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Blockchain data infrastructure, explained
Guides to blockchain indexers, onchain data APIs, and the infrastructure underneath them. Written by the SQD team.
Concepts
8 guidesCore ideas and definitions: what indexers, subgraphs, and the major data types actually are.
What is a blockchain indexer?
How indexers work, the types of indexer that exist today, and how teams choose one.
What is a Solana indexer?
The Solana data model, the discriminator system, fork handling, and the SVM family. Concrete details from SQD's production Solana data lake.
What is a subgraph?
Subgraphs explained: the data model, mappings, schema.graphql, and what migrating one to another stack involves.
What is an EVM indexer?
The data model EVM chains share, what an EVM indexer must handle, and how indexing patterns translate across Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and BNB.
What is onchain analytics?
How blockchain history feeds analytics dashboards. The data pipeline, the common metrics, and how this is done in tools like Dune and in-house BI.
Architecture
3 guidesHow the system fits together: multi-chain design and the wider data stack.
Multi-chain indexing explained
How to index data from many blockchains into one schema, the validation problem, and common architectural patterns.
The blockchain data stack in 2026
A reference architecture for onchain data: nodes, indexers, APIs, warehouses, and analytics. The layers, the trade-offs, and named providers at each tier.
Build a Hyperliquid trader leaderboard with the Pipes SDK
A worked Pipes SDK example: stream the full Hyperliquid fills tape into your own ClickHouse, rank traders by realized PnL, and split volume into crypto versus TradFi markets.
Data access
5 guidesGetting data out: APIs, query patterns, and what to pull for specific assets and use cases.
Blockchain data API: a complete guide
RPC, indexed data, decentralized networks, and market data APIs. What each does and when to use them.
RPC vs indexed data: which do you actually need?
When an RPC endpoint is enough, when you need an indexer, and the costs of each.
Stablecoin data: tracking cross-chain flows and peg health
Following stablecoin transfers across every chain they live on with one query model, aligning windows across chains by timestamp, and reading peg health from DEX trades.
Hyperliquid perps data: fills, positions, and realized PnL
The Hyperliquid fills dataset: what a fill record holds, maker and taker fees, realized PnL from closing trades, and how to separate crypto markets from the TradFi and HIP-3 listings on the same venue.
Internal transactions explained: traces and the cost of getting them
What an internal transaction is, why event logs and the transaction list miss it, what a trace record contains, and why traces are one of the most expensive things to pull from an RPC node.
Videos and podcasts
Talks, interviews, and podcast episodes from the team building SQD.
More guides land every few weeks. For step-by-step tutorials, browse the documentation. For news and case studies, see the blog.