Chainlink (blockchain oracle)

Last updated
Chainlink
Chainlink Logo (Blue).png
Denominations
PluralChainlink
CodeLINK
Development
Original authors
White paper chain.link/whitepaper
Code repository github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink
Written in Solidity, Go
Operating system Blockchain-agnostic
Source modelOpen source
License MIT License
Ledger
Supply limit1,000,000,000
Website
Website chainlinklabs.com

Chainlink is a decentralized blockchain oracle network. Chainlink's token is on Ethereum. [3] [4] The network is intended to be used to facilitate the transfer of tamper-proof data from off-chain sources to on-chain smart contracts. [5]

Contents

History

Chainlink was created in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, [4] who co-authored a white paper introducing the Chainlink protocol and network with Cornell University professor Ari Juels the same year. [1] Chainlink acts as a "bridge" between a blockchain and off-chain environments. [6] The network, which services smart contracts, was formally launched in 2019. [4]

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. [7]

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. [8]

In 2020, Chainlink launched a proof-of-reserve (PoR) system intended to help cryptocurrency projects and tokenized-asset issuers verify asset backing. [9]

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. [10]

In 2023, Chainlink introduced the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), designed to enable communication between applications across blockchains and traditional financial systems. [11] In August 2023, SWIFT reported results from experiments using CCIP with SWIFT messaging to transfer tokenized assets across multiple public and private blockchains. [12] In November 2024, a SWIFT, UBS Asset Management, Chainlink working under the Monetary Authority of Singapore demonstrated settlement of tokenized fund subscriptions and redemptions over the SWIFT network using Chainlink. [13]

In 2025, the United States Department of Commerce used Chainlink to publish U.S. government macroeconomic data on blockchains. [14]

Technology

A visual representation of Chainlink's "smart bond architecture" SIBOS17 - Chainlink - cleaned.png
A visual representation of Chainlink's "smart bond architecture"

Chainlink's oracle network allows blockchains to connect to off-chain data and computation resources. [15] [16]

Since the inception of Chainlink's Payment Abstraction protocol upgrade [17] , institutions may use fiat currency for Chainlink services and aren't required to hold or use LINK tokens at any point during a transaction that uses the Chainlink protocol. 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. Despite this, Chainlink offers limited staking services, requiring Chainlink to offload their own premined tokens to pay node operators. Tokens can be stored in any ERC-20 wallet, as the ERC677 token retains all the functionality of an ERC-20 token. [18] Community participants can stake LINK to support the network's cryptoeconomic security. [19]

References

  1. 1 2 Ellis, Steven; Juels, Ari; Nazarov, Sergey (4 September 2017). "ChainLink A Decentralized Oracle Network". chain.link. Archived from the original (paper) on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Caldarelli, Giulio (November 2020). "Understanding the Blockchain Oracle Problem: A Call for Action". Information . 11 (11). Verona, Italy: MDPI: 509. doi: 10.3390/info11110509 .
  3. ↑ Breidenbach, Lorenz; Chacin, Christian; Chan, Benedict; Coventry, Alex; Ellis, Steven; Juels, Ari; Koushanfar, Farinaz; Miller, Andrew; Magauran, Brendan; Moroz, Daniel; Nazarov, Sergey; Topliceanu, Alexandru; Tramèr, Florian; Zhang, Fan (15 April 2021) [2017]. "Chainlink 2.0. The Next Steps in the Evolution of Decentralized Oracle Networks 9 Economics and Cryptoeconomics Staking" (paper). chain.link. University of Bern, Cornell Tech, University of California, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Duke University. research.chain.link. pp. 2, 78. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Anadiotis, George (May 30, 2019). "Chainlink launches Mainnet to get data in and out of Ethereum smart contracts". ZDNet . Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  5. ↑ Nikbakht, Ehsan; Baker, H Kent; Smith, Sean Stein (9 March 2021). The Emerald Handbook of Blockchain for Business. Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN   9781839821981 . Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  6. ↑ Arrowsmith, Ranica (December 1, 2020). "Tech, accelerated; 2020 was a hothouse for technology, speeding up the already rapid pace of development and adoption". Accounting Today . No. 34. p. 30.
  7. ↑ Orcutt, Mike (November 19, 2018). "Blockchain smart contracts are finally good for something in the real world". MIT Technology Review . Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  8. ↑ Brett, Charles (September 4, 2020). "Chainlink acquires DECO from Cornell". Enterprise Times. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  9. ↑ Cai, Gangshu (2024). Supply Chain Finance: Mechanisms, Risk Analytics, and Technology. Switzerland: Springer Nature. p. 479. ISBN   9783031561252.
  10. ↑ "Chainlink BUILD Program". Chain.link. Chainlink. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  11. ↑ Ba, Shusong; Wang, Yang; Bai, Haifeng; Zhu, Haokang Thomas (2025). RWA Tokenisation in Web 3.0 Era. Singapore: Springer Nature. p. 100. ISBN   9789819676637.
  12. ↑ "Connecting blockchains: Overcoming fragmentation in tokenised assets" (PDF). www.swift.com.
  13. ↑ "Swift, UBS Asset Management, and Chainlink successfully complete innovative pilot to bridge tokenized assets with existing payment systems". www.swift.com.
  14. ↑ Hall, Ian (August 30, 2025). "US Department of Commerce starts posting GDP data on public blockchains".
  15. ↑ Zhao, Yinjie; Kang, Xin; Li, Tieyan; Chu, Cheng-kang; Wang, Haiguang. "Towards Trustworthy DeFi Oracles: Past, Present and Future" (PDF). arxiv.org.
  16. ↑ Gansäuer, Robin; Ben Aoun, Hichem; Droll, Jan; Hartenstein, Hannes. "Price Oracle Accuracy Across Blockchains: A Measurement and Analysis" (PDF). caaw.io.
  17. ↑ https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/chainlink-launches-payment-abstraction-on-ethereum-mainnet-converts-svr-fees-to-972bbd43
  18. ↑ "FAQ | Chainlink Documentation". docs.chain.link. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  19. ↑ Financial Cryptography and Data Security. FC 2021 International Workshops. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. 16 September 2021. ISBN   9783662639580.
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