Subsquid (SQD): The Open Database Network Powering AI Agents

The AI revolution demands more than raw compute — it demands real-time, reliable, permissionless data. Enter Subsquid SQD, a groundbreaking open database network designed to serve billions of autonomous AI agents with low-latency, high-throughput access to on-chain data. As decentralized applications (dApps) and intelligent agents multiply, traditional infrastructure struggles to keep up.

SQD flips the script, providing a scalable, deflationary, community-driven solution that rewards node operators, delegators, and developers alike. Whether you’re building DeFi, gaming, social, or privacy platforms — Subsquid’s indexing, query tools, and staking mechanisms are reshaping how Web3 consumes data. The future of crypto infrastructure isn’t just decentralized — it’s emergent, autonomous, and data-driven. Are you ready to connect with the network driving the next generation of AI agents?

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What Is Subsquid SQD and Its Vision

Subsquid is positioning itself as a foundational infrastructure layer, designed to serve as “the data lake for AI agents”. Their core idea is that as AI agents proliferate (operating autonomously, accessing data, and making decisions), the traditional data systems will struggle to keep up. They believe the future will require real-time, high-throughput, decentralized data access so that agents can operate without human intermediaries.

Their vision centers around an open, emergent, and permissionless database network where any human, enterprise, or AI agent can interact with data in a secure, scalable, and decentralized way. The $SQD token is integral to this ecosystem—used to access data, incentivize participants, and align the network’s growth with its users.

The Rebrand: From Subsquid to SQD — Why It Matters

The transition from “Subsquid” to “SQD” is more than a name change; it signals a shift in identity and ambition. As Subsquid, the project was focused primarily on blockchain data indexing and tooling. With the rebrand to SQD, the scope broadens significantly:

• Moving from “blockchain indexing” to building a universal data infrastructure that serves AI, DeFi, gaming, social, and privacy use cases.
• Emphasizing the AI era, where billions of autonomous agents will require seamless data access. The rebrand underscores this expanded mission.
• Positioning SQD as more than a developer tool—it’s intended as a global decentralized platform for data consumption, monetization, and governance.

In short, the rebrand helps clarify that this is not just a tool for blockchain developers, but a foundational infrastructure for the emergent autonomous data ecosystem.

The Mission: Building an Open Data Lake for AI Agents & Decentralized Infrastructure

At the heart of SQD’s mission is the creation of an open data lake—a decentralized, scalable repository that supports the needs of AI agents and enterprises alike. Key elements of that mission include:

1. Permissionless data access: Allowing AI agents, developers, and users to access petabytes of data without needing centralized intermediaries.
2. Autonomous data usage: Enabling agents to independently manage, query, and interact with data in real time, without human intervention.
3. Incentivized ecosystem: Using the $SQD token to reward node operators, delegators, and gateways—ensuring sustainable and decentralized infrastructure participation.
4. Deflationary model & revenue capture: Embedding economic mechanisms so that growth and usage of the network benefit token holders, through both revenue capture and supply reduction over time.

Through these components, SQD aims to underpin a new wave of AI-powered applications that require massive, high-throughput, low-latency, and decentralized data.

Traditional Data Systems vs. SQD’s Decentralized Approach

SQD differentiates itself fundamentally from legacy data architectures. Here are some of the key contrasts:

SQD aims to overcome the limitations of traditional architectures by aligning economic incentives, decentralizing control, and building for the autonomous AI era. The result is intended to be a fluid, secure, and robust data ecosystem that scales with the growth of AI agents and decentralized applications.

Core Products & Infrastructure

The SQD ecosystem is built around a modular and scalable infrastructure designed to support the next generation of decentralized data applications. Its components—SQD Network, Squid SDK, and SQD Cloud—work together to create a seamless bridge between raw blockchain data and the intelligent systems that consume it, from AI agents to enterprise-grade analytics platforms.

SQD Network: The Decentralized Data Access Layer

At the foundation of the ecosystem lies the SQD Network, a decentralized infrastructure that powers data retrieval, transformation, and delivery at scale. It functions as the data access layer for AI agents, decentralized applications, and developers seeking permissionless access to blockchain and off-chain data.

The network operates through a set of interdependent participants:

• Node Operators run the network’s backend, indexing blockchain data and serving it through APIs and query endpoints. They ensure that datasets remain verifiable, up-to-date, and accessible across different chains.
• Delegators stake their $SQD tokens to support node operators, contributing to the network’s security and reliability while earning rewards in return.
• Gateways act as optimized entry points for data consumers—AI agents, apps, or enterprises—aggregating queries and ensuring efficient routing to nodes that hold the relevant data.

Together, these roles create a self-sustaining, token-incentivized economy where performance and reliability are rewarded. The SQD Network aims to make data access not just decentralized, but economically efficient and resistant to single-point failures.

Squid SDK: Tools for Indexing, Querying, and Integration

For developers, Squid SDK serves as the main toolkit for building on the SQD Network. It provides an open-source suite of developer tools that simplify the process of indexing blockchain data, transforming it into usable formats, and integrating it into Web3 or AI applications.

The SDK allows developers to:

• Index and transform data from multiple blockchains in real time
• Query data through standardized APIs and GraphQL endpoints
• Integrate data feeds into smart contracts, analytics dashboards, or AI pipelines
• Deploy custom squids, which are dedicated indexing services tailored to specific blockchain projects or datasets

By abstracting the complexity of node operations and synchronization, Squid SDK lets builders focus on innovation rather than infrastructure. It effectively democratizes access to Web3 data—anyone can build scalable, data-driven dApps without needing deep infrastructure expertise.

SQD Cloud: Enterprise-Grade Hosted Solutions

To meet the needs of enterprises and large-scale data consumers, SQD offers SQD Cloud—a hosted version of its infrastructure that delivers enterprise-grade indexing and data access without requiring users to manage nodes or deployment environments.

SQD Cloud provides:

• Managed indexing services for blockchain and off-chain data
• High-availability APIs for mission-critical applications
• Scalable, low-latency data delivery optimized for analytics, compliance, or AI workloads
• Integration support for multi-chain and cross-domain datasets

This hosted layer bridges the gap between decentralized infrastructure and enterprise reliability. It allows organizations to leverage the transparency and resilience of the SQD Network while benefiting from the convenience and performance of managed cloud systems.

Collectively, SQD Network, Squid SDK, and SQD Cloud form the backbone of SQD’s vision: a universal data layer for the decentralized and AI-driven web. Developers gain the flexibility to build, enterprises gain reliable access to trusted data, and AI agents gain the autonomy to interact with data sources directly—without the constraints of traditional data systems.

Use Cases & Ecosystem Integration

The SQD ecosystem is built to serve as a universal data backbone for the decentralized and AI-driven web. Through its open data lake architecture, the SQD Network enables seamless access to real-time and historical blockchain data—empowering use cases across AI, DeFi, gaming, social, and privacy applications. Its interoperability, scalability, and decentralized incentives make it an ideal infrastructure layer for both developers and autonomous systems operating in Web3.

Powering AI Agents and Intelligent Systems

At the heart of SQD’s vision lies the need to provide AI agents with permissionless, high-throughput access to on-chain and off-chain data. These agents—designed to make autonomous decisions, trade, or analyze complex datasets—require a decentralized data layer that eliminates the bottlenecks of traditional APIs or centralized oracles.

Through the SQD Network, AI agents can:

• Query and process live blockchain data to make predictive or automated decisions.
• Access historical datasets for training or validating machine learning models.
• Operate autonomously, retrieving data directly from decentralized nodes without human or centralized gatekeepers.

By combining data verifiability with decentralized infrastructure, SQD allows AI systems to interact with trustworthy, tamper-resistant information sources—crucial for the next generation of autonomous intelligence.

Enabling Web3 Applications: DeFi, Gaming, Social & Privacy

SQD’s open data infrastructure powers a wide spectrum of Web3 applications that depend on reliable, multi-chain data access:

• DeFi (Decentralized Finance): Protocols use SQD to access historical and real-time data for asset pricing, on-chain liquidity, risk assessment, and portfolio tracking.
• Gaming: Blockchain games integrate with SQD to fetch player histories, NFT metadata, and in-game transactions across multiple networks.
• Social Platforms: Decentralized social apps rely on SQD’s data feeds to power activity graphs, reputation systems, and content provenance tracking.
• Privacy Networks: SQD’s infrastructure supports privacy-preserving data access, ensuring sensitive or encrypted information remains protected while still queryable within smart contracts or AI systems.

These integrations highlight SQD’s adaptability—offering developers a way to bridge the technical gap between on-chain data and real-world utility.

Partnerships, Integrations & Real-World Adoption

SQD’s growing ecosystem of integrations reinforces its commitment to real-world utility. Projects such as Chillwhales—a gaming and NFT ecosystem—leverage SQD’s indexing infrastructure to efficiently serve data to their applications. Beyond gaming, SQD continues to integrate with multi-chain environments and tooling frameworks that make it easier for developers to deploy custom squids for specific protocols or datasets.

This modularity allows SQD to become a core component of Web3 data workflows across diverse ecosystems, including:

• Cross-chain bridges require synchronized data from multiple blockchains
• Analytics platforms that demand structured historical datasets
• AI frameworks that depend on consistent, real-time event streams

These use cases demonstrate that SQD is not just a data protocol—it’s becoming an indispensable infrastructure layer for decentralized and data-intensive industries.

Querying On-Chain Data: Historical and Real-Time Indexing

One of SQD’s most powerful capabilities lies in its ability to query data across multiple blockchains simultaneously. Developers can deploy custom indexing modules—known as “squids”—to extract, organize, and deliver both historical and real-time data through GraphQL APIs or custom endpoints.

This enables:

• Efficient multi-chain data analysis across ecosystems like Ethereum, Polkadot, and beyond.
• Historical lookbacks for compliance, audits, and analytics.
• Real-time data feeds for live dashboards, trading bots, and AI-driven applications.

By offering unified access to distributed datasets, SQD eliminates the fragmentation that has long limited blockchain scalability and interoperability. It transforms raw, complex data into actionable intelligence for developers, enterprises, and autonomous systems alike.

Through its integration across industries and networks, SQD is steadily evolving into a universal data infrastructure—bridging the gap between blockchain transparency, AI autonomy, and enterprise-grade scalability. Whether powering AI agents, gaming economies, or next-gen DeFi tools, SQD’s role as an open data lake positions it at the forefront of Web3’s data revolution.

How to Participate in the SQD Ecosystem

The SQD ecosystem is open, permissionless, and community-driven, allowing anyone—from infrastructure providers to everyday token holders—to play an active role in maintaining and benefiting from the network. Participation revolves around three main avenues: running a node, delegating tokens, and using SQD for data queries. Each pathway contributes to the network’s decentralization, security, and efficiency while providing incentives aligned with long-term ecosystem growth.

Running a Node: Requirements, Benefits, and Rewards

At the core of the SQD Network are node operators, who maintain and serve the decentralized data infrastructure. Running a node means hosting and indexing blockchain data, processing queries, and contributing to the network’s uptime and reliability.

Requirements

To become a node operator, participants typically need:

• Technical setup: A reliable server environment capable of handling data-heavy operations and maintaining consistent network connectivity.
• Staked SQD tokens: A minimum stake is required to align operator incentives with the network’s integrity and to prevent malicious behavior.
• Operational expertise: Familiarity with blockchain indexing, APIs, and data management systems.

Benefits and Rewards

Node operators earn rewards through network emissions, query fees, and delegated stake incentives. The more reliable and responsive their nodes are, the higher their reputation and potential earnings. Operators also gain early access to new indexing tools, datasets, and ecosystem updates—positioning them at the technical forefront of Web3 data infrastructure.

By distributing node operations globally, SQD ensures that no single entity controls data flow, reinforcing its censorship-resistant and scalable architecture.

Delegation: Earning Rewards and Supporting Network Security

For those without the resources or technical capacity to run a node, delegation offers a simple and effective way to participate. Token holders can delegate their $SQD to trusted node operators, contributing to network stability while earning passive rewards.

Delegation benefits include:

• Earning a share of node rewards, proportional to the amount of SQD delegated.
• Helping secure the network by increasing the stake behind reliable operators.
• Low barrier to entry, requiring only a compatible wallet and SQD tokens.

Delegators remain in full control of their tokens—they can re-delegate or withdraw at any time, ensuring flexibility and transparency. This model creates a mutually beneficial ecosystem where both operators and delegators contribute to performance and decentralization.

Using SQD for Data Queries: Locking Tokens & Pricing

Beyond staking and delegation, the SQD token also powers data access within the network. Developers, enterprises, and AI agents use SQD to query on-chain and off-chain data through the decentralized infrastructure.

• Locking SQD tokens grants users bandwidth for queries, acting as a credit system for network usage.
• Query bandwidth determines how much data a participant can access, balancing demand and preventing spam.
• Pricing considerations are transparent and algorithmic—costs reflect network load, query complexity, and bandwidth availability rather than arbitrary fees.

This token-driven model ensures that the network remains economically self-sustaining: those who consume data resources contribute to the system’s maintenance and reward distribution.

Whether operating nodes, delegating tokens, or consuming data, participants form the backbone of the SQD ecosystem. Each role is interlinked—nodes serve data, delegators secure infrastructure, and users fuel utility through queries. Together, they establish a decentralized, high-throughput, and transparent data economy built for the AI and Web3 era.

For anyone looking to get involved, the next steps are simple: acquire $SQD, choose a participation path, and become part of the decentralized network powering the future of data access.

SQD (formerly Subsquid) is redefining how the Web3 world ingests, processes, and leverages blockchain data — especially for AI agents hungry for speed, scale, and autonomy. By combining a decentralized indexing infrastructure, a developer-friendly SDK, enterprise-grade hosting, and an innovative tokenomics model, SQD provides a holistic solution for data-driven applications across DeFi, gaming, privacy, and social platforms.

With listings across major exchanges, growing demand, and strategic investments, SQD is positioning itself as a critical backbone for the future of autonomous systems and decentralized intelligence. Whether you’re a developer, data operator, tokenholder, or infrastructure enthusiast, there’s a role to play in this emergent network. Dive into SQD’s docs, explore staking or delegating opportunities, and join the ecosystem shaping the next era of open, permissionless data. Get involved now — and be part of powering the autonomous AI future. Together with OpenLedger, SQD is helping build the infrastructure for a decentralized, data-driven world.