Understanding the technical highlights and layout of the Space and Time project in one article

In August 2024, Space and Time announced the completion of a new round of $20 million in Series A financing, led by Framework Ventures, and Microsoft's venture capital department M12 also participated. It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time Microsoft has invested in the project. As early as September 2022, M12 led a round of investment of the same amount-this is Microsoft's largest investment in the integration of blockchain and AI to date. To date, Space and Time has raised a total of $50 million.

So, why did Space and Time attract Microsoft's attention? And what underlying technologies did it rely on to win the favor of capital? This article will systematically dismantle the technical architecture and ecological potential of this project.

What is Space and Time?

Space and Time (SXT) extends zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs on decentralized databases to provide trustless data processing capabilities for smart contracts. You can use SXT to connect our comprehensive blockchain data indexed from major blockchains with your application data or other off-chain datasets.

One ​​of its core components is Proof of SQL, a sub-second zero-knowledge proof co-processor that allows smart contracts to initiate complex queries to the chain or other chains, and return ZK-verified calculation results in the next block. This enables developers to build more complex and dynamic decentralized applications based on on-chain transactions, events, storage and other data.

What are the underlying technical advantages of Space and Time?

Decentralized Database System

Space and Time brings the query capabilities of traditional databases to Web3, and realizes verifiable data query results on the chain by combining Proof of SQL and ZK Proofs.

Proof of SQL: Ensure the verifiability of each database query result and avoid cheating by centralized nodes.

ZK Proofs: While ensuring data privacy, it ensures that computing is trustworthy, and is suitable for highly sensitive scenarios such as finance and AI. ZK Proofs plays a key role in data verifiability and zero-trust architecture, high performance and sub-second proof generation, data privacy protection, trusted bridge for on-chain and off-chain data integration, decentralization and tamper-resistance.

SQL's ease of use and compatibility

SQL is the mainstream database development language. The declarative syntax structure allows users to only describe the required results without having to write out the complete operation process. It has a high degree of standardization and a low threshold:

Lower the development threshold and attract Web2 developers to migrate to Web3.

Reuse traditional application logic to accelerate the dApp development cycle.

Application of zero-knowledge coprocessor

Coprocessor refers to an auxiliary computing unit that can unload the main chain computing load and enhance performance and efficiency. In the field of blockchain, it is usually used to improve computing efficiency, support specific functions, parallel processing, reduce energy consumption and improve security. For example, Bitcoin's ASIC mining chip, ZKP generation and verification, Layer 2 status update, etc. are all typical coprocessor applications.

Space and Time's ZK coprocessor offloads SQL query computation from the main blockchain (such as Ethereum) to off-chain execution, significantly reducing on-chain computation costs (such as gas fees) and latency.

For example, when processing SQL queries for millions of rows of data, the ZK coprocessor can generate zero-knowledge proofs in sub-seconds without the need for repeated computations on the chain. The coprocessor not only executes SQL queries, but also generates small, low-cost ZK-SNARKs proofs suitable for real-time transactions.

By moving data processing and proof generation off-chain, the ZK coprocessor solves the bottleneck of smart contracts accessing historical data or cross-chain data, greatly improving the scalability of blockchain. For example, it supports indexing data from mainstream chains such as Ethereum, Polygon, and ZKsync, breaking the data silos on the chain.

ZK coprocessor also supports docking with off-chain databases (such as PostgreSQL, Snowflake), enabling smart contracts to perform complex cross-chain queries or hybrid queries, and all results are returned to the chain through ZK proofs to ensure trustworthiness and no need for trust.

Space and Time has made special optimizations for the ZK coprocessor for SQL, and the proof generation speed is 1-2 orders of magnitude faster than the general zkVM. A recent post on the X platform stated that the performance of the Proof of SQL coprocessor has been improved by 3 times, effectively reducing query latency and further enhancing its real-time transaction capabilities.

What is the difference between Space and Time and its competitors?

Currently, most blockchain data query protocols, such as The Graph, use a subgraph mechanism to index on-chain data. The characteristics of this type of protocol are:

• Easy to use, developers can quickly get started.

• But it relies on the honesty of the indexer and lacks a built-in verifiable calculation mechanism.

• It is more suitable for lightweight, on-chain data-based dApps, such as NFT or DAO.

While Space and Time provides stronger data verifiability and supports on-chain and off-chain data integration. In comparison:

• Performance: Supports sub-second queries of PB-level data, which is much more efficient than traditional solutions.

• Cost: The operating cost is only 20% of similar solutions.

• Application: Suitable for complex data interaction, enterprise-level analysis, AI training data call and other needs.

Of course, its threshold is also higher, which challenges the developer's understanding of ZK and data architecture design capabilities.

Future Prospects and Potential Risks

The positioning of Space and Time determines that it has a misaligned development with the mainstream query protocols in application scenarios, and the competitive relationship is not direct. However, the project is still in its early stages and the ecosystem has not yet been fully established:

• The community is limited in size and has not yet formed a strong developer network.

• Commercial implementation is still in the exploratory stage and there are few use cases.

But its technical potential and the endorsement of institutions such as Microsoft make it a potential dark horse in the "AI + blockchain" track.

Summary

As an emerging project, Space and Time has raised a total of 50 million US dollars, which is considered to be one of the more representative phenomenal projects in the current "blockchain + AI" track. It is highly innovative in technology, but it may also face problems such as insufficient use cases and low user activity in the future. Therefore, whether to participate still needs to be carefully evaluated based on personal judgment.

This round of financing is also the first time that Microsoft has heavily invested in the track of combining blockchain and AI. As a traditional technology giant, Microsoft has promoted its Azure cloud service to further adapt to the integration trend of Web3 and AI through this layout. At the same time, the participation of institutions also endorses the project, which has enhanced the confidence of the industry inside and outside in this direction.

It can be said that Microsoft's investment this time shows its mid- to long-term optimism about the intersection of blockchain and AI, and its logic also continues the idea of ​​investing in OpenAI. To some extent, this sends a signal that traditional technology companies are moving from "wait-and-see" to "deep involvement", further driving the market's attention to the "AI + blockchain" integration project.