The Polkadot (DOT) blockchain development team has announced an upcoming testing phase for a process termed asynchronous backing. This innovative approach aims to significantly bolster the scalability of the Polkadot network, potentially leading to the support of a larger number of parallel chains or parachains.
The announcement was made by Sophia Gold, the engineering lead at Parity Technologies, a major contributor to Polkadot, during the Polkadot Developer Conference. Gold revealed that this initiative will pave the way for the blockchain to grow its validator count to approximately 1,000 by the close of the year. As it stands, Polkadot can accommodate up to 100 parachains, which are application-focused chains that link to the Polkadot network. However, with the integration of asynchronous backing, this capacity could surge to as many as 1,000 parachains.
Gold elucidated the unique aspects of backing Polkadot, emphasizing its implementation directly at the protocol level rather than the smart contract level. This approach not only enhances capital efficiency but also reinforces censorship resistance. Gold mentioned, “Asynchronous backing offers a flexible foundation for future scalability endeavors, harnessing features like elastic scaling and immediate coretime.”
Highlighting the ambitious vision for the network, Gold stated, “We possess a solid roadmap that steers Polkadot towards supporting 1,000 parachains and achieving over 1 million transactions per second. The framework is already laid out – we are equipped with the knowledge to scale Polkadot indefinitely.”
She also termed asynchronous backing as a monumental progression in parachain consensus since their inception approximately two years ago. The next steps will see this feature being introduced to the Rococo testnet within the upcoming weeks.
