In the Web3 industry, Polkadot often resembles a "genius yet silent" engineer - smart enough, with advanced techniques, but always too far from users.
Polkadot pioneered the paradigm of modular blockchains, being the first to achieve innovative features such as cross-chain interoperability, secure sharing, and rapid chain launch, at one point matching the heat of Ethereum.
But beyond technology, it leaves many thresholds. Polkadot's slots have fetched sky-high prices, and Hydration's TVL is currently only $40 million (according to defillama data); Kaito's post-TGE sparked a trending topic for a while, but users' 'wealth perception' remains unclear.
Over time, the onlookers began to ask: Do we still need so many chains?
PolkaVM responds to this issue very directly - I do not go up the value blueprint, but let the code run first. It does not talk about 'modular paradigms', does not speak of 'collaborative economy', nor does it attempt to persuade you to be Infra's X guardian. It simply uses RISC-V to run Solidity contracts on Polkadot with almost no modifications, an alternative 'return to simplicity' (Gavin Wood is the inventor of EVM).
What is PolkaVM?
PolkaVM is a new execution environment created by Parity, where the core is not 'compatibility', but a fundamental swap of the underlying technology. It is based on RISC-V - a modern register-based chip architecture designed to replace the old EVM stack logic. The result: faster, more resource-efficient, and closer to hardware.
The difference between stack-based and register-based structures.
Specifically, PolkaVM has:
Register architecture + 64-bit: closer to modern CPUs, with higher execution efficiency.
Multidimensional Gas model: supports multidimensional metrics such as execution time, memory, cross-contract, and ZK computations.
Solidity toolchain compatibility: can directly use Remix, Hardhat, MetaMask without learning new tools or rewriting contract logic.
Multilingual potential: can connect to LLVM toolchain in the future, natively supporting development languages such as Rust, C, etc.
User experience optimization: automatically hides complex logic such as existence deposits, making interactions lighter.
PolkaVM has now launched on the Westend testnet (AssetHub), and developers can directly connect to the test:
RPC URL: https://westend-asset-hub-eth-rpc.polkadot.io
Chain ID: 420420421
Block Explorer: assethub-westend.subscan.io
From all of the above, it is easy to see that PolkaVM is not a compatibility layer, but a fundamental rewrite: using familiar tools, to build the next generation of execution environments, laying the groundwork for complex business and ZK applications.
PolkaVM is real deployment and real interaction.
While most 'new virtual machines' are still in the white paper and test contract stage, PolkaVM has completed several key real-world deployments, proving that it is not just a theoretical concept, but has validated its actual usability as an execution environment.
Uniswap V2 has been successfully deployed to the PolkaVM testnet.
PaperMoon has seamlessly migrated Uniswap V2 to PolkaVM, and the complex, frequently interacting AMM system runs stably. It is not a demonstration - the 'practical contract line' of PolkaVM has already been drawn. For those interested in the deployment process, please see: https://github.com/papermoonio/uniswap-v2-polkadot
The Safe multisig contract has successfully run in a trustless manner on PolkaVM for the first time.
The Mimir team comes from the Polkadot Asia Hackathon and was the first to use PolkaVM to deploy an institutional-level multisig system, Safe, on the Westend testnet. This is the first real custody tool to run on PolkaVM. Safe is widely used by DAOs and foundations, and its successful migration indicates that PolkaVM is not only capable of running contracts but can also support important on-chain capital security.
The toolchain has been initially connected, and Remix, Hardhat, and MetaMask are functioning normally.
Although PolkaVM adopts a completely new RISC-V architecture and register-based execution model at the bottom, the development habits are 'inherited in place', allowing teams familiar with Solidity to get started without barriers.
Currently, developers can fully interact with the PolkaVM testnet using the following tools:
Remix: supports online writing, compiling, and deploying Solidity contracts for PolkaVM, suitable for rapid experimentation and introductory teaching.
Hardhat: PaperMoon and Polkadot tech enthusiasts have provided complete configuration tutorials, supporting local development, testing, and deployment of PolkaVM contracts.
MetaMask + Ethers.js: Frontend developers can directly call the RPC interface of AssetHub Westend, completing DApp construction and interaction through standard Ethereum methods.
These operations do not require the installation of any dedicated plugins, nor do they require forking the toolchain; it is almost like "changing the kernel without changing habits", indicating that PolkaVM is gradually approaching a "ready-to-use" development experience.
PolkaVM is worth looking forward to, but it is not enough yet.
PolkaVM has completed a key leap from 0 to 1: RISC-V architecture is in place, mainstream toolchains are connected, and the first batch of practical contracts has been successfully deployed. However, it is still some distance away from becoming the daily tool for developers.
The ecosystem has not yet been launched, and applications are still in the verification phase.
The ecosystem is still in the verification phase. Uniswap V2 and Safe multisig are strong signals, but mainstream contract forms such as stablecoins, NFT protocols, lending markets, and GameFi have not yet been successfully run on PolkaVM. The current contract ecosystem is still in the early stage of "0 → 1".
Although the Polkadot community has encouraged projects to go on-chain through hackathons and funding programs, the overall developer momentum is still to be stimulated. Compared to Ethereum L2 or emerging EVM chains, PolkaVM currently lacks a 'explosive project' with network effects.
The toolchain is still incomplete, making it difficult to form a closed loop of usage.
Although it is possible to write contracts with Remix, deploy with Hardhat, and interact with MetaMask, the PolkaVM toolchain cannot yet be called 'ready to use'.
Currently, there is a lack of officially packaged TypeScript SDKs, CLI tools, and deployment templates, and developers still need to manually integrate various components. Common indexing tools like The Graph do not yet have adaptation plans for PolkaVM, and frontend frameworks and sample templates are not systematic. Although the JSON-RPC interface supports standard EVM toolchain calls, PaperMoon's documentation is still in its early stages, with insufficient explanations and encapsulations of advanced RPC methods.
This has made it a real obstacle for some developers that 'contracts can be written, but applications cannot run', especially for small and medium projects lacking infrastructure teams. But the good news is that PolkaVM is still in the testnet stage - the current 'not mature enough' is precisely the opportunity for developers to participate in building and seizing the first-mover advantage in the ecosystem.
Incentives are unclear, but this is precisely the window period for small teams.
PolkaVM is still in the testnet stage, with the mainnet launch expected in Q3, and the official detailed incentives have not been disclosed. For large projects, this means "no need to rush"; but for small teams, it is precisely an excellent opportunity to get on board.
Sparse ecosystems mean high attention density: PaperMoon and Mimir deployed Uniswap V2 and Safe multisig on the testnet, immediately gaining official retweets and community attention from Polkadot. In Ethereum, such matters have long been devoid of dissemination value; in PolkaVM, however, it is a shortcut to being 'seen'.
Moreover, the threshold for the PolkaVM toolchain is not high; Remix, Hardhat, and MetaMask have all been integrated, and it can even run a testnet locally. The real threshold is not technology, but whether you are willing to start before others.
The more realistic situation is that there are indeed resources within Polkadot supporting and collaborating on BD, but it has not yet been made public. If you wait for the incentives to materialize before starting, you will have already missed the information dividend. The earlier you act, the easier it is to leave your own mark. PolkaVM may not be mature yet, but for small teams willing to get a head start, this could be the positioning battle before the next round of ecological explosion.
PolkaVM is not the end, but the first domino in the reconstruction of the Polkadot execution layer.
A few days ago, Parity completed the migration of the relay chain functionality to Asset Hub on Westend: core modules such as staking, governance, and account balances have been switched over, and the existential deposit has been reduced from 1 DOT to 0.01 DOT. The structure has been simplified, and the experience has lowered the threshold; Polkadot is transitioning from an 'engineering miracle' to 'real usability'.
Polkadot VM is building a new execution environment based on RISC-V, natively supporting more complex on-chain business logic, and may even accommodate high-intensity scenarios such as AI agents and on-chain inference in the future, compensating for the performance shortcomings that WASM cannot handle.
More uniquely, Polkadot has provided developers with a growth path of 'zero-frame start, cross-upgrade': first using smart contracts to test product logic, and once successful, seamlessly migrating to their own exclusive independent application chain. It's like renting a Wuling to practice, and once the route is clear, switching to a Maybach to speed. This kind of 'incremental scalability' has almost no reference in other public chains.
PolkaVM does not tell a new story, but quietly changes the engine. The way you write code does not change, but the execution model and system philosophy have been completely updated. The real Alpha never relies on narrative success, but is hidden in the underlying evolution that can 'run, connect, and move forward'.
