Chainlink (blockchain oracle)
Chainlink is a decentralized blockchain oracle network. Chainlink's token is on Ethereum. The network is intended to be used to facilitate the transfer of tamper-proof data from off-chain sources to on-chain smart contracts.
History
Chainlink was created in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, who co-authored a white paper introducing the Chainlink protocol and network with Cornell University professor Ari Juels the same year. Chainlink acts as a "bridge" between a blockchain and off-chain environments. The network, which services smart contracts, was formally launched in 2019.In 2018, Chainlink integrated Town Crier, a trusted execution environment-based blockchain oracle that Juels also worked on. Town Crier connects the Ethereum blockchain with web sources that use HTTPS.
In 2020, Chainlink integrated DECO, a Cornell project co-created by Juels. DECO is described by its authors as a protocol that uses zero-knowledge proofs to allow users to prove information is true to a blockchain oracle without revealing sensitive information, such as birth dates.
In 2022, Chainlink announced and launched BUILD, a program under Chainlink Economics 2.0 for projects that commit a portion of their fees and incentives to support the Chainlink ecosystem. BUILD is intended to align participating projects with the long-term growth of the Chainlink network through ongoing contributions tied to project activity. Projects in BUILD include Space and Time, Folks Finance, and Spicenet.
Technology
Chainlink's oracle network allows blockchains to connect to off-chain data and computation resources.In addition to the transfer of external information to a blockchain, Chainlink can also be used for several different off-chain computation functions, including a verifiable random function and data feeds. The data feeds have been used to bring election data on-chain.