Network participants process transactions and receive fees from users (supply-side fees).

Polkadot is a security & interoperability platform for blockchains and applications. Polkadot was founded by Gavin Wood and launched in 2020.

DOT holders own and govern the protocol. They currently take a cut of the total transaction fees paid by users (revenue). Polkadot’s investors include Polychain, IOSG Ventures, Hashkey, etc.

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# Polkadot Average fees per user (AFPU) Methodology

## 1. Overview

Average fees per user (AFPU) is defined as the average daily transaction fees paid per active user across the Polkadot ecosystem. The average amount of fees paid by an individual active user on a daily basis is reflected by this metric. The calculation is performed by dividing the total daily fees collected across all Polkadot chains by the active users (daily).

## 2. Data sources

- **Fees**: Derived from the Fees metric
- **Active users (daily)**: Derived from the Active users (daily) metric

## 3. Step-by-step calculation

### Component A: Daily active user calculation

- **Purpose**: Count distinct users who submitted transactions across the Polkadot ecosystem each day
- **Logic**: Transaction sender addresses are extracted from extrinsic records across six Polkadot chains, including the Polkadot Relay Chain, Polkadot AssetHub, Polkadot BridgeHub, Polkadot Collectives, Polkadot People, and Polkadot Coretime. Block timestamps are truncated to daily boundaries, and addresses are deduplicated within each day and chain. Data from all chains is combined, and distinct active users (daily) are aggregated. User counts are generated at multiple levels, including project-wide totals, per-chain breakdowns, and per-product breakdowns.
- **Key fields**: `user_address` (user address), `block_timestamp` (timestamp), `chain` (chain identification), `user_type` (user type), and `product_id` (product identification)

### Component B: Native DOT fee calculation

- **Purpose**: Calculate total daily fees paid in native DOT assets across all Polkadot chains
- **Logic**: `TransactionFeePaid` events are extracted from the Polkadot Relay Chain, Polkadot AssetHub, Polkadot BridgeHub, Polkadot Collectives, Polkadot People, and Polkadot Coretime. Fee amounts and tips are parsed from the `event_data` array. Raw asset amounts are normalized by decimal precision. The base fee amount and tip are summed to determine the total transaction cost, which is then aggregated by day.
- **Key fields**: `event_data` (event data array), `block_timestamp` (timestamp), and `chain` (chain identification)

### Component C: Polkadot AssetHub alternative asset fee calculation

- **Purpose**: Calculate fees paid in alternative assets on Polkadot AssetHub and convert to USD
- **Logic**: `AssetTxFeePaid` events are extracted from Polkadot AssetHub. Asset identifiers are parsed from the `event_data` array and mapped to recognizable asset symbols, decimal precisions, and HydraDX asset identifiers using a hardcoded lookup table. Raw asset amounts are normalized by decimal precision. Mapped HydraDX asset identifiers are joined with end-of-day price feeds to convert fee and tip amounts to USD.
- **Key fields**: `event_data` (event data array), `block_timestamp` (timestamp), `symbol` (asset symbol), `decimals` (decimal precision), and `hydradx_asset_id` (HydraDX asset identifier)

### Component D: Polkadot AssetHub native DOT fee calculation

- **Purpose**: Calculate Polkadot AssetHub fees paid in native DOT assets
- **Logic**: `TransactionFeePaid` events are extracted from Polkadot AssetHub. Raw asset amounts are normalized by decimal precision. Converted amounts are multiplied by native DOT end-of-day price feeds to determine the USD value of fees paid in native assets.
- **Key fields**: `event_data` (event data array), `block_timestamp` (timestamp), and `chain` (chain identification)

### Component E: Polkadot Coretime sales and renewals calculation

- **Purpose**: Calculate fees paid for computational resources (cores) on Polkadot Coretime
- **Logic**: `Purchased` and `Renewed` events are extracted from the `broker` pallet on Polkadot Coretime. Raw asset amounts representing coretime acquisitions and renewals are normalized by decimal precision and aggregated by day.
- **Key fields**: `event_data` (event data array), `block_timestamp` (timestamp), and `chain` (chain identification)

### Component F: Final aggregation and average fee calculation

- **Purpose**: Combine fee and user metrics to calculate the average fees per user
- **Logic**: All fee components, including native DOT fees, alternative asset fees, and coretime sales, are aggregated and converted to USD using end-of-day price feeds. Active users (daily) are aggregated across all Polkadot chains. Total daily fees in USD are divided by the total active users (daily). A zero-filling strategy is applied to maintain time series continuity for days without activity.
- **Key fields**: `fees` (total daily fees in USD), `user_dau` (active users (daily)), and `afpu` (average fees per user)

*This methodology was automatically generated by Token Terminal's methodology analyzer.*

PolkadotDOT

Average fees per user (AFPU)

Average fees per user (AFPU)

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