SQD CEO Dmitry Zhelezov conducted an X Broadcast on September 25th to detail the network’s technical foundation. While most people skip the whitepaper, understanding SQD’s architecture matters for Web3’s data infrastructure.
Why SQD Exists
The problem: blockchain state grows exponentially across multiple chains (Ethereum, BNB, Base, and countless Layer-1s and Layer-2s). Nodes aren’t optimized for data access at scale — they execute transactions and achieve consensus instead.
The solution: separate execution and consensus (blockchain nodes) from data access (SQD). This creates a “data ocean” for permissionless access without blockchain node constraints.
What SQD Isn’t
- Not a Data Availability Layer like Celestia (which stores L2 data for consensus)
- Not decentralized storage like Arweave or IPFS
What SQD Is
A platform providing:
- Access to onchain data
- Query engine for granular filtering
- Cryptoeconomic guarantees of data validity
There’s no difference in validity between running your own blockchain node to get the data and using SQD to access it.
Data Flow
- Ingestion: Onchain data retrieval from blockchains
- Storage: Data packed into parquet files (query-optimized format) and stored permanently
- Distribution: Worker nodes store data ranges with replication for redundancy
- Access: Each worker node functions as a mini API serving cached data
Querying Mechanism
Users run “Portal” software (a light client) that coordinates requests with appropriate worker nodes. Token locks determine streaming capacity — higher SQD token holdings enable more data access.
Speed Advantages
SQD achieves up to 100x faster indexing than RPC nodes and decentralized protocols like The Graph through:
- Parquet files: A gamechanger for retrieving data
- Distributed parallelization: Multiple nodes holding different data ranges multiply bandwidth
- Modularity: Separation between data layer and application tooling
The only speed constraint becomes internet connection capacity.
Key Takeaway
This architecture decentralizes Web3’s complete stack rather than isolated components, providing faster data access that improves dApp user experience and developer experience simultaneously.