ATTENTION: DEVELOPERS! Discover the $50 Million JAM Implementer’s Prize and Access a Supercomputer Playground

A reported 22 passionate developer teams are competing for their spot as trailblazers, forging the path to resilient decentralization through advancements in blockchain technology. As the founder and CIO of a digital asset management firm, deeply immersed in the web3 world, having led a team conducting extensive research into the foundational technology Polkadot has developed throughout the years, I am thrilled about the launch of the JAM Prize. This initiative represents a new chapter for developers working on implementations of JAM (Join Accumulate Machine), the next stage in Polkadot’s evolution. With a prize pool of 10 million DOT tokens and 100,000 KSM tokens,—developers have a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the future of web3.

At Scytale Digital, we’ve identified several interesting trends and challenges within the current offering. Until now, the primary method of integrating into Polkadot involved building a blockchain or developing on top of existing chains running parallel to Polkadot, also known as parachains. This has often led to significant efforts dedicated to building blockchains, even when applications did not necessarily require their own chains. It also led to fragmentation and difficulties in aligning with other startups to utilize their parachains, especially with those early-stage parachain projects still finding their footing. In short, what JAM intends to solve is the noticeable gap in the availability of appropriate platforms to build what customers truly need, by way of  a more flexible and less opinionated infrastructure layer. While JAM still allows for the same parachain architecture to run on top of it, it allows for so much more. The JAM Prize incentivizes multiple client implementations in various programming languages, further enhancing the resilience of the network.

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The JAM Protocol

While targeted for a July 2025 launch, it is expected that it could take up to two years before JAM is up and running, but the time to start implementing the protocol is now. If you haven’t already, check out the JAM Gray Paper here.

JAM represents a forward-looking protocol upgrade from the Relay chain within the Polkadot ecosystem. Designed to ensure complete backwards compatibility, JAM aims to streamline and optimize the blockchain's architecture.

Key Features and Transition:

• Backwards Compatibility: JAM is engineered to seamlessly integrate with existing protocols, ensuring continuity for developers and users. This compatibility facilitates a smooth transition from the current Polkadot Relay chain to the enhanced functionalities of JAM.
• Redundancy of the Relay Chain: With the deployment of JAM, the Relay chain becomes redundant, devoid of its native currency or economic functions. Validators may choose to continue operating on the defunct chain via hard forking, but without the ability to receive payments unless they migrate to the new DOT system.
• Rationale for Transition: JAM aligns with the original vision of decentralizing extraneous functionalities away from the central security chain, which currently serves as the Relay chain. This transition aims to optimize resource allocation and enhance operational efficiency within the Polkadot network.

Future Prospects:

• Continued Innovation: By migrating functionalities to JAM, Polkadot paves the way for continued innovation and scalability across its ecosystem. The upgraded architecture promises enhanced security, performance, and adaptability to meet evolving market demands and technological advancements.
• Community and Stakeholder Engagement: Stakeholders are encouraged to embrace JAM's advancements, fostering a collaborative environment for development and deployment across the Polkadot network.

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The JAM Supercomputer

In preparation for the launch of the JAM Chain, the JAM Supercomputer, also known as the JAM Toaster, a build used to run the Polkadot Virtual Machine (PVM), was unveiled in Lisbon. With an impressive setup boasting 12,276 cores and 16 TB of RAM, it initially serves as a centralized hub for testing the capabilities of the JAM network. To ensure scalability and decentralization, a distributed network of 1,023 nodes is to be subsequently deployed worldwide. These nodes collectively emulate the processing power of 341 cores, enabling them to simulate and validate the entire JAM network's functionality.

Key Features and Capabilities:

• Simulation of the Entire Network: The distributed network of 1,023 nodes replicates the behavior and interactions of the JAM network on a global scale. This simulation is crucial for testing and optimizing performance across different geographical locations and network conditions.
• Enhanced Testing and Experimentation: With each node equipped to handle a fraction of the workload, developers can conduct extensive testing, observation, analysis, scaled trials, experimentation, and research. This capability is pivotal for fine-tuning the JAM ecosystem before its full-scale deployment.

The insights gained from these simulations play a vital role in refining the architecture and protocols of Polkadot 2.0 and the innovative JAM Chain concept. This iterative process ensures that both platforms are robust, efficient, and ready to meet the demands of decentralized applications (dApps) and enterprise solutions.

• The JAM Supercomputer and its distributed nodes are poised to rank among the top 500-1000 supercomputers globally, highlighting their computational prowess and technological significance.

By leveraging these advanced computing resources, Polkadot pioneers a new era of decentralized network validation and scalability, setting the stage for a secure and efficient blockchain ecosystem.

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The JAM Prize

Objective of the JAM Prize

The Web3 Foundation, through the JAM Implementers’ Prize, seeks to encourage the development of multiple client implementations to boost the network’s resilience. This prize aims to build a robust, decentralized network capable of handling diverse computational tasks efficiently while enhancing overall network security, performance, and reliability. JAM represents a transformational leap for Polkadot and the broader blockchain space.

Prize Details and Participation

The Web3 Foundation is offering a substantial prize pool to motivate developers:

• 10 Million DOT Tokens: Equivalent to over $60 million USD .
• 100,000 KSM Tokens: Equivalent to approximately $1.8 million USD.

The prize pool is divided into grants of up to 500,000 DOT + 5000 KSM  per completed implementation, with the following language sets prioritized, eligible for the rewards. Implementations are requested in the following programming languages: 

Set A, “Cooperate Code”

1. AspectJ,
2. Kotlin, 
3. C#, 
4. Go, 

Set B: "Quick Code”

5. C 
6. C++ 
7. D, 
8. Rust, 
9. Swift, 
10. Zig, 
11. Carbon, 
12. Fortran, 

Set C: “Cute Code”

13. Scheme, 
14. Common Lisp, 
15. Prolog, 
16. Haskell, 
17. ML, 
18. Perl, 
19. Python, 
20. Ruby, 
21. JS, 
22. Groovy, 
23. Dart, 

Set D: “Correct Code” 

24. Ada, 
25. Julia, 
26. Erlang, 
27. Elixir, 
28. Ocaml, 
29. Smalltalk, 
30. F#, 
31. Scala, 
32. APL.

Key Milestones for Success

To win these prizes, developers need to meet key milestones, including importing and producing blocks, achieving Kusama and subsequently Polkadot-level performance and passing rigorous security audits. Prizes are awarded on a first come first served basis. Implementers are awarded in tranches of up to 100,000 DOT per milestone, based on completion of milestones set forth by the Web3 Foundation. Aside from financial rewards, each milestone comes with additional benefits.In addition to the benefits noted below, implementers will be considered for all-expenses paid travels to international seminars on JAM. 

Milestone 1. Importer 

State-transitioning conformance tests pass and can import blocks.

Potential benefits: Consideration for Fellowship rank retention or promotion

It should be noted that members of the fellowship are paid a salary, corresponding to their rank, ranging from $10,000 - $200,000 USD per year.

Milestone 2: Author 

Fully conformant and can produce blocks (including networking, off-chain).

Potential benefits: Private access to standard hardware for performance testing

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Milestone 3: Half-speed

Conformance and Kusama-level performance (including PVM implementation). 

Potential benefits:Access to JAM Toaster for trial and debugging

The JAM Toaster is a mini-supercomputer which can simulate the whole JAM network and help optimize code. 

Milestone 4. Full-speed

Conformance and Polkadot-level performance (including PVM implementation). 

Potential benefits: Free professional external audit

Milesone 5. Secure

Fully-audited

Potential benefits: Users will have greater confidence in your implementation

Audit Funding: Auditing will be paid separately from the prize fund, ensuring the maximum prize of 500k DOT + 5000 KSM (100k DOT + 1000 KSM  per milestone).

Milestone Delivery: Given the interest so far, it is expected that teams delivering milestones pre-launch will receive the full amount.

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JAM Prize Rules and Evaluation

Judging and Guidance

Submissions will be judged by non-participating members of the Polkadot Fellowship, with the Web3 Foundation coordinating based on their decisions. Teams are advised to complete more milestones for a competitive advantage. Recommended starting steps can be found in the provided link. 

Engage with the Community

To discuss JAM with fellow builders, members of the Polkadot Fellowship, and even Gavin Wood himself, join the conversation on Element: Join the Chat.

Insights from Gavin Wood

Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Polkadot, emphasized the importance of resilience through decentralization and diversity, in the Element developer chat, emphasizing the foundational architecture and the maximization of its resilience::  

“The rules are designed to prevent loopholes that might allow teams to claim the prize without contributing to the network's resilience. For example, implementing in C and then reimplementing in a C-dominated "C++" would not be claimable, but implementing in Haskell and then in idiomatic C++ might be. All prize decisions are made at the discretion of the non-team Fellows.”

“It is mostly expected that JAM implementations will be written from scratch, as Substrate, being an opinionated blockchain framework and software, will not be particularly helpful. JAM is a protocol, which precludes it from being based on Substrate software.”

Join Us in Shaping the Future

I’m personally really looking forward to reviewing the progress of the talented developers working on these solutions. Join us in creating a secure, flexible, and scalable blockchain future. Apply now to participate in this groundbreaking initiative and showcase your innovative solutions. More information is available on the Polkadot Wiki. Otherwise, check out the rules and apply here, Good luck and have fun!

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