless bridge between Polkadot and Ethereum, bringing Euphrates one step closer to becoming a multichain LSTFi hub.
Polkadot Referendum 1400 is open for voting. If passed, it will lower the cost of Snowbridge transfers from Polkadot to Ethereum from ~6.12 DOT to ~1.49 DOT. In addition, it will register native ETH on Asset Hub and make it a sufficient asset with a minimum balance of 15k Gwei.
Polkaworld hosted Travis (Acala), Max (Harbour Industrial Capital), and Seun (Hyperbridge) on January 27th for the January 2025 Polkadot Roundtable to discuss their projects and the latest about JAM, OpenGov, and the 2025 Roadmap.
Extras
Awesome cover art created by SKULLZ.
For all you budding creators out there, don't hesitate any longer – join us now! There are plenty of rewards awaiting your creativity.