[Wish For Change] The Dynamic Allocation Pool (DAP) and the future of staking: Phase 1

Overview

This WFC proposes changes to the Polkadot protocol as part of the first phase of the DAP roadmap. The goal is to transition towards a fully functional DAP and to lay the foundation for an integration of Proof-of-Personhood. By accepting this WFC, the Polkadot community expresses approval of:

General
- Implement a basic version of the DAP pallet with a permanent account that can hold DOT.
- Stop the burning of all DOT in the system.
  - DOT from transaction fees (on the Relay Chain and all system chains) and from coretime sales will be collected in their respective system parachains and, in a later phase, transferred to the DAP main account.
  - Treasury burns will be stopped, and the corresponding DOT will instead remain in the Treasury.
- Redirect DOT acquired from slashes to the DAP.
Validators
- Minimum self-stake: 10'000 DOT
- Minimum commission: 10%
Nominators
- Nominator's stake is exempt from slashes.
- Drastic reduction of unbonding time. Nominator's stake can unbond as soon as they are not backing any active validators anymore. Depending on when the unbonding extrinsic was cast, this takes between a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 48 hours.

The enactment of these changes is scheduled to happen on or before 14th March 2026 and completes Phase 1. Upcoming changes will further build out the functionality of the DAP with updates to follow in due time.

Edited

Here's a simple summary of the proposed changes to Polkadot:

Stop Burning DOT: The network will stop destroying DOT tokens from fees and other activities.
Save DOT in a New Pool: Instead of being burned, that DOT will be saved in a new account called the DAP.
Slash Money Goes to the Pool: DOT taken from misbehaving validators (slashes) will also go to the DAP pool.
Validators Need More Skin in the Game: Validators must lock up at least 10,000 DOT of their own and charge at least a 10% fee.
Protect Nominators: Regular stakers (nominators) will not lose their DOT if a validator they back misbehaves.
Faster Unbonding: Nominators can get their staked DOT back much faster, within 1-2 days.
Goal: These are the first steps to build a new system for managing DOT and prepare for future upgrades.

Source

Overview

This WFC proposes changes to the Polkadot protocol as part of the first phase of the DAP roadmap. The goal is to transition towards a fully functional DAP and to lay the foundation for an integration of Proof-of-Personhood. By accepting this WFC, the Polkadot community expresses approval of:

General
- Implement a basic version of the DAP pallet with a permanent account that can hold DOT.
- Stop the burning of all DOT in the system.
  - DOT from transaction fees (on the Relay Chain and all system chains) and from coretime sales will be collected in their respective system parachains and, in a later phase, transferred to the DAP main account.
  - Treasury burns will be stopped, and the corresponding DOT will instead remain in the Treasury.
- Redirect DOT acquired from slashes to the DAP.
Validators
- Minimum self-stake: 10'000 DOT
- Minimum commission: 10%
Nominators
- Nominator's stake is exempt from slashes.
- Drastic reduction of unbonding time. Nominator's stake can unbond as soon as they are not backing any active validators anymore. Depending on when the unbonding extrinsic was cast, this takes between a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 48 hours.

The enactment of these changes is scheduled to happen on or before 14th March 2026 and completes Phase 1. Upcoming changes will further build out the functionality of the DAP with updates to follow in due time.

Edited