Polkadot Launch:
Parachain Rollout
Parachains began deplolying on Polkadot in December 2021, marking the final stage of Polkadot’s v1 launch process. Parachains are continuing to roll out via Polkadot’s auction process. With parachains live, the community will determine which additional features and network upgrades to add to the network over time.
Testnet Rollout
Parachain functionality will roll out first for testing and bug fixing on parachain testnets like Rococo. Once we’re confident the code is ready, we’ll open registration for parachain teams to test their own chains, including interaction with other chains via XCMP-lite. Once we’ve developed and tested the final elements of core functionality for parachains and Cumulus - approval voting, distribution, availability recovery, and disputes - the Polkadot codebase will officially be feature complete.
When we’re confident testnet parachains are running smoothly, a vote to enable parachain onboarding to Kusama, including slot auctions and crowdloans, will be submitted via on-chain governance.
Kusama Rollout and Slot Auctions
As a live network with real economic incentives, Kusama will serve as an additional proving ground for parachains, allowing the community to observe network effects and conduct further testing and optimizations. Kusama governance will first vote to enable parachain functionality via runtime upgrade. After that it can vote to begin slot auctions and to add any system parachains.
Parachain Slot Auctions
Parachain slot leases will be allocated via non-permissioned candle auctions. After the first auction on Kusama, there will be a new auction taking place every week. After each auction, the winning parachain will be deployed to the network at the beginning of its lease period. Auctions will continue from here on a rolling basis as more slots become available and previous leases expire.
Once all audits are completed and parachains are running smoothly on Kusama, Polkadot’s community can enable parachain functionality, deploy the first public-good parachains and begin slot auctions on Polkadot via on-chain governance.
Current Stage: Polkadot Rollout and Slot Auctions
Polkadot governance will first vote to enable parachain functionality via runtime upgrade. After that, it can vote to begin slot auctions and to add any system parachains.
Parachain Slot Auctions
Parachain slot leases will be allocated via non-permissioned candle auctions. After the first auction on Kusama, there will be a new auction taking place every week. After each auction, the winning parachain will be deployed to the network at the beginning of its lease period. Auctions will continue from here on a rolling basis as more slots become available and previous leases expire.
With parachains live on Polkadot, the network’s launch will officially be complete according to its original vision and design. Future upgrades, including full-featured XCMP and parathreads, can be enabled via network governance after the code has been fully developed, tested, benchmarked and audited. What the future holds for Polkadot from here is up to the community.
What happened before parachain rollout?
Check out the full Polkadot launch roadmap to find out how we got to where we are today.
See Launch RoadmapFAQ
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