According to CoinDesk, Axiom, a protocol enabling smart contract developers to access historical Ethereum data and perform intensive off-chain computations, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Standard Crypto and Paradigm, and the funds will be used to expand the team and develop the platform. Axiom co-founder Yi Sun stated that the focus is on helping smart contract developers access this new primitive and integrate it into their applications natively.
Axiom is part of a new generation of protocols utilizing zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) to access historical data on Ethereum. Currently, Ethereum smart contracts cannot access old data, leading to the creation of solutions like oracles. However, oracles can be costly and have computational limitations. Axiom addresses this issue by running a coprocessor, a software that processes data off-chain and then transfers it to the main Ethereum blockchain, verifying it with ZK proofs. Georgios Konstantopoulos, chief technology officer at Paradigm, emphasized the importance of providing lower cost and lower trust requirements to users for scalability and wider user base reach.
Axiom's announcement follows its recent V2 upgrade, which aimed to make the protocol more user-friendly for smart contract developers. In July, Axiom launched its mainnet. Alok Vasudev, co-founder of Standard Crypto, highlighted the potential for Axiom's core technology to uncover new areas and open up new markets.