Axiom announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto. The company’s approach uses zero-knowledge cryptography to provide a more efficient and cost-effective method for smart contract developers to access and use on-chain data.
Axiom Secures $20 Million in Series A Funding to Enhance Smart Contract Data Access
Smart contract infrastructure firm Axiom has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto, with additional participation from Robot Ventures and Ethereal Ventures.
We’re excited to announce we’ve raised $20 million led by @paradigm and @standardcrypto, with participation from @robotventures and @etherealvc
We are building infrastructure to give smart contract developers access to more data on-chain. pic.twitter.com/M8q61KMid3
— Axiom (@axiom_xyz) January 25, 2024
Axiom’s approach centers around addressing data scarcity in smart contract environments. Traditional smart contracts are hindered by the high costs associated with reading and writing large volumes of data onchain, often leading developers to compromise on application features or efficiency. Axiom’s solution aims to introduce a more cost-effective method for accessing authenticated data via zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography, rather than relying on consensus mechanisms.
The company’s latest offering, Axiom V2, assists developers with tools to integrate transaction history into onchain applications, collaborate with other decentralized apps (dapps), and enhance existing dapps without altering their core business logic.
Axiom’s approach utilizes a coprocessor to process data off-chain before transferring and verifying it on the Ethereum blockchain using ZK proofs. This method addresses the limitations and high costs associated with traditional data oracles, presenting a more scalable and cost-effective alternative.
The use of ZK proofs, a cryptographic method that allows for the validation of transactions without revealing their details, is increasingly being adopted in various sectors, including banking, healthcare, and voting systems.
In a blog post about the raise, Axiom said of its plans that, “[t]his funding will help us grow our team and accelerate development of our core ZK platform empowering smart contract developers to build data-rich, on-chain applications.” The company’s mainnet, launched in 2023, has already showcased the practical applications of this technology, allowing developers to access historical Ethereum data and perform computations off-chain.
Do you think zero-knowledge cryptography will substantially improve the performance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
