Subsquid in 2021 — From Zero to 60m Monthly Queries!
Tags: Web3, Data, Polkadot, Startup, Blockchain

The second half of 2021 has been huge for Subsquid. Starting off in June, the fact that we have ended the year being the data backbone of many top tier projects in the DotSama ecosystem shows how far we have come in this short time. 🦑

We had a bit of a head start of course, given that the Hydra technology that underpins the Subsquid protocol had been reimagining blockchain data management since August 2020. It was developed by former Joystream core developer Dmitry Zhelezov who came together with Marcel Fohrmann to bring Hydra to the next stage, leading to the creation of Subsquid.

We hit the ground running and ramped up development of Hydra v4, which was released in August. Hydra v4 improved the speed and stability of the data pipeline while streamlining the Hydra project deployment experience. Hydra v5, which is set for release in early 2022, will build upon this success and take Subsquid to the next level. Subsquid is currently answering around 60 million squid archive queries per month with a current total of around 142 million calls being done so far! 🔥

These developments quickly put Subsquid on the map, leading to partnerships with a variety of top tier Polkadot projects. HydraDX’s Basilisk was one of the first to benefit from Subsquid’s data enhancement capabilities as it utilised the protocol for the management of its Polkadot parachian auction bid. Social media platform Subsocial partnered with Subsquid soon after to help them implement a raft of new features for users which required enhanced data throughout and reliability.

The tail end of 2021 saw further usage of Subsquid within top Polkadot projects — cryptocurrency bridging platform Interlay implemented it as a way of facilitating user demands for more reporting features, and prediction market Zeitgeist utilised it as a way of reducing loading time as well as adding features to its dashboard that were not previously available. We even collaborated with SFY, creators of the Donkey Gang NFT series, for a series of exclusive Squid Squad NFTs!

This year also saw us throw open the doors to our Open Ocean Council auditions, allowing Subsquid contributors around the world to prove themselves worthy of becoming a member of the illustrious Squid Squad. This team of Subsquid core contributors will control Subsquid when it eventually becomes a DAO, which is one of the major milestones we hope to achieve in 2022, and we offer huge bounties to the highest achievers — including a place on the squad. In a throwback to the Subsquid creation story, Subsquid also sponsored the Gitcoin Grants Round 12 Hackathon in December, offering prizes of up to $10,000 in USDC for the winners and the RMRK Hacktoberfest.

One of the biggest boosts of 2021 came in November when Subsquid secured $3.8 million worth of investment in a highly oversubscribed seed round, reinforcing the faith that investors have in the project and allowing us to reinforce our ambitious future plans.

Overall, 2021 has been a monumental year for Subsquid and we are getting ready to build further in 2022! The development team is constantly hustling hard to provide more unique updates to the Subsquid protocol, with the community taking up the various roles open to Subsquid supporters to enable full decentralisation, as well as the intended launch of the SQD token. Along with the planned transition into a DAO these are our three big challenges of 2022, alongside which there will of course be plenty of smaller milestones that will be well worth celebrating.

We’d like to sign off 2021 by thanking all our supporters and stakeholders for spreading the word about Subsquid throughout the year and for helping us shape the protocol. We’d also like to thank our investors, without whose backing we would never have come this far.

We can’t wait to go further on this journey with you in 2022 and beyond and hope that those who are celebrating enjoy a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 🌟

Sincerely yours,

The Squid Squad

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To find out more about Subsquid, join us on our Discord server and chat to one of our helpful Subsquid team members or other users. For those who want some more background information on Subsquid and what it’s all about, our website and Medium page are the perfect places to start.

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