AAG #258 - Adjustments 🦴

Why Gavin Wood Stepped Away — and Why He’s Back Now In the 124th episode of When Shift Happens, I sat down with @gavofyork, creator of @Polkadot, founder of @Web3foundation, and soon-to-be CEO of Parity Technologies, to talk about leadership, decentralisation, and the future of blockchain. Our conversation moved easily from protocol architecture to the nature of happiness, and Gavin’s central belief that the industry can return to its core ethos. In 2022, Gavin stepped down from his CEO role at @paritytech, telling me, “Running a company is a very particular skill set and it’s not something that I’m particularly skilled at.” His gift, he said, lies in “invigorating people” and getting them excited about projects, not in management or operations. Those responsibilities left little room for the deep thinking and architectural work he values most. “There’s a reason academics are left to their own devices,” he told me. “Stress really inhibits this kind of thought.” Over the next two years, he poured himself into JAM, a major evolution of Polkadot’s protocol design, and watched the architecture he’d envisioned begin to take shape. A few days ago, Gavin announced he was returning as CEO. This time, he says, the foundations are in place, the market is ready, and with Polkadot 2.0 on the horizon, it’s the right moment to lead one of the most important rollout phases in the network’s history. A Reluctant CEO, A Committed Builder Gavin has no interest in building personality cults. “Charismatic leaders have no place in crypto,” he said, arguing that protocols should stand on their own merit and be resilient to the presence or absence of any one figure. This belief shaped Polkadot’s governance model, which widely distributes decision-making power, even if the results have been “mixed” at times. It’s also why he created JAM — his vision for a “magic internet supercomputer” that tackles hard problems first. On Crypto’s Direction and Distractions Gavin didn’t shy away from critiquing the industry. From Ethereum’s Layer 2 approach, which he views as a “power grab,” to the rise of “fart coins”, he sees a space too often distracted from building real, user-centred value. Yet, his return signals optimism. “I’m very happy with JAM and the way it’s going,” he said. “This is actually one of the more fun times in my blockchain career.” Now, the focus is on aligning technical progress with market readiness and turning Polkadot’s architecture into real on-chain impact. The Broader Ethos Not all of our discussion was about technology. We spoke about the illusion of a free society, the importance of self-sovereignty, and the mixed blessings of wealth. For Gavin, true progress means building systems that empower individuals without forcing them to trust centralised intermediaries. And at the heart of it all is curiosity. “Curiosity fuels joyful living,” he said near the end of our talk. Whether in life or code, exploration matters more to him than titles or market cycles. As Gavin steps back into the CEO role, the challenge will be balancing a visionary architect’s mindset with the realities of scaling a global blockchain network. If our conversation is anything to go by, he’s returning with both the philosophy and technicalities needed to steer Polkadot into its next era. 👉 You can watch the full conversation on When Shift Happens on YouTube or listen on your favourite podcast platform.

gm - where are you from?👇

Polygon now live on Hyperbridge testnet. Trustless by default.

Upgrade complete ✅ @AstarNetwork now runs on Agile Coretime. Fewer lockups, more performance + resilience. Details below 👇

Upgrade complete ✅ @AstarNetwork now runs on Agile Coretime. Less lockups, more performance + resilience. Details below 👇

Made a new friend today. I asked him “do you know about DePIN?” He said “no, but I love @peaq.” So I said “it’s built on Polkadot.” True story.

DePIN: replacing corporate-controlled infra with community-owned networks where anyone can contribute compute or data. That means lower costs, greater resilience, and user control. All on Polkadot.

. @gavofyork returns as CEO of Parity to lead the next phase of our journey. @bjornwgnr steps down after three transformative years. With a strong foundation and clear direction, we’re accelerating. The next era of Polkadot starts now.

Put your smartphone to work w/ @Acurast Contribute compute and get compensated. Learn how ⤵️