This page will give you an understanding of the uses and some strategies of spacetime rips.
For further information on spacetime rips, please check the Dark Forest Wiki.
The main function of spacetime rips is their connection to outside the game - they are the only option available within the game which allows you to withdraw artifacts.
Spacetime rips have several unique uses along with general in game functions such as generating energy and making moves. Most importantly, they allow a player to withdraw artifacts to their crypto wallet in the form of NFTs and allow players to ‘withdraw’ silver - though this silver is removed from existence and instead gets converted to a players score (if that is one of the rounds scoring parameters). This makes them a useful tool to help keep the artifacts you find safe until you are ready to use them, as you can also deposit artifacts back into the game when you are ready (silver can not be deposited again).
Along with this, they are also weak due to their low defense and can be another good way, along with asteroid fields, to help speed up your early expansion.
Spacetime rips have a multiplier of 1x for most of the default stats, except for defense of which they have 0.5x the default value and silver capacity, of which they have 2x the default value.
Every strong empire will have multiple spacetime rips under their control to allow for efficient movement of artifacts. A couple of well placed spacetime rips near to your warring planets may allow you to turn the tide of a battle with photoid cannons and a well timed planetary shield which your opponent may not have been expecting, or even surprise them with a sneaky black domain if you feel they are going to capture a planet that you can’t recapture, or to remove a core planet within their empire - though be careful you don’t accidentally donate it to them!