The ecosystem is currently experiencing a clear shortage of active contributors, and addressing this requires support from multiple sources. In principle, the Ambassador Program should serve as a strong pipeline of motivated community advocates who contribute in exchange for reputation building, small project-based rewards (such as PIF), or travel and accommodation support. However, despite significant effort, the program has not yet reached its intended operational effectiveness. This is not the fault of the ambassadors themselves; managing, coordinating, and resourcing such a program is inherently complex and beyond the responsibilities of volunteer contributors.
To enable ambassadors or any ecosystem members to represent Polkadot at events and consistently generate meaningful outcomes, structured support is essential. While ecosystem teams can offer assistance, their primary focus is understandably on their own product or organisational success rather than on stewarding the broader network’s presence. Therefore, for the time being, the responsibility for enabling and supporting these activities falls to the treasury, at least until a central coordination entity is established to take on this role in a sustainable and strategic way.
Most blockchain ecosystems, whether coordinated centrally or through community-driven networks, have established clear support structures for active contributors (“bagworkers”). While Parity and the Web3 Foundation do employ full-time staff who contribute significantly, it is neither feasible nor desirable to rely solely on centralised teams for all ecosystem growth. And although community-driven contributions are cost-effective, it is unrealistic to expect experienced contributors to work without fair compensation. To address this, the Hungarian Polkadot DAO proposes a 6-month initiative aimed at cultivating a vibrant and resilient Polkadot presence in Hungary, with the potential to expand into Central and Eastern Europe.
The approach draws on proven models: the Polkadot Africa Builder and Community Growth initiative, which successfully secured funding for core contributor compensation while organising events through bounties, and the OpenGuild - Accelerate Polkadot Builder Activation in SEA & Broader Asia, which established structured frameworks for developer engagement, marketing, and regional network expansion.
This proposal seeks to replicate these successes with a tailored regional strategy that supports dedicated contributors while strengthening Polkadot’s visibility and impact across the region.
This proposal follows a hybrid funding approach. We request monthly compensation for two core managers to ensure consistent coordination, supported by additional DAO members on an ad-hoc basis when needed. All project-specific activities, such as events, marketing initiatives, or development work, would be funded through existing bounties, including the Events Bounty, Marketing Bounty, Fast Grants Bounty and Open Source Developer Bounty.
Delivering high-quality initiatives requires dedicated time and continuity, particularly when navigating multiple funding streams and governance processes. By ensuring stable compensation for the two managers, we can guarantee reliable oversight, transparent planning, and efficient execution. Meanwhile, routing individual sub-projects through relevant bounties maintains clarity, decentralization, and accountability, without overloading this main proposal with broad, bundled budget requests.
Hungary is an ideal region to allocate funds for expanding Polkadot’s developer, user and evangelist base?
Hungary is an excellent hub for Polkadot’s growth. It combines a deep tech heritage (home to Web2 successes such as Archicad, Prezi, LogMeIn, Ustream and Web3 projects and startups, such as Swarm, Guild, Dakai and EnerHash) with a large pool of high-quality developers educated at strong university IT courses. Geographically central in Europe, Hungary is highly accessible, while its historical experience with censorship and oppression lends cultural resonance to Web3’s decentralizing ethos. The country also demonstrates crypto adoption levels that are high relative to its population.
The local crypto community is cohesive and effective: it has repeatedly delivered community-driven initiatives that strengthen the national blockchain ecosystem. A striking example of that collective energy is the world’s first, and still only statue of Satoshi Nakamoto in Budapest’s Graphisoft Park (often called the “Silicon Valley of Budapest”), placed beside the statue of Steve Jobs.
Taken together, these assets make Hungary a strategic European gateway for Polkadot: it can deliver high-ROI outcomes such as talent pipelines, university integrations of Polkadot education, using PBA-X curricula, government engagement, and retail outreach through in-person events and educational campaigns - all at a fraction of the cost of larger markets. Let’s break these down step by step!
Why Hungary Is Ideal for Polkadot and PBA-X Integration into Academy?
The Hungarian Polkadot DAO aims to establish a talent pipeline to expand Polkadot’s developer base. For nearly a year of meetings, our DAO has been actively negotiating with an advisor at a Hungarian university to introduce high-quality blockchain education through the PBA-X curriculum. In later sections, we will dive deeper into the specifics of the PBA-X integration, but first, let’s understand why the PBA-X curricula integration into academy makes sense.
One of Hungary’s strongest value propositions is its robust IT education and highly skilled IT workforce. According to HackerRank’s 2016 study, Hungary ranked 5th globally among the best developers. The study analysed over 1.5 million developers based on metrics like speed and accuracy in coding challenges. Hungary’s strong performance was particularly notable in tutorial challenges, where it ranked 1st, and in Java and C++ challenges, where it ranked 3rd.
Hungary possesses a sizeable pool of skilled IT professionals. According to a 2023 study, with over 105K software developers, Hungary has established itself as a leading destination for IT services outsourcing. Budapest and other major cities concentrate most of the activity within the IT services segment, due to the proximity of clients and talent. Large enterprises account for a significant portion of IT service spending, but the SME segment is a rapidly growing market. The country boasts a strong supply of high-quality engineering talent available at affordable rates. This has attracted major multinational companies like Microsoft, Cognizant, IBM, SAP, Archicad or Tata Consulting Services to set up development centers in Hungary. (Source)(Source)
