Nov 13, 2021
5 min read
What Is Chainlink? The Ultimate Guide
Updated: November 30th, 2022
Chainlink is a modular, generalized, and blockchain-agnostic protocol for building decentralized oracle networks that connect smart contracts to real-world data, off-chain computation, and cross-chain communication in a trust-minimized and hyper-reliable manner.
In short, Chainlink makes smart contracts actually useful.
To help educate the world, I have compiled some of the best resources across the Internet that explain what Chainlink is and how it powers the Web3 economy. Regardless if you are hearing about Chainlink for the first time or are a long term community member, there is something to learn.
Chainlink Blog
Entry-Level Education
- What Is Chainlink? A Beginner’s Guide
- What Is the Blockchain Oracle Problem?
- What Is a Chainlink Node Operator?
- What Is Off-Chain Data and Computation?
- Hybrid Smart Contracts Explained
Services
- How Chainlink Price Feeds Secure the DeFi Ecosystem
- Introducing the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP)
- Low-Latency Oracle Solution for the DeFi Derivatives Market
- Chainlink Keepers Is Now Live On Mainnet
- Chainlink VRF: On-chain Verifiable Randomness
- Chainlink VRF v2 Is Now Live on Mainnet
- Chainlink Proof of Reserve: Bringing Transparency to DeFi Collateral
- Fair Sequencing Services: Enabling a Provably Fair DeFi Ecosystem
- Easily Sell Your APIs and Data to Any Blockchain via Chainlink
Use Cases
- 77+ Smart Contract Use Cases Enabled By Chainlink
- 35+ Blockchain RNG Use Cases Enabled by Chainlink VRF
- Smart Contract Automation Use Cases Unlocked by Chainlink Keepers
- Using Chainlink Proof of Reserve to Unlock Cross-Chain Liquidity
- Chainlink for Enterprises: The Gateway to All Blockchains
- Creating a Highly Scalable and MEV-Resistant DeFi Ecosystem
- How DECO Enables Undercollateralized DeFi Lending
Chainlink Economics 2.0
- Chainlink Economics 2.0 Staking Protocol and Staking v0.1 Launch Details
- Chainlink Staking: Long-Term Goals, Roadmap, and Initial Implementation
- Introducing SCALE: Sustainable Chainlink Access for Layer 1 and 2 Enablement
- Introducing Chainlink BUILD: Supercharging dApp Growth Through Cross-Ecosystem Incentives
- Sustainably Growing the Chainlink Network
Network Design
- Chainlink 2.0 Lays Foundation for Adoption of Hybrid Smart Contracts
- Chainlink Achieves Major Scalability Upgrade With Off-Chain Reporting
- Blockchains and Oracles: Similarities, Differences, and Synergies
- Chainlink’s Blockchain Agnostic Design
- Oracle Computation: Data Delivery and Off-Chain Computation
- How Chainlink Supports Any Off-Chain Data Resource and Computation
Network Security
- Explicit Staking in Chainlink 2.0: An Overview
- Data Quality for DeFi Smart Contracts
- The 3 Levels of Data Aggregation in Chainlink Price Feeds
- Flash Loans and the Importance of Tamper-Proof Oracles
- Circuit Breakers and Client Diversity Within the Chainlink Network
End of Year Wrap-up
SmartCon Takeaways
Crypto Deep-Dives
- What Crypto Is Really About
- Cryptographic Truth: Trust-Minimized Computing and Record-Keeping
- Why Nobody Really Uses Web3… Yet
- Blockchain Scalability: Execution, Storage, and Consensus
- Trust-Minimized Applications: The New Standard
- What Everyone Gets Wrong About Blockchains
Chainlink Research
SmartContent
Deep-dive
Economics
- The Purpose and Value of Cryptocurrency and Tokens
- How dApp Value Capture Will Distribute Across Decentralized Infrastructure
- Defining Total Value Secured (TVS) In Decentralized Oracle Networks
Network Design
- Chainlink’s Network Effect Creates More Secure and Lower Cost Oracles for Everyone
- Chainlink: Low-Level Infrastructure for Inter-Oracle Competition
- Connect To All Blockchain Environments Through A Single Chainlink Integration
Services
Research Papers
Chainlink Whitepapers
- Chainlink 2.0: Next Steps in the Evolution of Decentralized Oracle Networks
- ChainLink: A Decentralized Oracle Network
- DECO: Liberating Web Data Using Decentralized Oracles for TLS
- Chainlink Off-chain Reporting Protocol
- Mixicles: Simple Private Decentralized Finance
- Town Crier: An Authenticated Data Feed for Smart Contracts
External Reports
Sergey Nazarov
Presentations
- Building a Web3 World Powered by Cryptographic Truth | SmartCon 2022 Keynote
- The Future of Chainlink | Sergey Nazarov
- Chainlink Economics 2.0 and the Market for Trust-Minimized Apps | Sergey Nazarov at Consensus 2022
- Why Banks Should Care About DeFi | Sergey Nazarov at the Barclays Crypto & Blockchain Summit
- Sergey Nazarov SmartCon Keynote on the Future of Hybrid Smart Contracts
- Chainlink, Creating Definitive Truth | SmartCon 2021 Keynote
- The Evolution of Smart Contracts and Cryptoeconomic Security
- Expanding Beyond Data Delivery With Chainlink 2.0 | Consensus 2021
- The Power of Composability in DeFi Smart Contracts | Coindesk Invest 2020
- The Future of Asset Management Using Smart Contracts & Oracles | Fidelity Investments
- The Importance of Data Quality in Smart Contracts | Ready Layer One 2020
- Chainlink 2.0 Whitepaper | Research Panel
Podcasts/Discussions
- Chainlink, Smart Contracts, and Oracle Networks | Lex Fridman Podcast #181
- Sergey Nazarov reveals why $2 trillion will flow into DeFi | Blockworks
- Sergey Nazarov & Jonathan Ehrenfeld Solé | Connecting Smart Contracts With SWIFT
- Solving the Oracle Problem: Blockchain’s Missing Link | Hidden Forces
- Oracles and the Expansion of Blockchain Utility Ash Bennington
- Chainlink 2.0: Expanding the Meta-Layer | Real Vision Crypto
- Why centralized oracles are a threat to the $16B DeFi industry | Cointelegraph
- Building a world powered by cryptographic truth | BraveNewCoin
PR Newswire
- Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Joins Chainlink Labs as a Strategic Advisor
- Chainlink Labs Brings on Co-Creator of Diem, Renowned Stanford Cryptographer as Technical Advisors (Christian Catalini & Dan Boneh)
- Chainlink Labs Announces Key Executive Hires (Dahlia Malkhi & Mike Derezin)
- Leading Blockchains Join Chainlink SCALE Program to Turbocharge Ecosystem Growth With Increased Access to Oracle Services
- Chainlink’s Total Value Secured (TVS) Surpasses $75 Billion
- Chainlink Acquires DECO from Cornell University
- Chainlink Acquires Town Crier from the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts
- Chainlink Awarded as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum
ChainLinkGod / The_Crypto_Oracle
Written Content
- Why We need Decentralized Oracles | Bankless Newsletter
- What Is The True Definition Of Chainlink | Chainlink Today
- An Introduction To The Broad Diversity Of Chainlink’s Decentralized Services | Chainlink Today
- Scaling Chainlink in 2020 | ChainLinkGod Medium
ChainLinkGod Podcast
- Exploring the Chainlink 2.0 Whitepaper
- Diving Into the World of Blockchains, Chainlink, and Hybrid Smart Contracts
- Chainlink Oracle Services: An Overview
- Cryptoeconomic Security in the Chainlink Network
- Chainlink Price Feeds: An Overview With ChainLinkGod
- How Oracles Go Beyond Data Delivery: Off-Chain Computation
External Podcast
- State of the Nation #45 — Chainlink 2.0 with ChainLinkGod | Bankless
- Talking Crypto #55 — ChainlinkGod | Gabriel Haines
- ChainLinkGod Discussing Chainlink’s CCIP | BASED SPACE EP. 35
- Chainlink Community Update w/ ChainLinkGod | BASED SPACE EP. 50
- Conversations with the Coop — ChainLinkGod | Crypto Texan
- A Conversation With ChainLinkGod | Investrly
- DeFiLlama Podcast featuring ChainLinkGod | DeFiLlama
Notable Enterprise Integrations, Collaborations, and Industry Recognitions
- The Associated Press
- Google Cloud 2019 (Google Cloud 2021)
- Deutsche Telekom T-Systems
- Swisscom
- Amazon Web Services
- Accuweather
- Oracle
- SWIFT 2017 (SWIFT 2022)
- World Economic Forum
- Gartner
- Baseline Protocol
- InterWork Alliance
- Hyperledger Avalon
- Blockchain Services Network (BSN)
- Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
- The Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3)
