The blockchain project Polkadot has turned a profit for the first time since 2023, earning $4.1 million in the fourth quarter.
The financial report indicates that expenses during this period totaled $7.4 million, while total assets increased to $11.5 million.
Tommy Enenkel, one of the ecosystem developers, attributed this success to the "Gavin Effect," linking it to the return of Polkadot's creator, Gavin Wood, as CEO of Parity Technologies in August 2025.
The Gavin Effect
— Alice und Bob (@alice_und_bob) January 27, 2026
The Polkadot Treasury had its first positive quarter since the start of OpenGov: 1.6m DOT profit
The new Polkadot Treasury report just dropped. It shows the positive effect a voice of reason with the support of big bags has.
Thread with ALL THE CHARTS 👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/nuFrD2zeCm
“The Polkadot Treasury has become more conservative and focused on core operations and development,” Enenkel added.
This outcome contrasts sharply with the first half of 2024, when the project spent a record $87 million on an extensive marketing campaign. Approximately $37 million was allocated for advertising, and another $5 million went to influencer payments. About $180,000 was spent on placing the logo on a "whole fleet of private jets in Europe" for six months.
The community criticized Polkadot's actions at that time, with some experts warning that such spending rates could deplete the project's funds soon. However, the ecosystem's non-profit organization dismissed these forecasts as inaccurate.
New Financial Discipline
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the majority of expenses ($2.5 million) were related to development. An additional $1.7 million was allocated for outreach, including $870,000 for direct advertising.
The remaining funds were distributed among operational activities, business development, research, and education.
The Treasury has also begun to diversify its reserves more actively, reducing its reliance on the native token DOT. The share of stablecoins in Polkadot's reserves grew from $1.7 million in the first half of 2024 to $10.5 million (18%) by the end of December 2025.
Cost-cutting measures have helped stabilize the project, but the blockchain's balance has significantly decreased due to a nearly 40% drop in the DOT price over the last three months. Polkadot holds about 32 million of its coins, representing 77% of total reserves.
For reference, in September, the decentralized autonomous organization Polkadot approved a strict cap on the token supply at 2.1 billion DOT.