Polkadot’s founder Gavin Hood announced that the newest version of its cross-consensus message format- XCMv3 is merged after 15 months of development.
It is claimed that this cross-consensus message format will allow parachains to “speak” to one another without the need for bridges. “No more lock and wrap plays, and much safer interaction between parachains,” Wu Blockchain reported.
Cross-Consensus Message Format known by the acronym XCM aims to be a language to communicate ideas between consensus systems. This aligns with Polkadot’s main objective of interoperability where XCM is the mechanism.
To put it simply, it’s a standard that enables protocol designers to specify the information and sources that their chains can send and receive from.
What started out as a method for cross-chain communication, has now developed into a format for cross-consensus communication that is carried out not only between chains but also between smart contracts, pallets, bridges, and even sharded enclaves like SPREE.
It’s worth noting that XCM cannot actually send messages between systems. It is a format for how message transfer should be performed. This is why it’s called a format and not a protocol, according to the blog.
The recent deployment had some effect on the network’s development activity which has been on an uptrend over the past few months, Token Terminal reported on 16 January.
The expanding number of projects and innovations inside the Polkadot ecosystem may be responsible for this uptick in activity.
These have been further corroborated by data provided by Santiment which too recorded a significant increase in development activity within the Polkadot community, fueling the already positive trend in the broader cryptocurrency market.
Polkadot’s Development Activity On An Upswing
Besides that, the blockchain platform has seen a surge in the number of its native token DOT in nomination pools, making staking on the network more feasible, with over 1 million bonded by members.
If one can recall, Polkadot is an interoperable blockchain that can connect multiple blockchains, allowing them to communicate with each other. Parachains are those heterogeneous blockchains that are linked to Polkadot.
These layer-1 blockchains are touted to go beyond what legacy networks can offer.
Some of these are Moonbeam Network and the Astar Network which have also shown signs of progress and improvements. These developments also attracted a significant number of developers to the ecosystem, further driving its growth.