Blockchain community enraged by companys extravagant multimillion dollar marketing costs
Polkadot, a network founded by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, is facing criticism and scrutiny from its community after revealing $37 million in marketing expenses. In its H1 2024 treasury report, Polkadot stated that nearly $40 million was spent on “outreach” to attract new users, developers, and businesses into the ecosystem. Of the total marketing budget, over $20 million was allocated to advertising, and $10 million worth of DOT tokens were used for sponsorships, including sports deals, collaborations with a race car driver, and a partnership with an e-sports tournament organizer. Comparatively, Polkadot’s development expenses were $23 million in the first half of the year.
The disclosure of these marketing expenses caused outrage within the blockchain community, with accusations of centralization and frivolous financial campaigns. Victor Ji, co-founder of Manta Network, expressed his dissatisfaction in a thread, calling Polkadot a “highly toxic ecosystem” and accusing it of discrimination and lack of support for network-built projects. Another core developer at Polkadot, using the alias @seunlanlege, criticized the project’s approach, stating that the amount of money spent on marketing is “insane” and drawing parallels between Polkadot and the bankrupt FTX crypto exchange. The report noted that at the current spending rate, Polkadot’s treasury has about “two years of runway left,” while acknowledging the unpredictable nature of crypto-denominated treasuries. As of now, Gavin Wood has not made any public statements on the matter.
