Axiom, a protocol that enables smart contract developers to access historical data on Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs, has announced a $20 million Series A funding round co-led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto. The round also saw participation from other prominent funds and individuals in the crypto space, such as Robot Ventures, Ethereal Ventures, Hasu, Alex from OpenSea, and Zac and Joe from Aztec.

Axiom aims to solve the problem of data scarcity and high cost for on-chain applications, which limits their functionality and user experience. By using zero-knowledge proofs, Axiom allows developers to query and verify any past state or event on Ethereum without relying on oracles or storing the data on-chain. This reduces the gas cost and computational complexity of data operations, enabling more expressive and data-rich applications to run on Ethereum.

Some of the use cases that Axiom enables include:

  • On-chain voting for governance without requiring tokens to be locked in a contract

  • Referral codes for user acquisition without increasing gas fees

  • Historical analytics and insights for DeFi protocols and users

  • Fraud detection and dispute resolution for on-chain transactions

  • Cross-contract composition and interoperability

Axiom launched its V2 mainnet in July, which allows developers to access the entire history of Ethereum with a simple SDK. The protocol has already been integrated by several projects, such as Scroll, a decentralized social network, and Obol, a protocol for decentralized identity and reputation.

With the new funding, Axiom plans to expand its team and accelerate the development of its core ZK platform, which will enable more advanced features and use cases for on-chain data. The team also plans to collaborate with other ZK projects and communities to foster innovation and adoption of ZK technology in the crypto space.

Axiom’s co-founders, Yi and Jonathan, said in a blog post:

We believe the demand to store, access, and operate over authenticated data will only grow over time and that cryptography and blockchains are the correct tools to serve this demand. At Axiom, we’re excited to continue enabling developers to build data-rich user experiences on-chain without compromising the trust-minimized guarantees that brought them to blockchains in the first place.

Axiom is currently hiring for various roles, including engineers, researchers, and community managers. Developers who are interested in using Axiom for their on-chain applications can try out the SDK or reach out to the team for support.

Source: https://azcoinnews.com/axiom-raises-20m-to-power-data-rich-on-chain-applications-with-zk.html