The controversy stems from a June 28th treasury report which showed Polkadot spent $87 million in the first half of 2024, with over 40% – or $36.7 million – allocated to “outreach” activities.
This category reportedly includes influencer payments, sponsorships, conferences, and digital advertising. The report also details a decline in treasury revenue, dropping from 414,291 DOT to 171,696 DOT between the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Community members have expressed concerns about the sustainability of this spending, particularly in light of the reported $245 million remaining in the treasury.
Head ambassador Tommi Enenkel, the report’s author, acknowledges this, stating, “At the current rate of spending, the Treasury has about two years of runway left.” However, he adds that the volatile nature of cryptocurrency makes precise predictions difficult.
Further criticism centers on the specific breakdown of outreach spending. Social media user comments highlight a $53,000 invoice for a dynamic logo on CoinGecko, while others discuss rumors of influencer payments reaching $300,000 per month.
Venture capitalist Adam Cochran summarized the sentiment, calling the outreach spending “lighting money on fire” and noting a lack of visibility for Polkadot’s marketing efforts.
Polkadot maintains that the influencer budget is distributed among multiple agencies, with $2.2 million, $1.3 million, and $490,000 allocated to EVOX, Lunar Strategy, and Chainwire respectively.
With the community divided, it remains to be seen whether Polkadot will adjust its spending strategy or if its current approach will yield the desired results.
The token has not dumped, as someone might think. In fact, the token is up 2% in the past 24 hours.