“SQD Changed My Life”: A Builder’s Story
When DeFi teams discuss indexing challenges, they typically mean slow dashboards. Marc experienced something far more severe: production data lagging behind reality, causing users to see incorrect blockchain state.
Marc serves as a core developer at UNCX (formerly UniCrypt), a multi-chain DeFi platform providing:
- Lockers across Uniswap v2/v3/v4 (securing LP positions)
- Vesting systems (combining onchain assets with offchain metadata)
UNCX has operated production smart contract infrastructure since 2020, making indexing reliability mission-critical rather than optional.
The Breaking Point: Uniswap v4’s Singleton Architecture
Uniswap v4 introduced a singleton-style design concentrating event volume into a single contract. Every event is emitted from one contract, creating severe bottlenecks for existing indexing infrastructure.
The Graph & Goldsky: Growing Delays
Previously running subgraphs on The Graph and relying on Goldsky, Marc encountered escalating synchronization issues. After two weeks, the subgraph was not synced. After one month, it had a one week delay.
Users experienced delays of several days to a week seeing new pools or positions. It was just not possible with The Graph to index due to the massive events needed.
Goldsky presented additional complications: infrastructure instability, database constraints, and failed optimization attempts. When attempting a grafting workflow to accelerate upgrades, Marc lost a lot of data sources and a lot of data.
Migration to SQD (Subsquid)
Marc completely replaced his indexing backend, migrating the whole indexer back end to Subsquid from The Graph since January 2025.
Multi-Chain Consolidation
Running across seven EVM chains, Marc achieved a major architectural improvement: he was able easily to provide one GraphQL URL to the front end for all the chains — six, seven EVM chains — everything in the same database.
This eliminated endpoint sprawl plaguing multi-chain systems.
Performance Transformation
The synchronization improvements proved dramatic:
- Ethereum Locker V2: from ~2 months to ~1 day
- BSC Locker V2: from ~3 months to a few days
Marc’s reaction: “For real… it’s incredible.”
Development Velocity & Iteration
Accelerated indexing fundamentally changed development workflows. Previously, Marc was waiting and waiting one week to identify the issue.
With SQD: a few minutes later he could identify the issue, try a fix, and iterate a lot.
This faster feedback enabled architectural improvements — with the speed he could make it cleaner and refactor more often.
Pipeline Control & Debugging
SQD provided end-to-end visibility: he could check from A to Z, having all of the data pipeline, and being able to see every issue is from his side.
This eliminated ambiguity between chain issues, provider problems, and internal code failures.
Production Use Cases Beyond Basic Indexing
Real-Time Alerts & Automation
Operating within a Node.js environment enabled integrating external libraries and building operational workflows. Marc created Telegram notification systems — it’s very easy to create a telegram bot and get a message every time he wants to get an alert.
His side project @UniswapListingsSqd tracks new Uniswap v4 pools, later integrated into the official UNCX channel (approximately 2,500 subscribers).
Onchain Transaction Triggering
Marc built indexers triggering blockchain actions — he made some indexers that trigger onchain transactions for rebalancing.
His ETHGlobal Cannes hackathon project SigmaVault (Euler Finance bounty) leveraged this indexing-to-onchain automation pattern. With Subsquid it’s way, way, way more easy than subgraph.
Technical Support & Operational Leverage
Marc deployed SQD indexers specifically for support operations. Block explorers proved insufficient because unverified contracts lack clarity and advanced filters cannot isolate relevant data.
Instead: he could filter on one wallet and retrieve all his activities.
This approach outperformed scanner-based support: for support, finding the right data quickly, it’s better than the scanner and more accurate.
Developer Experience & Support Quality
Marc highlighted accessibility and responsiveness from the SQD team: he asked why he should choose Subsquid and directly DZ the co-founder answered him — he was accessible.
The development community actively engaged: in the dev chat, many people are answering, and when there is some issue about data, they are taking seriously what we are reporting.
Impact Summary
Marc encapsulated the transformation simply: “It changed my life.”
UNCX transitioned from:
- One-week indexing delays on Uniswap v4
- Infrastructure instability introducing operational risk
To:
- Seven-chain multi-network support
- One consolidated GraphQL endpoint
- Synchronization times reduced from months to single days
- Faster iteration and cleaner architecture
- New operational capabilities (alerts, automation, support tooling)
Marc’s final assessment: “Everything that takes millions of events… I can do [it] with Subsquid.”
References
UNCX:
- https://uncx.network/
- Lockers: https://app.uncx.network/lockers/explore/pools
- Vesting: https://app.uncx.network/vesting-v2/explore/tokens
Hackathon Projects:
- Unimagnifier (ETHGlobal Buenos Aires): https://ethglobal.com/showcase/unimagnifier-q9dz9
- SigmaVault (ETHGlobal Cannes): https://ethglobal.com/showcase/sigmavault-y5msg