Gavin Wood just replied on the Polkadot forum regarding his views on whether to issue a JAM Token! Let's take a look together!
My view
I personally do not plan to issue new tokens based on the JAM protocol. I also do not think it is wise for Parity and the Web3 Foundation to issue such tokens, although the leadership of these organizations can decide for themselves. I generally oppose actions that I believe will not bring actual net benefits to Polkadot.
However, I will continue to explore ideas that may bring long-term value to Polkadot, sometimes involving new tokens—but these tokens are usually symbiotic with DOT rather than replacing it.
DOT is the core of Polkadot's product economy, and I very much look forward to it maintaining this position. The existence of JAM will not change that.
JAM and Polkadot have a mutually reinforcing relationship. With JAM, Polkadot will have more and faster core functionalities, stronger resource measurement capabilities, higher connectivity, improved storage functions, and a brand new execution model. This will greatly expand Polkadot's technical boundaries.
About Polkadot
Polkadot is essentially a product, with its core mission being to connect and secure the operation of blockchain networks, which are collectively maintained by decentralized participants.
The (Polkadot White Paper) released in 2017 defined the basic vision of this product. Today, this is no longer just theoretical but a battle-tested production-grade network that sets industry benchmarks for data availability, computing power, system resilience, and cross-chain security interoperability.
As a state-of-the-art Rollup host platform, Polkadot has already supported many heavy-load applications:
Mythos operates mainstream games (NFL Rivals) and (FIFA Rivals);
Hydration ensures the solvency of DeFi systems through partial liquidation executed by the protocol;
Frequency has built an anti-censorship social graph, currently serving millions of users;
Hyperbridge provides trustless bridging functionality, acting as a 'co-processor' in the crypto space;
In addition, there are many other teams, too numerous to list.
Next, the Polkadot Hub will soon be upgraded, introducing a native RISC-V smart contract platform. This will greatly lower the entry barrier for developers and provide Polkadot with clearer technical paths for key challenges such as Rollup expansion, centralized platform integration, bridge service access, native stablecoins, and liquidity acquisition.
The ultimate goal of all these improvements is to make Polkadot a stronger, easier to use, and more attractive product, thereby attracting more users, stimulating real demand, and creating a sustainable economic ecosystem.
About JAM
JAM is a Web3 protocol. For those who are unclear about the differences between 'protocol', 'network', or 'token', simply put, it is like the core technology shared between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. It is the core technical specifications stripped of specific organizations, computers, communities, histories, or tokens.
The design of JAM is strict and minimalist, with no unique reference implementation and no single economic stakeholder, ensuring its neutrality. JAM can be widely applied to various scenarios and is not affiliated with any specific interest group.
The expertise and intellectual property regarding JAM have not been 'fenced off' by any company as is common in the industry. I have taught the principles of the JAM protocol widely across the globe; one only needs to read a main document, some reference materials, and a portion of published technical specifications to grasp sufficient information to implement a complete JAM instance.
Currently, there are nearly 40 teams independently developing their own JAM implementation versions, none of whom are employed by me, Parity, or the Web3 Foundation. They also bear no legal or moral obligations—this itself reflects the openness of JAM. We incentivize high-quality implementations through the 'JAM Implementer Reward Mechanism', using locked DOT. These teams have achieved a very mature technical level, actively participating in revisions of specifications and proposing many improvement suggestions.
The JAM protocol has been under development for more than two years. Its core document (gray paper) was almost entirely written by me independently, without any funding from the Polkadot treasury. This document was written to maintain relative independence from existing Polkadot and Ethereum protocols, although it indeed draws on some of their technical ideas.
Over the past year, the Polkadot community has officially agreed through governance voting to adopt the JAM protocol as part of the future technological upgrade path.
In the future, it is entirely possible that other protocols or tokens will choose to use JAM.
About the Web3 Foundation and Parity
The Web3 Foundation's current financial situation is very robust, and it has a clear and legally binding mission: to support and promote the development of Web3 protocols.
To fulfill this mission, the Web3 Foundation conducted a presale based on the future usability of DOT as early as 2017. Polkadot has always been a central focus of the Foundation's support, and I believe it should continue to be so in the future, although the Foundation's responsibilities are not limited to this. Within its clearly defined scope of authority, the Foundation has also supported the JAM reward mechanism and the procurement of JAM Toaster hardware.
As for Parity, I believe its responsibilities should continue to focus on improving the Polkadot product itself and how to capture value more efficiently.
About the JAM network and tokens
I hope that the JAM protocol and PVM (Polkadot Virtual Machine) will not only be important nodes in the technical upgrade process of Polkadot but also serve as a standardized and neutral Web3 protocol.
Neither I, you, Parity, nor the Web3 Foundation can prevent any team from launching new JAM networks based on their own JAM implementations and issuing their own tokens. Similarly, any existing blockchain network can choose to migrate to the JAM protocol.
This openness and freedom is the essence of JAM. It embodies the ideals of open source and permissionless access, and is also the fundamental driving force behind the entire crypto industry reaching its current state.
I believe that JAM brings new possibilities for technological leapfrogging to the entire Web3 industry and opens the door for Polkadot to further expand its influence, connectivity, and global recognition—not limited to within the blockchain but extending to the broader internet world.
Original link: https://forum.polkadot.network/t/introducing-a-new-jam-token/13029/4
