Bow-tie structure of the Polkadot transfer network

Abstract

While there are many data collection and analysis tools for Ethereum -the largest smart contract blockchain by market capitalization, development of similar tools for other smart contract blockchains is lacking. Reasons for this are non-existent standards, changing specifications due to rapid development, common usage of the off-chain storage, and lack of developers. One of such blockchains is Polkadot -a layerzero blockchain featuring a single relay chain whose role is to secure smart contract transactions on multiple other parachains. In this paper we describe a data collection pipeline for Polkadot blockchain that we then use to perform an analysis of the bow-tie structure of its transfer network over time, with special emphasis on the role of nominators and validators in this structure. We find evidence that the Polkadot ecosystem is slowly maturing from a system dominated by nominators and validators, both of which require some technical skill as well as willingness to bond sufficient amount of funds, into a system increasingly populated by regular users using the financial services of Polkadot.