Partnership Case Study: R0GUE Enables Interlay & Kintsugi Asset Hub Migrations

When it was announced that Kusama and Polkadot would migrate account balances and asset functionality to Asset Hub, Kusama on October 7th and Polkadot on November 4th respectively, every Rollup (Parachain) in the ecosystem had to adapt. This ecosystem-wide transition required Rollups to align their XCM reserve logic and runtime behavior to ensure uninterrupted token transfers. This was a critical upgrade as failure to do so would have potentially resulted in lost user funds.

Interlay engaged R0GUE to support both Interlay (Polkadot) and Kintsugi (Kusama) in preparing for this upgrade. Their runtimes were operating on a legacy Substrate, XCM and ORML stack (v0.9.42 / XCM v3), which required tailored adjustments to remain compatible with the migration’s reserve-based changes.

Together, we collaborated to design and deliver a migration-safe solution that preserved network stability throughout both transitions while delivering on a short timeline before the network upgrade deadlines.

Here’s how we delivered.

Phase One: Technical Review & Compatibility Assessment

R0GUE initiated the engagement by conducting a focused review of Interlay’s and Kintsugi’s runtime configurations, dependency constraints, and XCM implementations. Given the networks’ reliance on a legacy codebase and pinned tooling, our team developed a compatibility approach that preserved existing architecture while enabling the behaviors required by the Asset Hub migration.

To support this, R0GUE delivered:

• A dedicated ORML fork compatible with the networks’ pinned Substrate and Rust toolchain
• A compatibility backport of key migration-related XCM logic into the networks’ XCM v3 environment

These changes established a stable foundation for integrating the final migration logic.

Milestone 1: Runtime and dependency review
Milestone 2: Compatibility-layer implementation

Phase Two: Asset Hub Migration Patch Development

With the foundations stabilized, we moved into building Interlay’s and Kintsugi’s custom migration mechanism utilizing ORML, designed to protect user funds throughout both migrations.

R0GUE delivered:

• A new MigrationStatus storage item and root-only extrinsic for controlling migration phases
• A custom reserve provider to safely route KSM/DOT to the correct reserve pre- and post-migration
• Logic to disable unsafe pallet_xcm reserve transfers after migration while preserving all xtokens operations
• A migration flow precisely aligned with Polkadot’s chain-wide schedule
• Full xcm-simulator testing, guaranteeing the patch’s behavior under real conditions

These changes allowed Interlay to enact a controlled, safe transition without modifying their entire runtime architecture.

Milestone 3: Migration patch implementation & integration
Milestone 4: End-to-end testing and delivery

PR: https://github.com/interlay/interbtc/pull/1253

Phase Three: On-Chain Governance Enactment

Once the patches were delivered, Interlay applied the upgrades on-chain through referenda on both networks.

R0GUE supported the preparation and validation of the runtime, while the Interlay community executed the governance process.

• Kintsugi (Kusama) – Referendum 168 https://kintsugi.subsquare.io/democracy/referenda/168
  Enacted ahead of the early October Kusama migration.
• Interlay (Polkadot) – Referendum 133 https://interlay.subsquare.io/democracy/referenda/133
  Enacted ahead of the November 4 Polkadot migration.

Both enacted successfully, ensuring that users experienced no disruption, no incorrect balances, and no broken cross-chain transfers throughout the migration windows.

Looking Ahead

Interlay and Kintsugi completed the Asset Hub migrations without downtime, loss of funds, or service degradation. With the patch in place, both networks now have a stable foundation to pursue future upgrades.

Critical Support and Beyond

This collaboration wasn’t just a quick fix. It reflects R0GUE’s commitment to providing critical infrastructure support when Polkadot ecosystem teams need it most.

Interlay didn’t just need engineers, they needed a partner they could trust to meet their tight timelines and quickly understand their systems, XCM, ORML, migration logic, and cross-chain safety guarantees.

At R0GUE, we focus on helping teams navigate complex upgrades with clarity, reliability, and confidence. Whether it’s critical support, runtime and smart contract development, next-generation interoperability, and the integrations of blockchain systems across industries, we work alongside those who are strengthening and evolving the foundations of Web3 and utilizing it to its full potential.

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