# Argument-0001: Promotion to Rank I

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| --------------- | -------------- |
| **Report Date** | 2026/05/15 |
| **Submitted by** | Nathaniel Bajo |

# Member details
- **Candidate:** Nathaniel Bajo
- **Matrix:** @nathanielbajo:matrix.org
- **Address:** 1HXh7kCk2Z9Er4TpqF7TPX6ivSnJTECesp44RP7jnP7RCeL
- **Current rank:** Candidate (Dan 0)
- **Wish:** Promotion to Rank I
- **Induction:** 2026/03/12 ([extrinsic](https://collectives.statescan.io/#/extrinsics/8415862-2))
- **Reporting period:** 2025/02/01 – 2026/05/15
- **Areas:** FRAME / Runtime · XCM · Node & RPC infrastructure · JSON-RPC interface · Release engineering

## Argument

Hi everyone, I'm Nathaniel Bajo. I'm a full-stack Rust engineer with a background in embedded systems, permissionless architectures, and web security. Outside of my contributions to the Polkadot SDK and the fellowship runtimes, I build personal projects on Polkadot infrastructure, including ink!-based smart contracts and tooling that exercises the runtime, XCM, and JSON-RPC surfaces of the SDK. My contributions during this reporting period span the runtime (FRAME pallets and runtime APIs), the XCM layer, node-level RPC infrastructure, the JSON-RPC specification, and the fellowship runtimes' release engineering.

Below are my most relevant contributions for this period:

### 1. Cross-Chain (XCM)

- **[Generic account converter for external ecosystems (#7313, merged)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/7313)**: Added `ExternalConsensusLocationsConverterFor`, a unifying converter that handles external global-consensus locations (and their child locations) while remaining backward-compatible with `GlobalConsensusParachainConvertsFor` and `EthereumLocationsConverterFor`. Reduces duplication across XCM configurations for bridged/external ecosystems.

### 2. Node & RPC Infrastructure

- **[`pallet-revive-eth-rpc`: SubstrateClientT trait + Asset Hub embedded RPC (#11297, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/11297)**: Scoped this work myself by opening the tracking issue [#11221](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/issues/11221). The PR integrates `pallet-revive`'s ETH RPC server directly into the Asset Hub Omni node and introduces a `SubstrateClientT` abstraction so `EthRpcServerImpl` is generic over its backend, with a new `NativeSubstrateClient` providing an in-process path (no `subxt` dependency on the hot path) while preserving the `SubxtClient` path for the standalone binary. Registered behind an opt-in `revive-rpc` feature in `polkadot-omni-node-lib`. Removal of the standalone `revive-dev-node` binary will be done in a follow-up PR.
- **[Fix inconsistent BABE fork-choice via shared block-weight storage (#7550, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/7550)**: Introduces `SharedBlockWeightStorage`, a thread-safe in-memory cache that makes block weights immediately visible across concurrent import operations, addressing a fork-choice consistency issue that surfaces under parallel imports.
- **[`archive_unstable_transactionReceipt` (json-rpc-interface-spec #182, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/json-rpc-interface-spec/pull/182)**: Identified the gap and opened the spec issue [#181](https://github.com/paritytech/json-rpc-interface-spec/issues/181) myself. The PR specifies a stateless RPC method for transaction-receipt lookup that lets light clients locate transactions without downloading full blocks. Targets the JSON-RPC v2 spec used by light clients across the ecosystem.
- **[`pallet-revive`: short-circuit `eth_estimate_gas` for simple ETH transfers (#11890, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/11890)**: Opened the issue [#11888](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/issues/11888) myself. Skips the binary-search of dry-runs and returns the fixed 21,000 gas cost when `eth_estimate_gas` is called for an EOA-to-EOA value transfer with empty calldata and no access list, EIP-7702 authorization list, EIP-4844 blob payload, or state overrides, matching Ethereum client behaviour and avoiding needless work on the hot path.
- **[`pallet-revive` eth-rpc: map `EthRpcError` to EIP-1474 error codes (#11887, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/11887)**: Opened the issue [#11886](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/issues/11886) myself. Maps `EthRpcError::ConversionError` to `-32602` (invalid params) and the remaining execution-time variants (`RlpError`, `InvalidSignature`, `AccountNotFound`, `InvalidTransaction`, `TransactionTypeNotSupported`) to `-32000`, matching Geth and Nethermind instead of collapsing every non-`ClientError` to a blanket `-32600 Invalid Request`, improving Ethereum tooling compatibility.

### 3. Release Engineering & Maintenance (Fellowship Runtimes)

- **[Align runtimes (runtimes #1175, merged)](https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/runtimes/pull/1175)**: Aligned all system-parachain runtimes on shared `system_parachains_constants` for `TransactionByteFee`, migrated `MaxFreezes` to `VariantCountOf<RuntimeFreezeReason>`, and cleaned up legacy `# Substrate` / `# Polkadot` / `# Cumulus` delimiter comments in crate manifests. Reduces drift between system-chain configurations.
- **[Verify runtime WASM size against thresholds (runtimes #1177, open)](https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/runtimes/pull/1177)**: Adds a release-workflow gate that warns at 80% and blocks publication at 95% of each runtime's configured compressed-WASM size limit, opening a tracking issue summarising any breaches. Helps prevent surprise breaches of on-chain size limits at release time.
- **[Asset Hub Kusama & Polkadot: wire `pallet-revive` to native benchmarked weights (runtimes #1182, open)](https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/runtimes/pull/1182)**: Replaces the `SubstrateWeight` (kitchensink) fallback for `pallet_revive` on Asset Hub Kusama and Polkadot with each runtime's own benchmarked weights, restores the benchmark entry in `define_benchmarks!`, and clears the outstanding `TODO` markers so the weight surface on these system chains reflects their actual execution costs.
- **[Collectives Polkadot: governance-managed allow-list for Fellowship referenda (runtimes #1188, open)](https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/runtimes/pull/1188)**: Deploys `pallet-parameters` on Collectives Polkadot and extends the Fellowship referenda `SubmitOrigin` with a governance-managed allow-list of accounts (e.g. the Parity tip bot) that may open referenda without holding a Fellowship rank.

### 4. Runtime APIs & Pallet Governance (FRAME)

- **[Add `ProxyApi` runtime API to the Proxy pallet (#7320, merged)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/7320)**: Introduced a runtime API exposing `check_permissions` (does a `RuntimeCall` pass a `ProxyType`'s `InstanceFilter`?) and `is_superset` (does one `ProxyType` strictly contain another?), enabling off-chain clients and wallets to verify proxy call permissions and proxy-type hierarchies without re-implementing filter logic.
- **[`paras`: add freeze/unfreeze parachain functionality (#11106, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/11106)**: Implements root-only extrinsics that fully halt a parachain (no block production, no relay-chain messaging) until explicitly unfrozen, giving governance a precise circuit-breaker for misbehaving paras.
- **[`pallet-broker`: extrinsic to reset base price (#7293, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/7293)**: Adds an administrative extrinsic that lets governance/sudo reset the minimum/base price for coretime sales without a runtime upgrade, part of the broader coretime admin tooling.
- **[`pallet-bounty`: `dust_bounty_acc` to sweep stranded funds (#11045, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/11045)**: Adds a permissionless extrinsic that sweeps any remaining native tokens and fungible assets from a stale (closed) bounty account back to the treasury, removing a class of stranded balances that previously required manual intervention.
- **[`frame-support`: `on_pallet_initialize` hook (#11746, open)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pull/11746)**: Adds a new `on_pallet_initialize()` hook to the `Hooks` trait, giving pallets a single, ergonomic place to run one-time initialization both at genesis and when added post-genesis. Wires the hook into genesis execution and runtime-upgrade flows before any `on_runtime_upgrade` logic runs, with a default no-op for backward compatibility, eliminating the common anti-pattern of (mis)using migrations for first-time setup.

### 5. Issue Discovery & Project Hygiene (polkadot-sdk and json-rpc-interface-spec)

Beyond direct code contributions, I actively identify and document gaps, edge cases, and improvements across the ecosystem to guide future work and lower the contribution barrier. This reporting period, I have opened numerous issues, particularly around pallet-revive and JSON-RPC infrastructure, many of which are now being implemented by myself.

Some of the currently open issues I authored can be found here:

- [`polkadot-sdk` issues (open, author: Nathy-bajo)](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/issues?q=is%3Aissue+state%3Aopen+author%3ANathy-bajo)
- [`json-rpc-interface-spec` pull requests (open, author: Nathy-bajo)](https://github.com/paritytech/json-rpc-interface-spec/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+author%3ANathy-bajo)

### Summary

I'm genuinely passionate about building on Polkadot and want to keep deepening my contributions across the entire ecosystem. I'd like to continue this work at Rank I and take on more review responsibility.

Other ongoing contributions can be tracked via my open PRs on `polkadot-sdk`: [is:pr is:open author:Nathy-bajo](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+Nathy-bajo+).