Summary of Messari's Q1/2025 report on the Polkadot ecosystem

• Transaction Decline: The total number of transactions in the Polkadot ecosystem has sharply fallen by 36.9% compared to the previous quarter, down to 137.1 million. One reason is partly due to Neuroweb facilitating more efficient transaction processing.
• Some networks are still on the rise:

• Moonbeam: 16.7 million transactions (+6.5%), accounting for 12.2% of the entire system.
• Mythos: 12.3 million transactions (+12%), accounting for 9%.
• Peaq: 10.1 million transactions (+84%), accounting for 7.4%.

• Monthly active users fall 13.1%, from 610,000 to 529,900.
• Developer activity: Contradictory.

• Core dev rises slightly by 1.5% to 122 people/week.
  • Ecosystem development fall 5.7%, number of commits fall 14.4%.

• Efforts to improve dev experience: Launch of PAPI Console and UX Audit Grants program to support development.

• The market value of DOT is falling:

• From nearly 8 billion USD at the beginning of the quarter → down to 6.1 billion USD by the end of the quarter → down to 5.14 billion USD on June 28.

• Criticism from the community:

• Trader Nonzee calls Polkadot a “puffed-up project with no users.”
• Point out that the price of DOT has fallen from 55 USD to only 3.30 USD.
• Criticizing the spending of 129 million USD from the fund without a clear ROI.
  • Although the technology is good, the lack of users, stories, and development motivation makes the network feel like a "ghost town."

Conclusion: Despite having strong technology and numerous initiatives for developers, the Polkadot ecosystem is facing a severe decline in users, transactions, and token value, leading the community to be increasingly skeptical about its ability to revive without a truly groundbreaking application.

View the full report here.