Blockchain technology has seen a considerable surge of new use cases, helping to revolutionize industries and unleash their full potential. Blockchain technology has shown its utility in several areas. For example, the emergence of DeFi helped highlight the true potential and power of the blockchain. We have seen more and more organizations try and leverage DeFi, and utilize blockchain technology. However, blockchains and blockchain technologies have potential roadblocks that hinder mainstream adoption, despite the seemingly limitless potential.
Blockchain oracles first came into the picture in 2017, created to address the problems blockchains face and their mainstream adoption, and have seen significant growth since. There are now several oracle networks in the market, such as SupraOracles, giving developers the freedom to choose the solution that best fits their requirements.
What Are Blockchain Oracles?
The oracles we’re talking about are not those of Greek mythology. Rather, for DLT, blockchains and smart contracts often require data from outside their network or off-chain data. This is especially true of smart contracts, while rife with possiblity, need information from the real-world to trigger or execute. However, due to their inherent nature, blockchains are cut off from each other and any off-chain data sources. This siloing of blockchains is considered a significant hurdle to mainstream adoption and is why we have seen the emergence of oracles as a means to address this issue.
Blockchain oracles are third-party services that retrieve information from the real-world or any off-chain source. The oracle retrieves the data, verifies it, and then sends it to the blockchain and smart contracts through price or data feeds and web APIs. This verified real-time data from off-chain sources can be used to then trigger or execute smart contracts. Oracles are an essential part of overcoming the siloing of blockchains, providing access to off-chain data securely and reliably.
Limitations of Current Oracles
While oracles have been game-changing for blockchains, they come with their own limitations. And, to be fair, this is a very specialzed technology being added to an already new technology. But, nonetheless, issues related to oracles need to be resolved so smart contracts can realize their full potential. Oracles’ most pressing issues are:
- Lack of transparency
- Price delays and deviations
- DeFi exploits
- Manipulation
- The oracle problem.
Blockchain developers are severly limited by oracle solutions that are too slow and unreliable. But, the greatest issues presented by oracles are that they are prone to hacking and external manipulation, while a lack of transparency can lead to collusion and profit off information provided to DeFi protocols.
Transparency
Oracles have a significant problem with transparency, as there is no thorough way of verifying the data reported by oracles. Sometimes, this lack of verification can lead to the smart contract being compromised.
Price Delays and Deviations
Transferring off-chain assets to on-chain assets can often lead to small deviations and delays in price. These delays can add up to be quite significant when in a dynamic market.
DeFi Exploits
DeFi exploits have led to the loss of more than $1.4 billion over the past year. These exploits have mostly been possible due to existing cross-chain vulnerabilities and exploiting existing oracles.
Manipulation
Oracle manipulation occurs when malicious actors manipulate price oracles. These attackers can manipulate the contract leading to theft or the complete failure of the contract. DeFi networks have lost over $33 million to these types of oracle manipulation attacks in the past year alone.
The Oracle Problem
The oracle problem is at the heart of many of the afore-mentioned issues, and one of the most pressing issues facing oracles — and blockchains — today. The problem originates from the inability of the oracle to verify the consistency or integrity of the data they source. We can separate the oracle problem into two different parts.
- Blockchains or smart contracts cannot access any external data on their own.
- Centralized oracles are counterintuitive for use in decentralized ecosystems and defeat the entire purpose of using smart contracts while also introducing significant privacy concerns.
How Is SupraOracles Overcoming the Oracle Problem?
The team at SupraOracles believes that cross-chain blockchain oracles are the solution to the oracle problem. Current blockchain oracle solutions are treading a fine line, finding the correct balance between stability, security, finality, and decentralization. So far, no blockchain oracle solution has been able to crack this dilemma…until SupraOracles. Supra provides cutting-edge cryptography, near-instant finality, and cross-chain interoperability, allowing DeFi to reach its true potential by eliminating the trade-offs between security, scalability, decentralization, and finality.
- Unmatched Decentralization – SupraOracles can reach consensus through the use of several decentralized sources, rendering single source APIs redundant.
- High Scalability – Supra offers significantly higher scalability thanks to high throughput, giving SupraOracles the capability to process thousands of transactions per second with negligible fees involved.
- High Speed – SupraOracles has successfully eliminated delays and deviations. Price slippage and deviations are now a thing of the past.
- Instant Finality – Supra offers near-instant finality compared to other oracle solutions, which require a few minutes or more.
- Interoperability – SupraOracles offers better interoperability than its peers, with near-zero slippage on cross-chain swaps.
Closing Thoughts
SupraOracles is enabling the practical applications of blockchains and blockchain technology in the real-world. By providing real solutions to the catch-22 of the Oracle Problem, they are allowing DLT to reach a greater level of use and impact on industries utilizing it.
The project has already undertaken a slew of partnerships across the blockchain and DeFi space in a bid to meet the growing demands of the industry. Between their cutting-edge technology and strong network, they are on the path to providing far superior performance and elevating industry standards.
The SupraOracles token sale is coming soon. You’re invited to join the whitelist now to receive access 48 hours earlier than the general public.
