Polkadex is officially a part of the Substrate Builders Program

The program gives the Polkadex team the hands-on support and resources necessary to take Polkadex to the next level

4 min readOct 13, 2021

As you may have realized by now, building Polkadex is a huge undertaking. A solo-chain on Substrate with a decentralized trading engine for Web3 built on top is an unprecedented and complex solution that involves many ‘firsts’. Without the right kind of support, this endeavor would be almost unfathomable. That’s why we could not be happier to be a part of the Substrate Builders Program.

To recap, what is Substrate?

Substrate is the blockchain framework for a multichain future. It is the foundational building block that enables developers to quickly and easily build future-proof blockchains optimized for any use case. It is also the framework that drives Polkadot. In the case of the Polkadex network, the Substrate framework will be optimized for trading.

Substrate-based blockchains are designed to seamlessly connect to Polkadot, which gives them access to a system of parallel transactions, cross-chain transfers, and an expanding support network. Substrate allows blockchains to be flexible, open, interoperable, and future-proof.

Substrate is built by Parity, the team also building Polkadot as the other piece of the foundational infrastructure for Web3.0

What is the Substrate Builders Program?

The Substrate Builders Program provides developers with direct support by connecting them with Parity’s extensive resources and helping them take Substrate-based projects to the next level.

The program identifies, supports and mentors current and potential
Substrate-related projects like Polkadex.

How do teams like Polkadex benefit from being in the program?

Projects that are a part of the Substrate Builders Program receive Parity’s support in a systematic manner, including comprehensive support in the following areas:

Technical support
Community support
Community funding opportunities
Ecosystem support
Strategy and feedback

Polkadex and the Substrate Builders Program

Thanks to the Substrate Builders Program, we are closely working together with the best minds in blockchain technology and Web3. This has helped Polkadex specifically in the following ways:

We’ve been able to get technical support from Parity’s engineers and continue to do so whenever needed.
Periodic reviews have helped us further understand how to realize the Polkadex vision and set priorities to achieve it.
It has opened the door to potential ecosystem partnerships that will ensure an even better future for Polkadex.

The builders program will continue to support Polkadex up to launch and will continue to offer longer-term support depending on the Polkadex team’s needs.

What is the difference between the Web3 Foundation Grants program and the Substrate Builder’s Program?

In short, the Web3 Foundation Grants program is limited in scope and focuses on funding projects as they get started on Substrate and providing feedback on their delivered milestones. Meanwhile, the Substrate Builders Program is a more hands-on program which provides long-term support and access to extensive technical resources.

As you may remember, Polkadex participated in the Web3 Foundation Grants program and completed the first milestone in the grant. This gave the Polkadex team some funding to continue building Polkadex. After that, as Polkadex raised seed and private rounds and began to grow, the team decided not to continue with the second milestone of the grant as sepending time and resources on finishing the second milestone to receive the rest of the grant’s funding no longer made sense. Thus, the grant was terminated.

However, the Polkadex team has continued to work closely with the Parity team as part of the Substrate Builders Program; getting helpful technical support on challenging issues and important feedback on strategy decisions. It is reassuring that thanks to the Substrate Builders Program, the Parity team will be supporting the Polkadex team every step (and milestone) of the way.

The phases of the Substrate Builders Program

Hitting milestones

Every month, Parity announces the latest updates from teams in the Substrate Builders Program, and October 2021’s milestone announcement introduces Polkadex as one of the teams to reach its first milestone. The Polkadex team successfully delivered Milestone 1, which includes Off-chain IPFS to protect tokens in Polkadex Orderbook and Polkapool and will help users trade without front-running or huge transaction fees.

With the support of the Parity team through the Substrate Builders Program, Polkadex will redefine what is possible in DeFi. Follow the official Polkadex accounts below if you don’t want to miss it!