Polkadot’s DOT token drew renewed market attention after 24-hour trading volume climbed above USD 226 million, while price remained under pressure on September 12. DOT traded at USD 1.0454 on OKX, holding near trendline support after an early-September rally faded.
Data supplied for September 12 showed DOT still down on the week despite stronger trading activity. Coinglass data also showed longs absorbed almost all liquidations across the 12-hour and 24-hour windows.
BSCN reported that Polkadot’s elastic scaling upgrade lets one parachain use several cores at once. That structure allows a parachain to push up to three blocks into one relay-chain slot.
Previously, a parachain typically placed one block into each slot. Under the new system, chains can buy extra processing capacity through coretime using DOT, either in bulk or on demand.
The upgrade moves the main performance constraint toward each chain’s block producers rather than the wider Polkadot network. Meanwhile, volume above USD 226 million showed that trading activity increased.
DOT traded at USD 1.0454 on the daily DOT/USDT chart at 02:21 UTC-3. Price held just above an ascending trendline and a support area near the 20 EMA. The bullish setup depends first on support at USD 0.9733. A move above USD 1.2773 would open levels at USD 1.6584 and USD 2.0028, according to the supplied chart analysis.
A close below USD 0.9733 would expose USD 0.9550 and the longer EMA near USD 0.9111. The next lower level sits at USD 0.8114, while USD 2.4032 marks the highest chart resistance.
Polkadot is also advancing a staking redesign through Referendum 1890. The proposal requires every validator to lock at least 10,000 DOT as self-stake before the next phase begins.
OpenGov showed 100% support in the supplied data, and Polkadot targets May 31 for enactment. Validators that fail to post the required bond risk losing active-set status through chilling.
Read More: Polkadot (DOT) Drops 4% as Price Tests Key USD 1.20 Support Level
After passage, nominators become unslashable, and the unbonding period drops from 28 days to roughly 24 to 48 hours. Validators would then carry direct slashing exposure through self-stake. By mid-June, Polkadot plans to add validator rewards in unlocked DOT tied to self-stake. Those rewards will later carry a one-year vesting period, while the commission model will phase out.
The redesign follows a March runtime upgrade that introduced the slashable 10,000 DOT self-stake floor and a 10% minimum validator commission. That overhaul also cut annual DOT issuance by 53.6%.
Polkadot also capped total supply at 2.1 billion tokens under the broader economic reset. Analysts identified USD 0.9733 to USD 1.2773 as the key range to watch this week.
DOT’s volume surge and elastic scaling upgrade have renewed attention around Polkadot, while price remains near key support. Referendum 1890 also reshapes staking risk and liquidity. Traders now face a clear range, with USD 0.9733 support and USD 1.2773 resistance defining the next technical test.