What is Chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) is a cryptocurrency that incentivizes a global network of computers in the task of providing real-world data to smart contracts which run on top of specific blockchains.
These contracts are essentially these agreements that are programmed to execute when certain conditions are met and have been used for a wide range of things. They all rely on external data sources to properly execute their terms, however, and this is where Chainlink was designed to step into the picture by incentivizing data providers known as oracles to act as a bridge between blockchain smart contract and the data sources.
The LINK cryptocurrency ensures the successful execution of a smart contract that depends on its network.
LINK is built into the network and is the only currency that can be used for network operations. In other words, LINK is used to pay node operators which retrieve data. Note that it is a fully decentralized network for on-chain data.
Chainlink Founders
When it comes to the founders of Chainlink (LINK), it was co-founded by Sergey Nazarov, who currently fills the role of the CEO at Chainlink Labs. His story is quite interesting in the sense where he graduated with a degree in business administration from New York University. His career started when in 2009, he co-founded ExistLocal, which was a peer-to-peer marketplace for authentic local experiences.
Further along in 2014, he co-founded CryptaMail, which was a decentralized, blockchain-based email service, and in 2014 alongside Steve Ellis, he created SmartContract, which is a platform that brought smart contracts together by connecting them to external data and accepted bank payments.
Steve Ellis, on the other hand, graduated with a degree in computer science from New York University and became a software engineer at Pivotal Labs. In 2014 he co-founded Secure Asset Exchange.
How Does LINK Work
Chainlink is fundamentally the first network to allow for the integration of off-chain data into a smart contract.
It has many trusted partners and is one of the major players when it comes to data processing. Given the fact that the integration of off-chain data is implemented, they have managed to attract the attention of many trusted data providers such as Brave New Coin, Alpha Vantage, and even Huobi. Data providers, in turn, can sell access to data directly to Chainlink and monetize any information that they have.
Chainlink even allows users to become node operators, where they can earn revenue through running the critical data infrastructure which is required for the success of blockchains.
Chainlink uses a collection of node operators to collectively power different decentralized price feed oracle networks live in production, and this secures billions in value for different DeFi applications such as Aave, Synthetix, and more.
In order to facilitate the communication between the users as well as all of the external data sources, Chainlink divides the execution process into three steps.
First, you have an oracle selection step, where Chainlink users can draft a service-level agreement or SLA which specifies a set of desired data requirements, and then it can use them to match the users with oracles willing to provide this data. Once all of the parameters are in place, the user can submit the SLA and deposit their LINK cryptocurrency within what is known as an oracle-matching contract that accepts bids from the oracles. Then you have data reporting where the oracles can connect with external sources to obtain the real-world data requests in the SLA, where the data is then processed by the oracles and sent back to contracts that run on the Chainlink blockchain. The third step is the result aggregation which involves the process of tallying the results of the data oracles to collect and return them into an Aggregation contract. Then the contract takes the responses and assesses their validity while returning a score, using the sum of all of the data received. There is also an aggregating contract.
When it comes to the architecture, it's powered by three smart contracts, including the aggregating contracts which collect data from oracles and matches the most accurate results with the smart contract that need them, an order-matching contract that matches a smart contract service level agreement with the best bidding oracles and a reputation contract which verifies an oracle's integrity through checking the tract record and includes factors such as the total number of request completed, response time and amount of LINK the oracle has asked. You have complex smart contracts and Chainlink node operators that operate on the decentralized oracle network.
Where Can You Buy LINK
Chainlink has a total supply of 1,000,000,000 coins.
The Chainlink ecosystem that uses on-chain format has a solid circulating supply.
