Oracles
From Chainlink Community Wiki
Quick take - Oracles
In depth
ORACLES
The core purpose of oracles is to derive truth about the validity of off-chain data, events, or computation and then relay the results on-chain.[1]
“A blockchain oracle is secure middleware that facilitates communication between blockchains and any off-chain system, including data providers, web APIs, enterprise backends, cloud providers, IoT devices, e-signatures, payment systems, other blockchains, and more.” - (Source: What is the Blockchain Oracle Problem? (https://blog.chain.link/what-is-the-blockchain-oracle-problem/))
Oracles maintain a critical role in crypto infrastructure as a means of connecting smart contracts to off-chain data
" The true power of well-designed oracles is that they can generate definitive truth about external state in a tamper-proof and automated way and be customized according to users’ own trust assumptions, performance requirements, and budgets."[2]
Oracles are the entities that connect blockchains to real-world data and existing systems, and provide critical infrastructure for establishing a unified, interoperable Web3 ecosystem.
Chainlink oracle networks not only feed financial market data on-chain to power DeFi applications, but they also provide a wide range of secure off-chain computations such as verifiable randomness and decentralized execution to enable dynamic NFTs and highly automated dApps. Moreover, with the development of the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), oracle networks will help enable the fast-growing ecosystem of different blockchains and layer-2 scaling solutions to securely communicate with one another.[3]
Timeline
Chainlink Oracle Resources
Our goal with the Wiki resource lists is to create authoritative archives for readings and other resources pertaining to specific topics.
As such, the Wiki aims to keep all resource lists current, consistent, accurate and clear.
Timeline
| Date | Media | Author | Title |
|---|
Educational
| Date | Media | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Official Docs | Chainlink | What Is a Blockchain Oracle? |
| Mar 22 | Article | Chainlink | The Ultimate Guide to Blockchain Oracle Security |
| 21 Oct 21 | Video | Chainlink | What Is a Blockchain Oracle? Brief explainer video. |
| 06 Jun 21 | Article | HackerNoon | The Strengths and Weaknesses of DeFi Price Oracles |
| 27 Nov 20 | Article | Smart Content | Chainlink: Low-Level Infrastructure for Inter-Oracle Competition |
| 06 Mar 20 | Article | Chainlink | The Future of Oracles: Fireside Discussion with Ari Juels, IC3 Co-Director and Distinguished Cornell Computer Science Professor |
| 06 Mar 20 | Video | Chainlink | Fireside Chat with Ari Juels and Sergey Nazarov - Connected Smart Contracts San Francisco |