| Report Date | 2025/08/11 (YYYY/MM/DD) |
| Submitted by | Francisco Aguirre |
@cisco:parity.io129EYiTbv2J4LkYqRNssUfMuxNLYN8TW2LgfG1Gqyj8wCcs712024/05/312025/05/10XCM, Bridges, Smart ContractsOver this past year, I believe I have demonstrated being a core part of the team. My knowledge of the protocol has increased substantially and, while there is always more to learn, I have enough to be already designing non-trivial aspects of the system. I also regularly communicate, share knowledge and educate about Polkadot.
Since I was promoted to rank I, I've been helping and working with XCMv5[1], the latest version of XCM which improves a lot of the pain-points everyone has had with XCM over the years.
I implemented the DryRunApi[2] and reviewed the XcmPaymentApi[3] as a way to fix both fee estimations and reduce errors in the ecosystem. I've implemented these APIs in all the runtimes and done bug-fixes and improvements when needed. I also created an app to dry run any call[4] to showcase the dry run API. Most ecosystem chains haven't implemented them yet, so I'm working with tracking who does and getting them to implement them. As more and more chains adopt these APIs, the user experience of the whole ecosystem will improve.
I've been focusing a lot on documentation lately, with a guide soon to be on the Polkadot docs[5] on how to use XCM via off-chain tools like Paraspell and PAPI. More to come with the new smart contracts features.
I have been working with the Paraspell team for improving their SDK and make it easier to use.
I've helped design features like the local testing setup[6] and improved developer experience by automatically handling decimals.
As well as that I support them to migrate every extrinsic call to execute and custom XCM programs, when possible.
I wrote a design document[7] for Smart Contracts' cross-chain support. This document detailed the XCM precompile, how we would deal with versioning, abstractions, interfaces, among others. It is a rather comprehensive document for this feature, one which was reviewed by multiple other protocol maintainers and improved over time based on their feedback.
Aside from designing, I also helped with reviewing, testing and giving feedback to the XCM precompile[8][9]. I also created the ERC20 transactor for handling ERC20 tokens via XCM [10].
On the education front, I've assisted various PBA campuses as an instructor: Berkeley, Singapore and Lucerne. There, I've helped dozens of students build their first pallets and given presentations on the Polkadot SDK and XCM.
I've also given live lectures at all the PBA X waves so far introducing online students to the Polkadot SDK, its features and its applications.
I've recently presented a workshop for a hackathon talking about XCM in smart contracts. I created a repository[11] for it with the setup for using XCM in smart contracts.
I've been increasingly taking a more important role in maintaining and designing new aspects of the protocol as well as in educating and mentoring new contributors. I feel ready to take the responsibility of a rank II member of the fellowship and keep on increasing my knowledge and influence of the protocol.
| Ranks | Activity thresholds | Agreement thresholds | Member's voting activities | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 90% | N/A | 100% | I have voted on 0 out of 0 referenda in which I was eligible to vote (i.e 100% voting activity). |
| II | 80% | N/A | ||
| III | 70% | 100% | ||
| IV | 60% | 90% | ||
| V | 50% | 80% | ||
| VI | 40% | 70% |
No referendum was created