The Good Tech Companies - SQD Network Just Killed Token Emissions. Here's What $16 Billion in DeFi TVL Pays Instead

Starting point is 00:00:00 This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. SQD Network just killed token emissions. Here's what $16 billion in Defi TVL pays instead, by Ashan Pondi. Greater than can blockchain networks survive without printing new tokens? SQD Network believes it has an answer. On December 29, 2025, the Decentralized Data Infrastructure Protocol announced a shift from emission-based incentives to customer-funded economics through two initiatives. Revenue pools by parent company ResolveI and the portal pool rollout by SQD network itself. The move affects how Deutsche Telecom, Morpho, PancakeSwap, and other enterprise customers

Starting point is 00:00:42 pay for blockchain data services and how SQD token holders get compensated. What revenue pools and portal pools actually do? SQD provides indexing and data access across 200 plus blockchains. Think of it asked database layer that defy protocols, AI agents, and enterprise applications query when they need historical or real-time blockchain information. Until now, the network incentivized node operators through token emissions, which meant printing new SQD tokens to reward infrastructure providers. This created perpetual cell pressure as operators liquidated rewards to cover costs. The new model works differently.

Starting point is 00:01:21 Enterprise customers pay subscription fees in USDC or Fiat to access SQD's data services through portals. SQD token holder scan lock their tokens into portal pools to support infrastructure capacity. While locked, tokens cannot be traded or moved but remain owned by the holder. When customers pay their fees, 50% of the USDC generated may be distributed top pool participants as stable coin rewards, according to the portal pool announcement. The remaining portion funds SQD denominated incentives for node operators and automated supply management mechanisms, including token burns. Dmitri Zelesev, CTO of SQD Network, explains the reasoning, greater than, over the last cycle, we focused on bootstrapping a global data network. With greater than the SQD portal

Starting point is 00:02:08 pool rollout now entering beta, portal fees and buybacks begin greater than to complement existing incentives, so distributions increasingly reflect real greater than network usage rather than relying solely on emissions. This creates a closed loop where customer demand drives revenue, which funds infrastructure, which attracts more customers. The beta launches with 1 million SQD capacity per portal, expanding to 5 million and 10 million SQD as demand increases, targeting over 10% of total supply locked in portals. Why enterprise customers matter more than token holders? The shift acknowledges a problem most crypto protocols avoid discussing. Token incentives do not scale with real business operations. When Deutsche Telecom needs continuous blockchain data for telecommunications

Starting point is 00:02:54 infrastructure, or when defy protocols like Morpho, which manages billions in lending protocols, require real-time transaction indexing, they need reliability, not speculative to Conomics. Daniel Wagner, chairman and CEO of ResolveI, explains, greater than, we believe public market investors increasingly look for technology platforms greater than where growth is supported by durable, usage-based economics. This type of greater than model is designed to reflect the direction in which we believe digital greater than infrastructure is maturing toward greater discipline, transparency and greater than alignment with real customer demand. The practical effect is that enterprise customers can now pay for services without touching SQD tokens. They subscribe in USDC, just like any

Starting point is 00:03:39 software as a service product. Meanwhile, SQD holders provide the collateral capacity that backs these portals. Dan Quirk, chief product officer at SQD, describes the transformation, greater than then, if you lock SQD behind portals, you're not just hoping to outrun dilution, greater than you're earning stable coin rewards from real customers using the data lake. Greater than it's a much healthier model for both builders and holders. What happens to node operators during the transition? The announcement includes a critical detail often buried in protocol upgrades. Node operator rewards will decline over time as emissions taper.

Starting point is 00:04:17 SQD is explicit about this. Near-term rewards remain stable, but as portal revenue, grow, they replace emission-funded incentives. Node APR is expected to decrease in what the protocol calls a controlled manner. This creates a predictable tension. Node operators who built infrastructure expecting inflationary rewards must now adjust to fee-backed income. The trade-off is reduced cell pressure, since operators earning USDC from actual usage face less

Starting point is 00:04:45 liquidation pressure than those earning newly minted tokens. The network is betting that higher token prices from reduced dilution and buyback will offset lower APR percentages. The capped capacity model adds scarcity mechanics. Portal pools are limited, not open-ended. Early participants access fee-bearing resources while late-comersuwait for capacity expansion. This resembles traditional infrastructure economics more than typical crypto-token models, where unlimited staking often leads to diminishing returns. How this compares to other data infrastructure models, SQD competes with the graph, which also provides blockchain indexing but release more heavily on query fees and delegated staking rewards. The graph uses

Starting point is 00:05:27 GRT tokens for indexer security deposits and curator signaling, but its fee structure primarily compensates indexers through query payments rather thanlocked collateral pools. Covalent takes a different approach by offering unified API access across chains with volume-based pricing for developers. Neither competitor has announced comparable customer-funded pool models that directly distribute enterprise subscription fees to token holders. The SQD model resembles real-world asset tokenization economics more than typical blockchain infrastructure. Platforms like Ondo Finance or Maple Finance create pools where capital providers earn yield from underlying business activity. SQD applies this to data infrastructure. Customer payments become the yield source instead of lending interest or

Starting point is 00:06:13 trading fees. Final thoughts. SQD networks shift from emissions to customer revenue addresses blockchain infrastructure's core sustainability question. Can network survive without perpetual token inflation? The model creates alignment between enterprise adoption and token holder returns, but it also introduces risks. If customer growth stalls, fee distributions dry up. If capacity remains artificially constrained, competitors may capture demand SQD cannot serve. The beta launch with Deutsche Telecom, Morpho, and pancake swap Providesimediate validation. These are not speculative protocols but established entities with measurable data requirements. Whether other blockchain infrastructure projects follow this model depends on execution. SQD is tradable on Coinbase and

Starting point is 00:07:00 Binance, which means market participants can vote with Capital One whether customer-funded economics outperform emission-based alternatives. The next 12 months will show if real revenue can replace printed tokens or IF crypto infrastructure still requires inflationary bootstrapping to function. Don't forget to like and share the story. This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. Hacker Noon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims here and belong to the author. Hashtag D.Y.O. Thank you for listening to this hackernoon story, read by artificial intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.

The Good Tech Companies - SQD Network Just Killed Token Emissions. Here's What $16 Billion in DeFi TVL Pays Instead

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