Chainlink

Decentralized blockchain oracle network Chainlink facilitates building blockchain-based smart contracts… the transfer of data from off-chain sources to on-chain smart contracts… and also enables developers to build feature-rich Web3 applications with access to real-world data and off-chain computation across any blockchain. In this manner Chainlink transforms the role that smart contracts can play in a vast number of sectors including financial services- insurance- and supply chain- providing secure reliable oracles to large enterprises and leading smart contract development teams.

Driven by a vision to bridge the gap between blockchain networks and real-world data- co-founders Sergey Nazarov, Steve Ellis and Ari Juels- created a decentralized oracle network that would revolutionize the capabilities of smart contracts. Chainlink centers around decentralisation- security- and reliability. The network employs a robust fault-tolerant protocol that ensures the integrity and availability of the oracle network even in the face of malicious attacks or failures. Chainlink's whitepaper- published the same year- addresses this on the technical level.

The network- which services smart contracts -was formally launched in 2019 and its trademark was registered in the Cayman Islands on 12 March 2019- the corporation created being Smartcontract Chainlink Sezc Ltd. In 2020 Chainlink integrated DECO- a Cornell project co-created by Dr. Ari Juels -the former Chief Scientist of RSA- one of the world's largest security companies. It is essentially an improvement on how to utilize HTTPS - TLS for data transmission across the internet. 

This acquisition enables Chainlink to integrate DECO's unique data security capabilities while expanding the scope of what Chainlink and DECO validated data can now be used for- well beyond blockchains. "DECO's ability to provide previously unavailable data security when transferring data over the internet will greatly increase the private and premium data that becomes available for use by all Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 applications" said Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov.

Chainlink published a second white paper in April 2021. That paper- Chainlink 2.0: Next Steps in the Evolution of Decentralized Oracle Networks- detailed a vision for expanding the role and capabilities of decentralized oracle networks to include hybrid smart contracts which utilize on-chain code and off-chain services provided by oracle networks.

However the integration of Chainlink within the Decentralised Finance ecosystem is nothing short of remarkable. Its robust and reliable Oracle network has become the industry standard- with numerous protocols and platforms from small startups to established enterprises integrating Chainlink's services to enhance its functionality and trustworthiness.

"Tamper-proof contractual execution is the future of both high-value financial agreements and micro-transactions. Tamper-proof computable contracts known as "smart contracts" have emerged to define a new part of the internet run entirely on decentralized infrastructure- with blockchains for storage and smart contract networks for compute… Chainlink’s pioneering decentralized oracle technology unlocks the full potential of smart contracts by connecting them to off-chain data and computation and enabling existing financial institutions to easily and securely interact with Web3…" co-founder and CEO Sergey Nazarov explains on his LinkedIn account.

Node operators are compensated with the network's native cryptocurrency- LINK. Chainlink's ERC677 token is an extension of ERC-20. These tokens act as data payloads.. feeding the required data from off-chain sources to smart contracts which then act in response to the data provided by the token. According to Chainlink, the trade value derived from these tokens is used to pay node operators for retrieving data from smart contracts and also for deposits placed by node operators as required by contract creators. Tokens can be stored in any ERC-20 wallet.

In 2021 Eric Schmidt- former Google CEO- signed on as a strategic advisor. "Blockchain networks and Chainlink oracles are at a crucial inflection point in terms of growth and adoption. Eric's experience and insights around building global software platforms for next-generation innovation will be invaluable as we help developers and institutions usher in a new age of economic fairness and transparency" said Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov. 

Chainlink is driven by a large open-source community of data providers- node operators- smart contract developers- researchers- security auditors- and many more. It envisions enabling anyone to securely access critical off-chain resources through Decentralized Oracle Networks.

Chainlink products and services include cross chain communication- market and data feeds- developer platforms that can fetch data from any API and run custom compute- reliable high-performance decentralised automation for smart contracts- VRF for blockchain gaming and NFTs- autonomous, reliable and timely verification of on-chain and off-chain reserves.