Deep Dive
1. Gateway 2.0 (Q3 2024)
Overview: This upgrade transforms the network into a permissionless marketplace for data. It allows any participant to contribute datasets, with their status and metadata recorded and verifiable on-chain. This move is foundational for decentralizing data sourcing and curation within the SQD ecosystem (SQD Roadmap).
What this means: This is bullish for SQD because it directly expands the network's usable data supply, which should increase utility and demand from developers. A more robust and verifiable data marketplace strengthens SQD's value proposition as a core Web3 infrastructure layer.
2. Permissionless Datasets (Start Q4 2024)
Overview: This phase focuses on full decentralization of the network's APIs. It involves deploying services to an Actively Validated Service (AVS) or client-side environments, removing central points of failure. The goal is to create a resilient, community-operated data access layer (SQD Roadmap).
What this means: This is bullish for SQD because it enhances network security and censorship resistance, key attributes for institutional and developer adoption. A more decentralized architecture reduces reliance on any single entity, aligning with core Web3 principles and potentially increasing the token's governance value.
3. Light Squids (Q4 2024)
Overview: This optimization replaces the traditional PostgreSQL database with SQLite, a lighter, file-based system. It enables the creation of "light indexers" that are less resource-intensive, allowing more developers and even dApps to run their own indexing operations efficiently (SQD Roadmap).
What this means: This is bullish for SQD because it significantly lowers the barrier to entry for developers. By making indexing faster and cheaper to run, it could drive a substantial increase in network usage and the number of built applications, directly fueling demand for SQD's services.
4. Data Validation & SQL Support (H1 2025)
Overview: This milestone introduces two major capabilities. First, it provides trustless validation of data for both historical and real-time use via zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs for security or Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) for speed. Second, it adds native SQL support, allowing developers to use a familiar query language to fetch data from the decentralized data lake (SQD Roadmap).
What this means: This is bullish for SQD because ZK/TEE validation addresses critical trust issues for oracles and AI agents, opening new enterprise use cases. SQL support dramatically improves developer experience, making SQD accessible to a much broader pool of talent beyond blockchain specialists.
Conclusion
Subsquid's executed roadmap demonstrates a clear trajectory toward a more scalable, decentralized, and developer-friendly data layer. The recent acquisition by Rezolve Ai in October 2025 integrates its data capabilities into a broader AI-commerce stack, which may define the next phase of development. How will the integration priorities of its new parent company shape Subsquid's next technical era?